This is part of our GST, BAS and Reporting series (Chapter 5 of the QuickBooks tutorial hub):

• Lesson 1: How QuickBooks Tracks GST on Every Transaction
• Lesson 2: Preparing and Lodging BAS from QuickBooks
• Lesson 3: TPAR Reporting for Contractors in QuickBooks
• Lesson 4: Job Costing with QuickBooks Projects for Tradies
• Lesson 5: Using Tags for Custom Reporting in QuickBooks
• Lesson 6: Managing Users and Permissions in QuickBooks

If you want extra reporting detail without restructuring your chart of accounts, tags let you label transactions however suits your business.

1. What tags actually let you do

Tags let you label a transaction with an extra category, like location, staff member, or type of work, on top of its normal account code.

2. Setting up your tag groups

You can create tag groups relevant to how you want to slice your reporting, such as by location or job type.

3. Tagging transactions as you enter them

Adding a tag takes a second at entry time, and pays off later when you want to filter a report by that tag.

4. Running reports filtered by tag

Once tagged, you can run reports filtered by any tag group, showing you patterns that a standard report would not reveal.

QuickBooks Australia’s official YouTube channel covers using tags: watch the official QuickBooks tutorial (note: Tags are being phased out in favour of custom fields). Our offsite bookkeeping team can help set up tags that match how you actually want to see your business.