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How to Contact QuickBooks Support
If you’re using QuickBooks to manage your company’s books, you’ll have a number of features that should make easy works of these tedious tasks. The Intuit company supports QuickBooks, offering customer service for those who use the program.
What Is QuickBooks?
Intuit’s QuickBooks is designed to work seamlessly with your company’s bank accounts to keep your financial ledgers up to date. QuickBooks is a plan that you can use via your internet browser, or you can download it to your computer. A QuickBooks app even gives you mobile features to use on the go. QuickBooks offers several different plans designed to provide you with the functions you need for your business. You can switch between plans and cancel your service anytime you wish.
Features of QuickBooks
Intuit’s QuickBooks is designed to work seamlessly with your company’s bank accounts to keep your financial ledgers up to date. You can manage transactions, monitor cash flow, create categories for expenses and income, explore reports and more to stay up to date with all of these crucial financial areas. QuickBooks also enables you to create recurring payments, create checks and print them, track mileage, invoice customers, manage contractors, pay employees, monitor inventory, prepare tax returns and much more.
Using the QuickBooks Website
As you use your QuickBooks plan, you can use the QuickBooks website to get product support. With tutorials and webinars, you can spend as much time as you want reading through step-by-step sequences that should make you an expert in short order. QuickBooks releases live webinars every week designed for beginners. The QuickBooks community has a reputation for helpfulness, so don’t miss a chance to tap into the knowledge of fellow business owners like yourself. You can also find a training class to attend if you want to really sink your teeth into your plan to get as much out of it as possible. Check out the search tool to find a QuickBooks class located near you that you can attend.
Answers to QuickBooks Questions
As you peruse the QuickBooks website, you’ll find extensive FAQs and articles designed to get you off and running and to troubleshoot if you have problems. The FAQ section allows you to search for information according to the QuickBooks version you’re using, whether desktop, accountant or self-employed.
How to Contact QuickBooks
If you’re still stuck and need answers, reach out directly to QuickBooks support staff. Navigate through a few questions on the website to tell QuickBooks a little about your issue. Then, click “Call Us” during business hours or “Message Us” if you prefer not to have a phone conversation.
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TechRadar Verdict
QuickBooks is a comprehensive solution to small business finance, covering all the essentials from payroll, to estimates and invoicing, along with employee time tracking. As the extras are added on however, it does increase the cost, making this more of a full service solution, rather than a value leader.
30-day free trial
Downloadable and online options
Discounts available
Employee time tracking
Additional services increase cost
Low limits on number of users
Lack of included phone support with downloadable version
Why you can trust TechRadar Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .
QuickBooks (opens in new tab) is an instantly recognizable name in the world of accountancy and bookkeeping. It’s owned by Intuit, which also has other options for small business owners and large ones too, with a diverse portfolio that includes TurboTax (opens in new tab) , Mint (opens in new tab) and Proconnect. QuickBooks also comes in numerous different varieties, from desktop editions through to the hugely popular Online (opens in new tab) edition. There are also regular updates to the QuickBooks portfolio of products, with the UK getting a raft of new features to help users keep abreast of tax and other regulatory changes. There's an income tax estimator tool, improved tagging and a beefed up employee portal for larger businesses. Professional accountants have new tools, including a month-end review tool. QuickBooks is, essentially, always evolving. There's a new QuickBooks Business Account digital payment option aimed at small business owners now too.
So, depending on your requirements, you can choose from QuickBooks Online (opens in new tab) , QuickBooks Self-Employed, QuickBooks Online Advanced, QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, QuickBooks Desktop for Mac, QuickBooks Desktop Pro (opens in new tab) , QuickBooks Premier and QuickBooks Enterprise. However, it is possible to create a custom package using the help of the QuickBooks team if you need a more bespoke option.
- Want to try QuickBooks? Check out the website here (opens in new tab)
With such a wide variety of QuickBooks options you’ll find that pricing is similarly expansive and there are often deals to be had too. At the time of writing QuickBooks Online (opens in new tab) , for example, has 70% off for three months. Ordinarily though QuickBooks Online Simple Start (opens in new tab) is $25.00 a month, Essentials (opens in new tab) is $40 a month, Plus is $70.00 a month and Advanced (opens in new tab) $150. If you’re a freelancer then the Self-Employed (opens in new tab) package costs $15. There are custom options too, so for example it is possible to purchase QuickBooks Online, Payroll and Setup together.
For the UK QuickBooks has business accounting options that include Simple Start (opens in new tab) , for £12 per month, Essentials (opens in new tab) for £20 per month and Plus (opens in new tab) for £30 per month. Deals are often available on these prices too however, with a free trial for good measure. Freelancers with self-assessment needs can also plump for the self-employed package (opens in new tab) at £8 per month. Accountants and bookkeepers can also talk to QuickBooks about getting a package tailored to suit their needs.
The QuickBooks Online subscription plans have an advantage that they will work on any platform via the browser, and also have integration with the iOS and Android apps for use on a smartphone or tablet. For those that prefer the downloadable software, it works for both the Windows and Macintosh OS’, but unfortunately there is no mobile app support.
The QuickBooks Online plans also enjoys other advantages as well over the downloaded version. This includes capturing receipts via the camera on the smartphone, which can then be easily linked to capturing expenses. It also integrates easily with other apps, including PayPal.
Support has been improved for QuickBooks and it now has a wealth of different options to choose from if you're in need of help. This includes an online help hub, with lots of documentation, videos and other training resources. There's also a blog, a vibrant community and lots of social media too. Depending on your package level, you might also have access to a Pro Advisor, although this option only comes with the package of the same name.
Final verdict
For a small business without a dedicated accounting department, or even a sole accountant, QuickBooks (opens in new tab) offers an attractive solution to managing the finances. The fundamental bookkeeping ingredients are all here, covering invoices, payroll, estimates, employee time tracking, sales tax, inventory tracking, and is able to sync bank transactions. The online versions clearly have a better set of features than the downloadable version.
Our concern is that this full feature set comes at a higher price than some competitors, which include FreshBooks , Xero , Sage Business Cloud Accounting , Kashoo , Zoho Books and Kashflow to name just a few. Compounding this issue is that as the additional services such as payroll and time tracking are added on to the base package, the costs go up even higher. While a seriously cash strapped business may be better off looking elsewhere for more of a value bookkeeping solution, for the small business that can make use of the wide range of available bookkeeping features, QuickBooks via the online subscription remains an attractive choice.
Read our review of QuickBooks Online here (opens in new tab)
Read our review of QuickBooks Desktop Pro here (opens in new tab)
- We've also highlighted the best accounting software in this roundup
Jonas P. DeMuro is a freelance reviewer covering wireless networking hardware.
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QuickBooks Online Review 2023: Pros, Cons, Alternatives
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Table of Contents
QuickBooks Online at a glance
How does quickbooks online work, pricing and features, benefits of quickbooks online, drawbacks of quickbooks online, awards for quickbooks online, quickbooks online alternatives.
Known as the industry standard for small-business accounting software , Intuit’s QuickBooks Online is a solid choice for a variety of businesses, especially those that plan to regularly work with bookkeepers or accountants. Its four plans and add-on services offer a high level of functionality, flexibility and scalability.
Although QuickBooks Online is user-friendly, there can be a learning curve, particularly if you’re unfamiliar with the basic principles of accounting . Additionally, QuickBooks can be expensive for many businesses, even more so if you add on time tracking or payroll. Competitors can offer simpler, more affordable alternatives.
After you sign up for QuickBooks Online, you’ll be able to log in to your account and access the main dashboard view. If you’re moving to QuickBooks from another accounting software, you can import your existing files to your new account.
The main dashboard will give an overview of your QuickBooks account, showing your profit and loss overview, invoices, expenses and sales.
Using the Banking tab on the left side of the dashboard, you can connect your bank and credit card accounts so that QuickBooks automatically downloads transactions and categorizes them for you. Later, when reconciling your books, you’ll be able to review these transactions in the For Review tab within the Banking menu.
Next, you can customize invoices, set up automatic sales tax tracking (if necessary) and learn how to enter mobile receipts and bills. You can edit all of your business’s account settings using the gear icon in the upper right corner.
If you want to invite your bookkeeper or accountant to your QuickBooks Online account, you can do so using the My Accountant tab or the Manage Users page in Settings — you can also search for an accountant if you don’t already have one.
This video helps explain how to set up and navigate QuickBooks Online.
Promotional discounts may apply. All plans include access to QuickBooks Online mobile apps, customer support and third-party app integrations. Add-on services — including QuickBooks Payroll , QuickBooks Time and QuickBooks Payments — will incur separate costs.
Need accounting software for your side hustle ? QuickBooks offers a separate product — QuickBooks Self-Employed — designed for freelancers and independent contractors, with plans starting at $15 per month.
Robust feature set
QuickBooks Online ranks high for its selection of features, which includes reporting, invoicing, inventory management and mobile app functionality. Here are a few features, in particular, that stand out:
Record-keeping and reporting: It’s easy to keep thorough, detailed records with QuickBooks Online. When you’re adding an expense, for example, you have the option of adding reference numbers, permit numbers, attachments and memos. You can also split the expense into multiple categories or items.
You aren't required to fill out every field in an expense or income entry, but the more detailed your records are, the more useful certain reports can be. For example, with QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced, you can track inventory and do job costing — that is, you can figure out how much you spent to complete a certain project.
Even without those higher-level plans, you can create custom tags and run reports to show where you make and spend the most money. These features can help you organize your finances and provide insights such as cost-cutting opportunities or sales trends that you can use to improve and grow your business.
Inventory management: With QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced, you can track inventory and cost of goods, and set up reorder points. You can also create purchase orders, manage vendors and sync your inventory with third-party platforms like Amazon and Shopify.
Competitors like Xero and FreshBooks offer basic inventory tracking for less, but it isn’t as advanced.
Integrations include live, in-house bookkeeping
QuickBooks Online gives you access to a marketplace of over 750 apps, including third-party tools as well as QuickBooks add-ons. One of those add-ons is QuickBooks Live for bookkeeping. The solution is ideal for business owners who’d like to step away from day-to-day bookkeeping tasks and outsource them elsewhere to save time.
QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets), another add-on, lets you track employee time directly inside QuickBooks and approve timesheets. Other apps can help you prepare for taxes, get business funding, run payroll, manage customer accounts and generate various financial reports and insights. Some apps (including QuickBooks Time and QuickBooks Live) have associated fees, whereas others are free.
» MORE: NerdWallet's best small-business apps
Easy to find QuickBooks resources
Whether you decide to manage your bookkeeping on your own or work with a professional, you’ll have no trouble accessing online resources for QuickBooks Online . The company offers video tutorials, webinars and training classes, as well as community forums, support topics and other resources on its website. You have the option of contacting QuickBooks customer support directly for any help you may need too.
You can also use QuickBooks’ ProAdvisor network to find certified accountants and bookkeepers. Given QuickBooks Online’s number of users, accountants outside of the network should be familiar with the software.
Monthly plans can be expensive
QuickBooks Online Simple Start costs $30 per month, includes only one account user (plus access for two accountants) and does not offer time tracking, bill pay or inventory management. For multiple users, time tracking and bill pay, you’ll need to upgrade to Essentials — $55 per month — and for inventory management, you’ll need to opt for Plus at $85 per month.
Competitors can offer plans with lower monthly fees and similar features. For example, Xero prices range from $13 to $70 per month and include unlimited users and inventory management in all plans. Similarly, FreshBooks ranges from $17 to $55 per month, with time tracking in all plans.
» MORE: Top QuickBooks Online alternatives
Learning curve
QuickBooks Online is easiest to use if you have some knowledge of basic accounting concepts. Whereas you might be able to use some software alternatives without explanation, it may take some time to get the hang of QuickBooks. You’ll get more out of the product, however, if you understand its full functionality.
Watching tutorials, reading support pages or consulting experts for advice are all great options to learn how to use QuickBooks Online for your business.
QuickBooks Online earned a spot as one of the best products in NerdWallet roundups for these categories:
Business software.
Small-business accounting software.
Construction accounting software.
Consultant accounting software.
Farm accounting software.
Freelancer accounting software.
Property management accounting software.
Small retail business accounting software.
SaaS businesses accounting software.
Small manufacturing business accounting software.
Pricing: Lite plan starts at $17 per month.
Pros: With a robust mobile app, FreshBooks is a strong option for freelancers and independent contractors, as well as self-employed professionals on the go. All FreshBooks plans have a client self-service portal, estimates, invoices, time tracking and expense tracking. This software also offers mobile mileage tracking, basic inventory tracking and live phone support.
Cons: With the Lite and Plus versions of FreshBooks, you’re limited to five and 50 billable clients, respectively. Additionally, double-entry reports and accountant access don’t come with all plans, and you have to pay to add team members to your account: $10 per person per month.
» MORE: FreshBooks vs. QuickBooks Online
Pricing: Early plan starts at $13 per month.
Pros: Like QuickBooks Online, Xero is a powerful and fully functional accounting software. Xero offers lower-priced plans with unlimited users and inventory management included in each. Additionally, Xero is known for its user-friendly and intuitive setup and design.
Cons: With Xero’s Early plan, you can send/approve only 20 quotes and invoices and enter five bills. It also includes time tracking only in the highest-level plan — the Established plan ($70 per month). Finally, Xero’s customer service is lacking. There is no live chat support and while a representative will call you if necessary, the company doesn’t provide a phone number to customers.
» MORE: Xero vs. QuickBooks Online
Pricing: Free. Add-ons will have associated costs.
Pros: Wave is one of the only truly free accounting software options on the market. Wave is easy to use, offers unlimited invoicing, income and expense tracking, bank and credit card connections, as well as account users. The Payments add-on also allows you to accept credit card and ACH payments and set up recurring billing.
Cons: Wave does not offer some of the more advanced features that competitors can provide — such as third-party integrations or project profitability. Additionally, it only offers self-serve support through its Help Center or chatbot, unless you subscribe to a paid Wave service like Wave Payroll. In that case, you can chat online with a live agent.
» MORE: Wave vs. QuickBooks Online
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including scope of features and integrations, customer support and cost, among others. Learn more about how we rate small-business accounting software .
These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. Simplicity doesn't always translate into ease of use. Less scalable products are typically simpler, but diminished functionality can cause headaches down the road for growing businesses. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines .
QuickBooks Online Review 2023: Pricing, Pros & Cons
Updated: Dec 16, 2022, 8:55pm
Our Verdict
QuickBooks Online is cloud-based accounting software that covers all the accounting needs you may have. It’s a subscription-based service that is good for various industries and beneficial to those who regularly work with a bookkeeper or accountant because you can give them access to your files. Read our comprehensive QuickBooks Online review to decide if this popular accounting software is the best choice for your needs and budget.
- Widely used with bookkeepers and accountants
- Easy way to track finances
- Straightforward implementation
- Expensive subscription
- Limited support
- Learning curve for corrections can be frustrating
Table of Contents
Quickbooks online basics: at a glance, other benefits, how quickbooks online stacks up, is quickbooks online right for you or your business, frequently asked questions (faqs).
QuickBooks Online made it to our Best Accounting Software for Small Business list because it is a comprehensive platform that checks all the boxes for accounting, invoicing and expense tracking. If you aren’t sure about the product, you can give it a 30-day test run with 100% capabilities of the Simple Start Plan to see if it meets your needs.
QuickBooks Online has four pricing tiers and offers 50% off for the first three months when you purchase. The first tier is the Simple Start Plan at $15 per month for the first three months, then is $30 per month. This plan gives you all the basics needed to run your business accounting, including income and expense monitoring, invoice and payment capability, tax deductions, receipt capture and mileage tracking.
Moving up to the Essentials Plan, you’ll pay $27.50 per month for the first three months, $45 per month. This plan adds up to three users to the account so that the right people have access to data at their fingertips. It also gives you bill management and collects employee time for invoices to add them for proper billing.
The Plus Plan is $42.50 per month for the first three months, then becomes $84 per month, and adds up to five users. It also has inventory management and gives you the ability to project profitability with forecasting reports. The Advanced Plan is the final tier for $100 per month for the first three months, then reverts to $200 per month. This allows more users and increases analytics for users to assess the business’s health. There is workflow automation, data restoration, batch invoices and expenses and on-demand training. This plan also gives you a dedicated account team to help with training, troubleshooting and setup.
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A popular add-on is the payroll feature where you can run payroll and access benefits in one convenient place. It does cost more to access this, which is approximately $22.50 more per month plus $5 per employee, per month. Computing taxes and using the correct forms are part of the plan. When subscribing to this service, you’ll get a 1099 e-file of forms and a next-day direct deposit. Higher tier plans allow for same-day deposit.
While QuickBooks Online is very popular among business owners, some have problems with the system. Problems stem from the complexity of making simple fixes, such as miscategorizations or duplicate entries. Support is limited, so users are left reading help articles rather than getting a live person to help.
Another cumbersome feature that users don’t like is the requirement that clients must establish their own accounts to pay an invoice. Other popular merchant processors don’t require this, making collecting payments more difficult.
QuickBooks Online is a leader in the accounting industry with it being the bookkeeping software of choice for many accountants, certified public accountants (CPAs) and bookkeepers. When comparing it to other bookkeeping providers, such as FreshBooks and Xero, we note that all three have a 30-day free trial to test the system out. This is important to note since you’ll want to make sure that it is capable of doing what you need in a manner that you understand and can digest.
It’s important to note that FreshBooks is the most competitively priced software solution we found. While QuickBooks Online is only 50 cents more than Xero, note that that is the introductory cost for the first three months. QuickBooks Online goes to $30 per month after that and is easily our most expensive option.
One area where the competitors stand out is with support. QuickBooks Online has support for its lowest tiered plan limited to community support and help articles. Both FreshBooks and Xero offer support for all subscribers, although Xero is limited to online support, whereas FreshBooks has phone support.
QuickBooks Online is a good option for many small businesses that are looking to make invoicing customers easy and integrate invoicing and payments into the general ledger. Small businesses can customize how they use the platform so that they only use the features they need.
Those who want to take their accounting on the go will appreciate the mobile app. It brings most of the features of the online platform, plus it enables mileage tracking and receipt capture for quick and convenient recordkeeping.
How do I get QuickBooks Online for free?
When you register as an educator or a student, you can get the program free after a validation process.
What is the difference between QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online?
The inventory management and job costing features are more robust in QuickBooks compared to QuickBooks Online.
What do accountants think of QuickBooks Online?
Intuit reports that 94% of accounting professionals feel QuickBooks Online saves them time and thus saves their clients’ money.
How many different versions of QuickBooks are there?
Currently, there are six different versions of Intuit’s QuickBooks :
- QuickBooks Online: Best for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with up to 25 users; a cloud-based version of QuickBooks; provides more than 650 integrations with other software
- QuickBooks Self-Employed: Best for freelancers and solopreneurs
- QuickBooks Pro: Good for SMBs; ideal for up to three users; offers more advanced features than QuickBooks Online as well as additional software integrations
- QuickBooks Premier: Ideal for medium-sized businesses with up to five users; best for industry-specific companies; also offers advanced features
- QuickBooks Enterprise: Best for large companies with up to 40 users; even more advanced features than QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Enterprise
- QuickBooks for Mac Plus: Best for SMBs for up to three users; similar to QuickBooks Pro
Is accounting software secure?
Today’s leading accounting platforms offer standard security features such as data encryption, secure credential tokenization and more. While human error will always play some role in security breaches, you can be confident in your accounting platform when it comes to keeping your information safe.
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Intuit QuickBooks Online Review
An exceptional small business accounting service
I write about money. I’ve been reviewing tax software and services as a freelancer for PCMag since 1993. Along the way, I took on reviews of other types of business and personal finance technology. Prior to that, I had spent a few years writing about productivity and entertainment applications for 8-bit personal computers (my first one was a Commodore VIC-20) as a member of the editorial staff at Compute!
The Bottom Line
Intuit QuickBooks Online is the best online accounting application for small businesses thanks to its depth, flexibility, and extensibility.
- Excellent user experience
- Dual-screen dashboard
- In-depth contact records and transaction forms
- Numerous customizable reports
- Supports projects, payroll, and many add-ons
- Great mobile apps
- Confusing toolbar
- Online support could be better
- Intuit QuickBooks Online Specs
Intuit's QuickBooks Online is the best online accounting application for small businesses trying to automate their accounting. QuickBooks Online offers an effective blend of flexibility, usability, financial features, and extensibility. As such, it's our Editors' Choice winner for small businesses and their accounting needs.
Since our last review, the company has improved the dashboard (now a two-screen tool), the navigation toolbar, invoicing, and transaction categorization. It's also made a few cosmetic changes. Intuit rolls out its enhancements slowly, so when you use QuickBooks Online, you may or may not see all these changes yet.
- How Much Does QuickBooks Online Cost?
QuickBooks Online comes in four versions, all of which look and work similarly and offer a 30-day free trial. We tested the Plus version for this review.
Simple Start costs $30 per month and is designed for microbusinesses. You can track expenses and income, create and send invoices and estimates, connect to your bank accounts, receive online payments, run basic reports, and track sales tax, among other things.
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The $55 per-month Essentials plan does everything Simple Start does and adds bill management, support for up to three users, and time tracking.
For $85 per month, the Plus plan adds the ability to track inventory and project profitability. It also increases the number of people you can have on the account to five.
The Advanced version costs $200 per month. It supports up to 25 users and includes numerous advanced features, such as enhanced analysis and support and automated workflows. The Advanced plan is geared toward larger businesses that might otherwise need to consider midrange accounting solutions.
If you're a new user, you may be eligible for a promotion that gives you 50 percent off these prices for three months. After that, the sticker price kicks in. If the Plus version—which is what we recommend for small businesses that process more than 500 transactions annually—offers more functionality than you need at a price you can't afford, one of the more junior versions might suffice for you. You can always upgrade to a more powerful level as your business grows.
Unlike some other competitors, Intuit does not offer discounts for paying annually.
If you like Intuit products but need less than what's described above, you might consider the version aimed at freelancers and sole proprietors, Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed ($15 per month). It includes basic business and personal expense tracking, barebones invoicing, automatic mileage tracking, basic time tracking, and help estimating quarterly income taxes.
- How Do QuickBooks' Prices Compare?
Besides being the overall best accounting service for small businesses that I've reviewed, QuickBooks Online Plus is also the most expensive. You can get lower-cost options that are still very good.
For example, Zoho Books , another Editors' Choice winner, ranges from free to $60 per month for its small business applications, and more for advanced versions. It provides so much functionality and flexibility at its senior level that it can be overwhelming to very small businesses, however. Xero ($12–$65 per month), which rivals Intuit QuickBooks Online in some areas, doesn't have as good a user experience, and it has a more daunting learning curve. Patriot Software Accounting Premium is $30 per month, a low price considering what it offers. It's a good choice for budget-conscious business owners who don’t need to track inventory or time and are satisfied with simple customer and vendor records.
- Is QuickBooks Online Safe to Use?
Intuit’s fraud prevention technology constantly scans the company’s systems and blocks individuals who are up to no good. Employees proactively search for scams and frauds that might impact QuickBooks customers. Multi-factor authentication is required, and the company safeguards your data using AES-256 (Advanced Encryption Standard with 256-bit keys), which ensures the highest level of cryptographic security. Intuit also participates in established partnerships with multiple security organizations and alliances to help make sure that your data is protected by the best methods available. In a word, yes, it's safe.
- Getting Started
Before you start creating transactions in QuickBooks Online, you go through a brief setup process to give the service some basic information about your business. You answer a few simple questions as they're presented, and QuickBooks works in the background to change some of the core settings to accommodate your specific type of business. When you're finished, you land on the site’s home page.
Intuit added a great new step in onboarding last year that was initially only available to brand-new users. You connect your bank accounts, and then QuickBooks quizzes you about specific transactions, asking whether a designated category would be appropriate for a particular expense. If it is, QuickBooks asks if it should always assign that category to that particular vendor. You can then set up rules for classifying transactions automatically, which saves you a lot of time later when you're reviewing your accounts.
- Working With Existing Data
There are two ways to get existing data into QuickBooks Online: import them or manually add them. If you've been saving your accounting data in files that can be exported to CSV or Excel formats, then you can import customer and vendor files, products and services, and your Chart of Accounts. Importing data from one accounting application to another, or even from Excel, can be challenging and may require the help of an accountant.
Alternatively, it's possible to jump in and start manually adding transactions, in which case you have to enter customer information, item records, and so on. If you take this approach, you may find that a feature you need hasn't been activated, or that you need to connect your bank accounts and set up a payment processor. The best course is to explore the Account and Settings area first, which has a series of tabs for Company, Billing & Subscription, Usage, Sales, Expenses, Payments, Time, and Advanced.
The Sales tab shows you your options for your sales forms' content and layout. For example, you can specify default terms for invoices and include or exclude fields like Shipping, Custom Fields, and Discount. Additionally, you can choose to turn on features like inventory tracking, late fees, and progress invoicing.
- An Exceptional User Experience
Intuit is known for producing exceptional user experiences in its applications. Intuit QuickBooks Online is no exception, though I have to take issue with the arrangements of features in the new toolbar. It used to be relatively easy to know which link to click to get where you wanted to go. This time I found myself frequently clicking through the toolbar’s new links until I got used to the new configuration. As I mentioned, Intuit rolls changes out slowly, so you may not see the new toolbar I’m describing just yet.
QuickBooks Online still displays a vertical pane on the left with tabs for each major part of the service. Instead of the straightforward links we used to see, like Transactions, Sales, and Reports, there are entries like Commerce and Customers & Leads. The Commerce link takes you to a page about QuickBooks Commerce, which is a relatively new Intuit service that allows you to connect to Amazon, eBay, or Shopify—as long as you only sell in US dollars in the US, don’t track inventory in Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus, and don’t go through a third-party payment processor like PayPal or Authorize.net. The Customers & Leads link opens the Customer list and Marketing. The latter is a link to MailChimp , which Intuit now owns.
Click on one and submenus slide out, revealing major features that don’t appear in the main toolbar. For example, when you click on Get Paid and Pay, the submenu includes links to functions like Customers, Invoices, Time, and Products & services. Reports and Projects are hidden under Business overview, rather than being separate entries. Transactions are tucked under the Bookkeeping entry. You can learn the setup with time, but it’s confusing at first since it’s such a drastic change.
Icons in the upper right open additional tools, including search, help, and your Intuit account information. The Account and Settings options bring you to products and services, attachments, and recurring transactions, as well as tools for budgeting, data import and export, an audit log, and so forth. In the upper left is a button labeled New that opens pages most people need frequently, such as those for creating records or transactions and adjusting inventory.
The application’s internal screens are well-designed, attractive, and intuitive. In fact, QuickBooks Online's user experience is superior to that of all competitors in this group of small business accounting websites. QuickBooks Online was created to serve non-accountants and novice bookkeepers, and its user interface and navigation tools contribute to its ease of use.
- Get Things Done From the Home Page
The first thing you see when you sign in is a page called Get things done, with a series of graphical flow charts that illustrate a typical workflow for a small business. It's divided into Vendors, Customers, Employees, Company, and Banking. This page is self-explanatory and interactive. When you click on Estimates, for example, you're taken to the estimate form. This interactive page might be especially helpful for beginners, but experienced users might also prefer it to the toolbar (though it doesn’t contain absolutely everything).
The second tab opens your Business overview. It shows the tools and data more typically found on a dashboard, such as graphs for income and expense status, profitability, sales totals, and account balances. This page also has a link to your account registers. You can change the date range on most of the charts and click a tiny link hidden in the far lower right corner to open the Audit Log, which the Admin can use to monitor user activity.
- How Thorough Are Data Records?
One of the advantages of using an online accounting application is that once you enter a bit of information, you rarely have to enter it again. For example, if you create records containing details about customers and vendors, products, and services, you can access those records when you create transactions and reports. Intuit QuickBooks Online is only rivaled by Zoho Books when it comes to the thoroughness and flexibility of its record templates, though it has fewer custom fields than Zoho Books.
Beyond contact information fields, customer data entry templates contain sections for notes and attachments, tax information, payment preferences, and additional information. Intuit added a new language field a couple of years ago, so you can now create and send sales forms in any of six languages.
Once you complete a record, the site displays this information and more in a kind of home page for each customer. You can switch between an interactive transaction list, customer details, projects, and late fees. The last column in the transaction table contains links to actions you can take, like receive payments, send reminders, and create invoices. These customer pages aren't as detailed as what you get in Zoho Books, but they cover much more than the basics.
Vendor records are handled similarly. They can contain account numbers, terms, billing rates, and opening balances, in addition to other details.
- How Do You Access Information About Your Sales?
Small businesses need detailed, up-to-date information about the changing status of their sales efforts. Intuit QuickBooks Online provides it, but it’s spread throughout the site.
The new navigation system makes it a little hard to find sales status information if you’re used to the old arrangement. I finally clicked Bookkeeping and found the old All Sales page, which has a multicolored bar across the top that gives you instant information about the status of your accounts receivable. It tells you how many pending estimates you've issued, along with the total dollar amount. It does the same for open invoices and credits and overdue invoices, and invoices paid recently. When you click a tab in the colored bar, the list below changes to reflect only the transactions represented by those totals.
You can select a subset of those transactions and complete batch actions, like printing packing slips or sending reminders. You can also filter the customer list and access the underlying transactions by clicking them. The final two columns in the table display the entry's status (like paid or due) and links to any related actions, like receive payment or void. You can export the list to Excel or print it, and you can modify the columns.
To find additional sales information, you click Get Paid & Pay in the navigation toolbar. There are several entries here that take you to various sections of the site, like Customers, Invoices, Estimates, and Products & services.
- Bills and Expenses
Vendor and bill information is also available by clicking Get Paid & Pay. Vendor records are not as detailed as customer records, but Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus builds home pages for them as it does with customers. You can see a list of vendor-related transactions and create more there, including expenses.
It’s as easy to create a bill as it is an invoice. You select a vendor and complete the rest of the fields on the form primarily by selecting from drop-down lists. If you incurred the expense on behalf of a customer, you can mark it as billable, select the customer, and add markup if you want. You can add attachments, designate tags, and make the bill recurring. As you’re saving the bill, you can schedule it for bill pay through Intuit QuickBooks Online Bill Pay (fees may apply).
- Product Tracking
QuickBooks Online's product records are some of the best you'll find in small business accounting applications. They offer individual templates for both inventory and non-inventory parts, services, and bundles (assemblies). Inventory record templates include fields for both item sales and purchase information, with corresponding costs and accounts. If you want to track inventory, you can enter a starting quantity on hand within the record, and the system will continue to track it, so you know when to reorder or stop stocking particular items. You can also see how many items are on purchase orders already. When necessary, you can adjust stock levels.
If you've created service records because of your company's offerings, you can track billable and non-billable time as single activities or timesheets. Individual timed activity records are very basic, with fields for details like employee or vendor name, service provided, and start/end times. You can select a customer and make the timed activity billable (and at what rate). There’s no automated timer for a single activity entry within QuickBooks Online Plus itself.
But the Plus edition does include a subscription to QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets ). QuickBooks Time is a robust time-tracking application that offers advanced individual activity time-tracking and much more, like employee time clocks and shift scheduling.
- Reconciling Bank Accounts
Intuit QuickBooks Online takes some of the sting out of one of the most dreaded of accounting tasks: account reconciliation. The site supports the standard reconciliation process, where you compare your monthly statement to what you see online and try to get the difference between the two closing numbers to zero. To simplify this process, Intuit QuickBooks Online now pulls in your bank statements as well as your individual transactions. Still, this chore can be so frustrating and time-consuming that some businesses pay their accountants to do it.
You can simplify reconciliation by being proactive and reconciling individual transactions regularly. When new transactions move into your account registers from your bank, you can 1) verify and add them, 2) ask Intuit QuickBooks Online to find a matching transaction in your online records, like a payment for an invoice, or 3) record them as transfers (Intuit has simplified the formerly head-scratching process of recording transfers).
As you review transactions, you must pay special attention to how they’re categorized so your bookkeeping, taxes, and reports are accurate. The site suggests categories automatically, and it's better than it used to be, but far from perfect. You can mark transactions as billable to a customer, add attachments, create a rule, and so on.
- Creating Projects
Intuit added a new feature to Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus two years ago: project profitability. If you document your projects conscientiously, you can see the profit percentage for each one at any point. Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus provides the most comprehensive coverage of this task of all the sites we reviewed. Knowing how profitable each project is can help you make better business decisions in the future in terms of variables like pricing and time allocation.
Once you've named a new project and designated the related customer, you simply assign items (invoices, payments, expenses, estimates, time, purchase orders, and bills) to specific projects. QuickBooks Online creates a home page for each project, showing you at a glance its current income and expenses by category. Besides this overview, you can see lists of related transactions and time activities, as well as project reports. Your current profit always appears on the page.
- Mileage Tracker
Intuit brought a popular feature from QuickBooks Self-Employed to Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus: mileage tracking via mobile app. You enter the starting and ending addresses for a trip and the QuickBooks calculates miles driven and the mileage deduction for your income taxes. Or you can enter the number of miles driven yourself. The mobile app also offers auto-tracking. You turn on your mobile device's location services, and your mileage is automatically recorded.
- What If You Need Help?
While QuickBooks Online is designed for non-accountants, new users will likely have questions. Online help files have improved over the years, though they're not as good as Xero's. Some questions take you directly to content created by Intuit employees, and other times you get answers from non-Intuit individuals.
An automated bot, QB Assistant, can “converse” with you to get answers to questions. It actually works well. I asked about account reconciliations and got a brief explanation as well as links to tutorials and options to dive deeper into the topic.
Web-based community support and help via chat or email are helpful, but the site is complex enough that more targeted online support is warranted. I hope the company continues to improve this critical element. Some users may need to get personal support from an accountant or one of QuickBooks' certified ProAdvisors, both of which involve additional fees, as they would with any accounting application.
- QuickBooks Checking
QuickBooks Checking, available through Green Dot Bank (FDIC insured), is a checking account with no fees (not even overdrafts) or minimums. You can use it like any other checking account you’d set up in QuickBooks Online to receive payments from customers (through QuickBooks Payments) and pay bills. You deposit money into it from an external bank account, too. If you want to save money for expenses or to meet goals, you can stash it in “envelopes,” which as of this writing earns 1.25% APY. Simple cash flow forecasting is supported, and you get a debit card that is accepted at over 19,000 no-fee AllPoint ATMs.
Money By QuickBooks is a mobile app that anyone can use, an is especially for very new businesses just starting out that aren’t ready for an accounting application yet. It’s similar to QuickBooks Checking, but it adds the ability to receive payments from customers online. It’s not integrated with Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus.
- The Best Reports
No other accounting service does reports as well as QuickBooks Online, though Xero has added new filters to some of its report templates, and Zoho Books offers roughly as many, though they're not as customizable. I had a hard time finding reports at first because there’s no toolbar entry for them. (Look under Business Overview.)
QuickBooks Online Plus has dozens of exceptionally modifiable report templates. Most are standard reports that are broken down into the site's core functions, such as sales and customers, expenses and vendors, accounts receivable and payable, sales tax, and accountant reports. You can save modified reports, which then appear in a list of custom reports. And three management reports provide more complex views of your company, sales, and expenses.
- How Good Are the QuickBooks Mobile Apps?
Intuit's Android app and iOS app don't replicate absolutely all the browser-based version's capabilities, but they provide enough abbreviated tools that you can get a lot of your accounting work done, especially considering changes that Intuit has made to the apps two years ago. For example, the content and navigation systems were reorganized, and Contact records now contain both historical data and buttons that let you quickly call or email the contact. You also get a map showing the contact’s location. Transaction forms like invoices are nearly as detailed as they are on the desktop. These improved forms have a new Deposit field, too.
As to what you can't do from the mobile apps, customer/vendor and product records are not as comprehensive as they are in the full version. You can't create or manage projects, pay contractors, or define sales taxes. You don't get interactive views in areas like sales and expenses. And there are only two reports.
QuickBooks' mobile apps now have two tabs at the top of the home page that let you toggle between the dashboard and recent activity. The Today icon opens the dashboard, which displays links to commonly used functions at the top, followed by a to-do list. There are links to transaction activity and to the QB Assistant. A series of interactive charts and lists highlight key financial data. Account balances appear at the bottom.
A second navigation button, labeled My Business, displays a chart showing your profit for the current month, a link to transactions that need to be categorized, and a mileage report. A third one takes you directly to a cash flow screen so you can get a quick, real-time read on your company's cash flow. Finally, the Menu icon opens to a screen full of shortcuts to commonly used functions. Click the All tab at the top of the screen, and a comprehensive navigation menu opens.
Many pages also have a plus sign for quickly adding records, transactions, accounts, and so forth. The app uses graphics and color to liven up the screens and highlight important data and functions, which makes them both attractive and intuitive.
Intuit has also improved expense management, especially the receipt capture function. You can scan a receipt with your phone and the app captures and transfers key data to an Intuit QuickBooks Online expense form. It took less than a minute in my tests. It pulled in the date, description, and amount. It guessed the category correctly, even though the receipt was from a new vendor in my company file. The only things I had to enter were the payment account and the billable customer. Of course, the quality and layout of the original receipt can affect performance.
- Payroll and Add-Ons
QuickBooks Online is one of only a few small business accounting services that has a companion payroll solution built in (it can also be used as a standalone tool). The others that offer it are Sage 50cloud Accounting and Patriot Software . Intuit’s companion piece offers three levels of integrated payroll as add-ons: Core, Premium, and Elite. Check out our full review of Intuit QuickBooks Payroll for more details.
QuickBooks Online's reach goes far beyond its own payroll application. Both it and Xero support hundreds of third-party applications that expand their functionality. If there's some related task QuickBooks Online can't do, chances are good you can find an add-on that can.
- Should You Use QuickBooks Online?
Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus earns our Editors' Choice award for offering a tremendously effective blend of accounting functionality in a well-designed interface. Its flexibility (easy customization), extensibility (multiple versions and hundreds of add-on apps), and nearly comprehensive mobile access surpass those of its rivals. It's been the small business accounting website to beat for years, though there are many strong contenders, including Zoho Books , another Editors' Choice winner, which may be better if you need advanced functionality.
We recommend Intuit QuickBooks Online so highly because its simplicity belies its depth. It's truly intuitive and deep: easy enough for an inexperienced bookkeeper to learn, but feature-rich enough that a more demanding user can make use of its advanced accounting tools. Intuit QuickBooks Online Plus continues to hit the sweet spot for a wide variety of businesses and a broad range of needs and skills.
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After working at Lawson Associates, now Lawson Software, I switched my focus to accounting but learned that personal computer applications were more progressive and interesting to cover than mainframe solutions. So I served as editor of a monthly newsletter that provided support for accountants who were just starting to use PCs. I still ghostwrite monthly how-to columns for accounting professionals. From there, I went on to write articles and reviews for numerous business and financial publications, including Barron’s and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine.
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- Table of Contents
Quickbooks Online
About Quickbooks Online
Awards and recognition.
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Quickbooks Online Reviews
Overall rating, ratings breakdown, secondary ratings.
Ease-of-use
Customer Support
Value for money
Functionality
Most Helpful Reviews for Quickbooks Online
1 - 5 of 4,922 Reviews
2 - 10 employees
Used unspecified
OVERALL RATING :
Reviewed September 2021
Quickbooks Online User Review
Verified reviewer
Information Technology and Services , 2-10 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
EASE OF USE
VALUE FOR MONEY
FUNCTIONALITY
Reviewed November 2022
One of the Best Accounting Software for Small to Mid-sized businesses
Quickbooks online is our main tool and resource to have a quick snapshot of our accounting, sales, taxes, and profit/loss reports. Also, Quickbooks is our invoicing software and CRM.
The onboarding and migration of our company data from an offline software to Quickbooks Online was way faster than we expected. Aside from that, QuickBooks has been our main and preferred accounting and invoicing tool since 2018.
I believe Quickbooks Online reports are not that customizable like the offline Quickbooks versions. Also, there are differences managing multiple companies. We need to create and buy separate Quickbooks Online accounts for each of our companies and with the offline versions we just had to buy one set of licenses, that allowed us to manage multiple company files.
Reason for choosing Quickbooks Online
Previous experience with Quickbooks offline versions.
Reasons for switching to Quickbooks Online
I believe Quickbooks Online has more features that we need to manage our entire business than Xero. I think Xero focuses more on accounting.
Environmental Services , 2-10 employees
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Reviewed December 2022
Cant beat it...
After adding a third-party Project Management program we have no issue with the platform.
This is the easiest, most intuitive, and most modern accounting platform available for small businesses.
The project management feature is lacking in that there is no differentiation between fixed fee and time and material projects.
It is integrated with a wide array of third-party software. Also, our accountant was very familiar with it.
Accounting , 11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 12 months
Reviewed January 2023
Paying monthly for a less capable product than Quickbooks Desktop
Mostly a headache and a lot more work for accountants who were used to Quickbooks Desktop and all the functions it did automatically. Being forced into a monthly subscription as opposed to buying it outright in a Desktop version where you could it for multiple companies without additional cost; the monthly subscription for the Online version is per company so for those who have multiple companies, some of which have very little activity, Intuit still wants you to pay a monthly fee for each.
Convenience of logging in from anywhere or from any computer connected to the internet
Missing features such as net terms with percentage discounts for early payment; you have to manually create credit entries per invoice; Navigating the interface is nothing familiar and you have to search for simple components like invoices; You can't import Intuit Interchange Format or IIF files like you could in Desktop even though it's their own format; You have to use a 3rd party app to convert ascii text or tsv data from other platforms
Forced to give up Quickbooks Desktop due to Intuit fading out support for such
Accounting , 2-10 employees
Pretty decent accounting software with a good price point
I use Quickbooks on a daily basis for invoicing clients, bank reconcilliation as well as looking at the various reports. I have customised the reports to show the time period and categories that are useful for our business.
Intergrates with other accountantss practice software seemlessly. Easy to set up and get started.
You can not create a credit note from an invoice which would be useful instead you need to start from a blank document and type in the invoice information.
Partner offers and value for money.
Wave did offer the features that Quickbooks did and support for the UK preoduct was being withdrawn.
Popular Quickbooks Online Comparisons
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Salesforce Sales Cloud
Dynamics 365
Intuit QuickBooks Online Review
- QuickBooks Online is our pick for the best accounting software for small businesses.
- QuickBooks is affordable, offers a wide range of accounting features and is used by thousands of small businesses.
- For small business owners who need help managing their accounting, QuickBooks Online offers access to live bookkeepers and accountants.
- This review is for small business owners who want to learn about QuickBooks Online accounting software and why it’s our best pick for small businesses.
Small businesses need cost-effective accounting software that’s easy to use but still has the features they need to get the job done. Widely regarded as the top accounting software for small businesses, QuickBooks offers it all. With affordable pricing and various plans that suit businesses of different sizes, QuickBooks has elite features in packages that will suit a variety of businesses.
Intuit QuickBooks Online
The verdict.
QuickBooks Online from Intuit is our choice as the best business accounting software for small businesses because of its affordable pricing and array of features that make managing accounts and sending invoices easy.
QuickBooks Online Editor’s Score: 95/100
Why quickbooks online is best for small businesses .
We found QuickBooks Online to be the best accounting software for small businesses. It provides four plans ranging from $25 to $100 per month, as well as a separate Self-Employed plan that costs $15 per month. Each plan offers features that are suitable for a range of small businesses, from new startups to established companies. These four plans give you access to all the tools and reports you’ll need for accounting purposes, and you can seamlessly upgrade your plans as your business scales.
The platform is easy to set up and use, allowing you to get your accounting software up and running yourself. However, if you want extra assistance, Intuit’s professional bookkeepers can help you configure the software in a way that makes sense for your business. Additionally, QuickBooks Online allows you to create custom invoices and forms so your company’s branding is always at the forefront of client-facing communications. For the features and services you get, this software is a bargain.
- QuickBooks is easy to set up and use.
- The well-priced plans serve different needs.
- There are customizable invoices and forms.
- Each plan has a limited number of users.
- If you have multiple businesses, you will need multiple subscriptions.
QuickBooks Online has an easy setup that begins with making sure you are directed to the appropriate plan. To get started, you answer questions about your business to help Intuit determine which plan is best for you. The process should take only a few minutes.
When you’ve decided on a plan, you will be able to access the QuickBooks dashboard, where you can connect and manage your accounts. The process is seamless, and question prompts guide you while you enter your financial information. You also have the choice to import any saved data from previous accounting software or to enter the information manually.
Once you input the data, you can review your account balances and access your workflows and reports from the dashboard. The Business Overview tab is especially helpful, as it offers a breakdown of your company’s cash flow, profitability, expenses, income and sales.
QuickBooks Online Features
Small business owners need accounting software that will save them time while ensuring their financial records are accurate and up to date. QuickBooks Online easily lives up to this expectation by providing the following features:
Workflow Automation
QuickBooks Online automates tasks, making accounting less time-consuming and less stressful for small business owners. Using the software, you can send recurring invoices and payment reminders, sync data from bank and credit card transactions, and reconcile expenses, all of which eliminate the need to do so manually. Manual data entry is not only tedious and time-consuming but also opens the door to human error that creates inaccuracies or redundancies in your books.
Expense and Profitability Tracking
With QuickBooks Online, you will never have to wonder where your transactions are. The program automatically tracks your income and expenses and then sorts them into categories. Everything is organized automatically. You can also create custom rules so expenses are properly sorted in the system. For example, you can create custom rules to categorize tax-deductible expenses separately from nondeductible expenses, thus making it even easier to review your deductions at tax time.
QuickBooks Online spares you from the laborious task of creating financial reports from scratch, thanks to the software’s built-in reports, which include the trial balance, general ledger and 1099 transaction detail reports you’ll need come tax time. You can mark the reports you use most as favorites so you can quickly find them at the top of the Reports page. You can also set up the software to automatically run reports and email them to you, as well as schedule them for a specific time of day and frequency, such as daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. QuickBooks offers some of the best reporting functions of any company we reviewed.
Want to get a better understanding of accounting jargon? Check out our glossary for helpful definitions of common accounting terms .
Tax Deductions
Maximizing your tax deductions is key to increasing profits, and QuickBooks Online helps you get the most out of them. Your receipts are automatically inputted with the “snap and store” function, and the program tracks your miles for business-trip expense deductions. Your expenses are categorized automatically, so you will know what to deduct on your taxes when you are ready to file. Come tax time, all of your documents will be organized and ready for you. The program also includes automatic tax calculations for quarterly payments.
Without the right software, invoicing is laborious. With QuickBooks Online, it’s painless. Customer information is automatically populated on each invoice. You can also personalize the invoices with your company’s brand images and color schemes, thereby keeping your brand at the forefront of all communications. Invoices can be sent manually or scheduled to be sent automatically on a recurring basis. QuickBooks also allows you to add a button to accept payments directly from the invoicing tool with credit and debit cards or ACH e-checks.
With QuickBooks Online, you can send, track and file 1099 forms for independent contractors. Automatic updating and sending of 1099 forms ensures your company remains compliant with IRS requirements and provides your freelancers with the documentation they need to pay their taxes.
Both iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets are included with your QuickBooks Online account. Here’s what you can do with the apps:
- Create, customize, send and track invoices
- Take photos of receipts and attach them to expenses
- Reconcile transactions
- View customer information, add new customers, and message customers directly from the app
- View dashboard data, such as your account balance and profit and loss report , as well as open current and past-due invoices
- Accept payments on the go and online (after activating QuickBooks Payments)
It’s easy to see why QuickBooks is widely considered the gold standard for business accounting software. The company offers exceptional services to small businesses at an affordable price.
QuickBooks Cost
QuickBooks Online is competitively priced, with four service tiers designed to accommodate the needs of different business types. Here is a breakdown of each plan:
- Simple Start: This plan is designed for small businesses with just one user. It costs $30 per month. Users can track income and expenses, capture and organize receipts, maximize tax deductions, track mileage and manage cash flow. It includes basic accounting reports, as well as the ability to create and send estimates, track sales and sales tax, and manage 1099 contractors.
- Essentials: This plan is also for small businesses with a single user and is priced at $55 per month. In addition to the features included in the Simple Start plan, it includes time tracking, the ability to manage and pay bills, and general accounting reports.
- Plus: For $85 per month, in addition to the features included with Simple Start and Essentials, users can track project profitability as well as inventory. The accounting reports are more comprehensive, and the plan supports up to five users.
- Advanced: At a cost of $200 per month, this plan allows up to 25 users and combines the benefits of the lower-cost plans with the most powerful accounting reports. Other notable features are batch invoice and expense creation, Excel business analytics, employee expense management tools, enhanced custom fields, exclusive app integrations, a dedicated account team, on-demand online training, and automated processes and tasks. Users can also restore company data and specify who can and can’t access data.
QuickBooks also offers a separate product, called QuickBooks Self-Employed, which is priced at $15 per month. However, it is not upgradable, so if you’re a small business that wants to upgrade plans as you scale, QuickBooks Online’s Simple Start plan is a better bet. On the other hand, if you’re an independent contractor who wants to use QuickBooks to manage your accounting, QuickBooks Self-Employed includes the basic tools you’ll need, such as income and expense tracking, quarterly estimated taxes, receipt management and basic reporting.
Each version of QuickBooks includes a 30-day free trial. At the time of this review, Intuit was offering 50% off your QuickBooks Online subscription for three months. However, accepting the half-price discount requires you to forgo the 30-day free trial and sign up for paid service immediately.
QuickBooks Online Setup
To get started with QuickBooks Online, you first enter your company’s information and the fiscal year. After that, you choose between two accounting methods – cash or accrual accounting – and select your primary currency.
Next, you’re ready to select your company logo and your default “net payment” invoice terms. For example, if you expect clients to pay invoices within one month of receipt, you would select Net 30.
If you sell products, you also will need to set up the sales tax function in the Tax tab. You can decide how you want to track your inventory by choosing between inventory management techniques such as FIFO and LIFO .
Once you’ve chosen each of the above, it’s time to create an invoice in QuickBooks to test-drive the software and see how it works. We recommend sending a sample invoice to yourself or a staff member. If all goes according to plan and the invoice is received properly, you’re ready to use the software.
QuickBooks Customer Service
QuickBooks Online provides several support channels to its customers. The company offers phone and chat support, which you can access from the QuickBooks website. If you prefer to troubleshoot problems yourself, you can use the support page, which has a searchable knowledgebase, as well as articles, guides and videos. The QuickBooks Online app has a chatbot feature called QB Assistant that can answer a variety of questions about your account and connect you to live support. [Read related article: Guide to QuickBooks Alternatives ]
QuickBooks Online offers several ways to reach a QuickBooks support representative, including phone and chat. Further, users can access a searchable knowledgebase of articles, videos and guides, as well as a user community and online training classes.
QuickBooks Online Drawbacks
QuickBooks Online is an impressive accounting system that’s easy to use and includes all the features most small businesses need to efficiently accomplish their accounting tasks. However, there are some points to consider before you choose your software plan:
- QuickBooks Self-Employed isn’t upgradable to QuickBooks Online’s small business plans, so if your business is growing or you have (or plan to hire) employees, you may want to start with one of the small business plans.
- The plans limit the number of users who can access the system.
- If you have multiple businesses, you need multiple subscriptions.
While there are a few limitations, there’s no denying the value QuickBooks can add to your business operation. The wide assortment of features and the affordable price make QuickBooks a great option for any small business.
Methodology
To determine our best picks for accounting software, we reviewed a slate of popular platforms. For each, including QuickBooks Online, we dedicated a minimum of five hours to research, including attending software demonstrations, participating in free trials, reading customer reviews and conducting Q&As with company representatives. To select the best accounting software for small businesses, we considered a combination of cost, features and ease of use, and chose the platform we thought would save business owners the most time while meeting their needs at a competitive cost.
QuickBooks Online FAQs
Does quickbooks online provide live bookkeeping support .
Yes. This service costs $500 for the first month for cleanup and setup. After that, customers pay based on their company’s average monthly expenses over a three-month period. The fees at the time of this review are $200 for monthly company expenses between $0 and $10,000; $300 for monthly expenses between $10,000 and 50,000; and $400 for monthly expenses above $50,000.
Can I be sure my data is backed up?
QuickBooks Online automatically backs up your data, so you never worry about whether your books are safe and up to date.
What integrations does QuickBooks Online offer?
QuickBooks Online integrates with hundreds of third-party applications, including those designed for email marketing , e-commerce, customer relationship management , payment processing, time tracking, payroll services and more. These integrations can save you time by connecting the software to the business programs you already use, thus allowing you to automatically import, export and sync data in real time.
Does QuickBooks Online offer a mobile app?
Yes. The iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets are available and included with your QuickBooks Online account. The app gives you access to all features of the service on your mobile device.
Overall Value
We recommend QuickBooks Online for …
- Small businesses that are looking for basic to complicated accounting software plans.
- Anyone who needs access to hundreds of third-party-app integrations.
- Busy small business owners who want streamlined, trackable recordkeeping and reporting.
We don’t recommend QuickBooks Online for …
- Small business owners who have multiple businesses.
- Sole proprietors who will step up to small business plans.
- Businesses with many accounting users.
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Intuit - Quickbooks
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About Intuit - Quickbooks
Intuit Quickbooks is accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses and people who are self-employed. Quickbooks lets you connect your bank account to easily categorize transactions and sync with popular apps. The company’s financial tools also assist with invoicing, payment reminders and direct deposit.
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Very disappointed with Intuit's business model. For years one could defray the cost of the product by simply renewing only after your version was no longer supported (avg 2-3 yrs). Beginning 2023, one is forced into an annual subscription "service" just to use the product. Price has doubled (yr over yr) with junk features designed to imply value, but most users will never use (data back up, full support*, full pc data protection). In addition, Intuit has been a la carte priced for additional modules like payroll, which do not offer full access to report items to run your business.
Beware if you consider any Intuit QB product - intro costs priced to get you started, thereafter the business model is to soak you for as much as they can. *Online or phone support is nearly a joke. In the few times I have called over two decades, support has not often been helpful. One agent clearly paid by the sale as he did everything he could to avoid answering direct questions on modules being pushed/sold and if they were REQUIRED to use the base program. Beware unsolicited sales calls or emails suggesting you have to "renew" this or that... to keep using QB (implied). Let the program tell you your sub(s) have run out for the features you have purchased.
If you are a very small business beware you will HAVE to purchase features you just will waste money over. If you are a 1-2 employee company there is no "lite" version to do basic accounting, issue POs, run payroll, etc. The software is designed for non-cash basis businesses of 5+ before the automation offered returns any real value. One has to think that if companies can make money ($300 or more) selling you comparisons of Intuit products, then Intuit has intentionally over complicated their suite of offers. Will be searching for a replacement to QB as they have out priced their usefulness and no longer return a reasonable value for the price.
Intuit's customer service can be extremely frustrating and time-consuming. Long wait times on the phone and unhelpful responses from customer service representatives are incredibly frustrating, especially when trying to resolve urgent issues related to financial software like QuickBooks. I've also been frustrated and disappointed with the lack of follow-up and poor communication from Intuit's customer service. Often times their support tools are glitchy and result in having to explain everything all over again multiple times when trying to achieve resolutions.
Overall, poor customer service from Intuit is a frustrating and stressful experience for users who rely on their software for their business needs. It is important for companies to prioritize customer satisfaction and invest in training their support staff to provide helpful and efficient assistance to their customers. Unfortunately Intuit is not this type of company and I fully intend to never use them again even though they have the most versatile software solutions.
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INTUIT HAS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE! Our company switched bank accounts. During the time of the transition, Intuit Online Payroll attempted to withdraw a payroll tax of $1.85. This prompted Intuit to put our account "on hold" and I have spent 4.5 hours on the phone with Intuit customer service. I have followed every email direction they have provided. With penalties and fees, the $1.85 withdrawal required a wire payment of $265.35 plus the wire fee of $25.00 from my bank. That was 3 days ago!
I received an email from Intuit that said, and I quote, "your account is now active and no longer on hold". This is NOT true! Our account is still on hold. There is NOT A HUMAN being that you can speak with that can correct the situation. I asked if I could speak to someone and I was told, "There is not a phone number for you to speak with anyone in that department." Then I sat on hold as the Customer service rep entered a report. I also had to listen to the smoke alarm chirping in the background for over an hour! I can't believe a company this size has customer service that is this horrible. I am also filing a complaint with the State Attorney General regarding Intuit. Date of experience: January 30, 2023
Our company has used Quickbooks for many years, we started out using Desktop and switched to Online in 2022. Any time I have had an issue in the past it was extremely difficult to get any help resolving the problem. Against my best judgement we switched to Online thinking it would make things easier and the customer service rep we spoke with assured us that all our data would be transferred seamlessly. The thought of having to set up an entirely new bookkeeping systems seemed daunting so we switched to Quickbooks Online.
The transfer process was not easy and seamless, we ended up having to spend a few weeks on the phone and working to fix all the information in the system. Into the second quarter I started getting letters from the IRS saying that we owed money and hadn't paid the correct amount of payroll tax. I scoured our records and could find no mistakes. I have always submitted our 941s quarterly, w2s and w3 annually and never had a problem like this. Looking closer at the amounts the IRS said we were short made me questions a potential employees info that I had entered into our system, just to run numbers for one month. We ended up NOT hiring this employee and when I went to delete their information out of quickbooks it wouldn't allow me.
At the time I selected "not an active employee" and didn't think about it again. I revisited this information in the system and thought it seemed like Quickbooks had possible reported it to the IRS erroneously. I called quickbooks and asked if our payroll information would be automatically sent to the IRS and the service rep assured me we had no settings on our account that would do this. After getting a second letter from the IRS the following month I called Quickbooks again and the customer service rep told me the same thing, no way our information would be sent to the IRS, we don't have that setting turned on. I asked to escalate the issue and have someone look into it further.
I uploaded the letters I had received from the IRS and potential employee name that I had entered into our system and was told that a supervisor would look into the matter. I received an email a few days later saying that they could find nothing that would explain the letters I was receiving from the IRS. I had no success reaching anyone at the IRS by phone so I made copies of everything, wrote out what I suspected was happening and mailed everything to the IRS and kept a copy for myself. I didn't receive any more letters from the IRS.
At the beginning of 2023 I was completing taxes and noticed that the potential employee that was listed as not on payroll and not an active employee was still pulling on profit and loss reports, it would not let me delete the information and this time showed me a message that the info couldn't be deleted because payroll information had already been submitted to the IRS! On top of this, myself and the other employees in our company received w2s in the mail that had been automatically generated by Quickbooks. This information was not accurate, as we had been finalizing corrections in our system and planned to handwrite the w2s as we always have done.
I called into Quickbooks again. After explaining what was going on I was told AGAIN that there were no settings on the account that would be auto generating tax forms. I told the customer service rep that I was holding one in my hand that I had received in the mail so they definitely were sending them. I told the rep I had called in multiple times in 2022 about information automatically being sent to the IRS and was told it wasn't happening. I was then told that that it is standard practice, that quickbooks is legally required to send all information to the IRS.
I asked why there were settings on the account to choose autogeneration of tax info and e-file if everything was sent anyway but I didn't get a straight answer to that. I stated that I wasn't getting off the phone until I could speak with someone that could figure out why tax information was being generated and sent out to employees and IRS if there were no settings on our account allowing them to do so.
After waiting on hold nearly an hour the customer service rep told me that she DID see where we had a setting that was autogenerating tax forms and that WE turned it on and chose that setting and there was nothing she could do about it until February. She said that the system wouldn't allow her to disable it in the middle of tax time and that there was no way for her to correct the information that was already sent to the IRS and that I would have to amend our taxes on my own. I asked to speak to a supervisor and I am still on hold. I have been on the phone for nearly 2 hours. Quickbooks is beyond frustrating and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.
I just received the absolute worst customer experience in the history of the planet. I have spent nearly 5 hours with a chat bot, a CS rep named John and another CS Supervise, also named "John" with zero resolution to my situation. This service STINKS. LOOK ELSEWHERE.
I purchased a Desktop Prop Plus product from Amazon that came with a one year subscription included. I paid for the product (the product comes with a CD). It was mailed to me and I loaded it on the computer. I then didn't use it for a few months and when I tried to, they had canceled my subscription and now wants $540 Plus. They say I never paid for it although I have my receipt and and bank statement to show it cleared. I have spent 5-6 hours on the phone and they refuse to let me use the product I paid for. When I said are you telling me Amazon never paid you for this product, they were very quiet and repeated I'm telling you we were never paid for this. There needs to be a no star option.
Quickbooks lost my data. I had Quickbooks, Small Business, and Accounting on one of two Windows 10 similar computers I bought about 7 years ago. I update both to Windows 10 with QB on one and the other had Quicken, using the original disk. The QB computer crashed, but I had the backup files on the other computer. So I got my QB disk and attempted to load QB on the second computer, but it would not load, saying it needed flash. I called Intuit, they said to call Adobe who said it was QBs software problem and not theirs. I called QB back and their advice was to subscribe for close to 1000 a year and wouldn't confirm that it could read my data. They had no interest in helping fix the problem, but just a constant buy, buy, buy subscription.
Of course, with the original QB and Quicken, you bought the software and you didn't have to upgrade. Now thru some glitch, they have installed, they've, tried to blame Adobe for the sudden failure of the original disk. So, you'll lose your data and they don't promise after the update that you can get it. I've found a new accounting software, and I'm going to cancel my Quicken and transfer the data ASAP. Don't depend on Quick Books Small Business Accounting. You'll lose your data.
Horrible blood sucking organization. Expect them to steal your data then charge you insane prices to access it. You will never be able to transition to new software because they refuse to give your information back. Then they sell your info and make a killing behind your back. Unethical criminal scumbags who could care less about their customers. Count us in on the class action lawsuit!
I have 2020 desktop edition. I purchased payroll addon - they attached it to the 2010 version I had 10 years ago. I tried to get this corrected and was told it was too late to get it for the 2020 version because the 2023 version was out and I'd have to upgrade. Cost? Almost $800 and that didn't include the payroll. We're a small company. That's outrageous! I'm doing all the work on MY computer. Of course online is cheaper - that's the manipulative part. I don't trust them enough to put my employees' SS# online, or my bank account information. So here I am with payroll I can't use (not refunded yet) and no idea how to move forward. Customer service is a joke.
Most Unfriendly Software I ever worked with. Customer Support cannot help - They need support too. Absolutely not customizable. I tried to use the the time for employees, however the QBs will show to your employee your all existing customers instead of only one he supposed to work on. Badly overpriced.
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Quickbooks Online Reviews
About Quickbooks Online
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- "I use this for my 2 self-employed jobs and the ability to categorize which purchases are for what is simply amazing."
- "It has been amazing, this platform offers all you need to run your business with ease, it has a great library of add-ons and custom report options that will make your workflow fast and effective."
- "Great smart accounting software that is very responsive and nice to send invoices and get paid faster."
- "Overall very positive, happy to use it and it's very helpful to be able to have multiple users including our accountant."
- "The biggest downfall of QBO is that it is very different from QBD and has a learning curve. If the users do not learn how to propertly use QBO, they can mess up the companies books BAD."
- "When you first start using the app it can be irritating and tricky."
- "No 'undo' button and not excessively intuitive. If you make a mistake, have to know how to reverse/correct it."
- "Quickbooks left me feeling incapable of completing the simple tasks required to run our day to day business. I hated every moment I spent logged on to quickbooks."
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QuickBooks Online Review
Our Small Business Expert
QuickBooks Online brings the best of its original desktop application into an easy-to-use online accounting application that continues to improve with each version.
Self-Employed: $15
Simple Start: $30
Essentials: $55
Advanced: $200
- Plans available for up to 25 users
- Excellent reporting capability
- Intuitive design
- Additional features hidden from main navigation screen
- Program response times may be slow during peak times
- Support needs to be accessed from within the application
Who is QuickBooks Online for?
QuickBooks Online , like all QuickBooks products, was designed with the small business owner in mind. While QuickBooks Online has been around since 2001, online subscriptions have increased substantially in the last several years, going from 1 million subscribers in 2015 to over 5.3 million by the end of 2021. The product continues to grow and evolve, with constant updates being done by Intuit.
While originally designed for very small businesses, QuickBooks Online now supports growing businesses as well, making it a good accounting software for all types of businesses.
Choose your preferences during the initial setup. Image source: Intuit QuickBooks Online
You can choose to do as much or as little as you like in QuickBooks Online by indicating exactly what your preferences are during the initial setup process. If you do not check one of the boxes such as "Pay your employees," and later find your company has grown and you need to set up a payroll system , you can always add that feature at a later time.
QuickBooks Online Features
QuickBooks Online features vary from plan to plan, with many of the deluxe features reserved for the higher-priced plans.
However, all versions of QuickBooks Online offer the ability to track income and expenses , manage receipts, invoice and accept payments, track sales tax, and run reports. Like its competitors, QuickBooks Online skips the accounting lingo and uses everyday language in its software.
QuickBooks allows you to connect all of your bank accounts to the software, where it will import and match transactions automatically, leaving you with a list of transactions that were unable to be matched.
One of the most useful features is the My Accountant option, where you can invite your current accountant or CPA to use the program, and they will be given admin access to the program. An offer to link up with an accounting pro is also available if you want to utilize it.
QuickBooks Online recently added some new features, including the addition of the Business View option in the banking tab, which is designed to make it easier to categorize incoming banking transactions properly.
A new bill payment feature has also been added that provides more bill payment flexibility, including the option to pay a vendor using a debit card, credit card , or by bank transfer.
QuickBooks Online has also added a cash flow widget for the user dashboard, as well as numerous enhancements in its Advanced plan, including the addition of more custom fields, a custom chart builder enhancements, and a new batch feature for processing sales receipts.
The Banking feature is where you can manage all of the financial institutions that you have connected to QuickBooks Online, with an overview of each account available. You can also connect additional accounts at any time.
Rules can be assigned to particular accounts to reduce the amount of data entry needed, so you can create a rule named "Fuel" and set the expense category to Automobile Expense, eliminating the need to categorize the expense.
A new Receipts category lets you register your email with QuickBooks Online, allowing you to snap a photo of a receipt while you're out and upload that receipt to QuickBooks Online for easy expense matching.
The Expenses feature is where you manage all of your vendors and enter any bills that need to be paid. You can also print checks from this screen, and sort expenses by date, by status, or by vendor.
Expenses are imported from your bank and will also be listed as transactions. Image source: Intuit QuickBooks Online
Along with your banking institutions, you can now connect QuickBooks Online to third-party payment processing and acceptance applications such as PayPal and Square, making it easy to account for all expenses. Any expenses that are imported from your financial institutions will also be listed in the expense transactions, including any bills that are entered, which makes it super easy to keep track of not only what's been paid from your bank account, but what bills still need to be paid.
You can choose to pay outstanding bills via credit card and enter the expense or print a check to be mailed, a process made easier by the addition of a Print Checks Tab. Intuit has also added a New Transaction tab for easy expense entry, and now includes a Filter option along with a Batch Actions tab. As an added convenience, all vendor information is managed from the Expenses screen.
The Sales feature is where you can keep track of your customers, create a new invoice , and post payments. The invoices list provides you with a nice overview of all invoices that have been posted, as well as their current status.
For any open invoice, you can send a reminder that the payment is past due, or email the customer a link to the invoice with an option to pay online. All customer information is managed from the Sales screen.
You can also manage your products and services from the Sales screen, including establishing a reorder point for your inventory items to eliminate pesky backorders. If you sell services but not inventory, you can keep track of those in this area as well.
Another thing I love about QuickBooks Online is the ability to track both employees and contractors, making it a breeze to prepare those 1099s at year’s end. The Workers screen lets you track information on all of your employees, but you'll have to add either Self-Service Payroll or Full Service Payroll from Intuit to pay your employees.
QuickBooks Online offers a good selection of standard reports, which are categorized as follows:
- Business overview
- Who owes you
- Sales and customers
- What you owe
- Expenses and vendors
- For my accountant
Reports can be saved for future access once and you can or export it to Excel or as a PDF. Image source: Intuit QuickBooks Online
All reports can be customized and saved for future access once the report is run, and you can choose to email it directly to recipients, print it, or export it to Microsoft Excel or as a PDF.
The Sales Tax Center in QuickBooks Online lets you track the appropriate sales tax amounts for all purchases made. The Sales Tax Owed option tracks all relevant sales along with taxable sales, and the amount of tax assessed. It also tracks any payments made and the amount due. You can add as many sales tax rates as necessary, and can also add a new tax rate when creating a new invoice.
The Accounting screen is where you can manage your chart of account details as well as reconcile your bank and credit card statements . QuickBooks Online currently includes up to 250 accounts in its standard plans, but if you have more than 250 accounts, you'll have to upgrade to the Advanced plan. You can view a register for any of the accounts that are active in your chart of accounts or make an unused account inactive.
The Reconcile feature makes the bank reconciliation process quick and relatively painless by opening the current bank statement, then matching the statement to your current general ledger (G/L) entries. Anything that remains unmatched will be identified to help ensure that the books remain in balance.
Mentioned earlier, QuickBooks Online includes solid import and export capability, so you can import a variety of data or export reports as needed. Like Xero , QuickBooks Online keeps its Budget feature well hidden, but you can access it under Tools, where you can create a budget for up to five years in monthly, quarterly, or yearly intervals.
QuickBooks Online also offers multi-currency capability, and though you can only use one currency as your home currency, you can assign a foreign currency to customers, vendors, or financial institutions.
QuickBooks Online offers numerous learning and support resources, including a variety of articles that cover topics that range from product setup to bank feeds. Video tutorials are also available, as are webinars and various training classes.
The QuickBooks Online Community is an area where you can connect with other users, ask questions, complain, and maybe even answer a question from another user. You can also access product support directly from QuickBooks Online, where you can ask a question or connect to a support expert.
QuickBooks Online Benefits
QuickBooks desktop users are likely to point out that QuickBooks Online is missing some of the features found in QuickBooks Desktop Premier. While that's a fair statement, what is missing in QuickBooks Online can likely be found by accessing one of the hundreds of apps available in a variety of categories including payroll, inventory, time tracking, tax preparation, human resources, and project management.
Online access is one of the largest benefits of using QuickBooks Online, making it easy to access a report, create an invoice, or reconcile your bank statement from anywhere with an internet connection, and your accountant will love the My Accountant option; it makes their job so much easier.
QuickBooks Online Pricing
QuickBooks Online is a scalable application with plans available for everyone from the solo freelancer to the thriving small business owner.
QuickBooks Online offers five plans including a Self-Employed plan (not shown) at 50% off for the first three months. Image source: Intuit QuickBooks Online
Be sure to look at the fine print when purchasing since the price displayed is only good for the first three months of the contract. After that, it reverts to the original price.
Startups and small businesses can begin with the Simple Start plan, which supports a single user and runs $15/month for the first three months, with regular pricing of $30/month thereafter. The Essentials Plan, which supports three users, is $27.50 for three months, then $55/month. The Plus plan, supporting up to five users, is $42.50/month for three months, and then doubles to $85/month. The Advanced plan, which can support up to 25 users, runs $100/month, rising to $200/month after three months. A Self-Employed plan, not shown above, is also available for $7.50/month for the first three months, with regular pricing of $15/month, but it has limited features.
Like other similar products, such as FreshBooks and Xero, QuickBooks Online does not include payroll functionality. However, it offers an option to add payroll services to the core plan at an additional price, with payroll starting at $22.50/month for the first three months.
QuickBooks Online Ease of use
QuickBooks Online supports multiple browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari 11 or newer for Mac. You can also use the mobile app that works with iOS and Android devices for on-the-go entry.
All system navigation takes place from the Dashboard, which also offers a good summary of your business, like paid and unpaid invoices, expenses, profit and loss for the month, and a sales graph. The upper-right corner displays current bank balances, and you can add your business logo to the screen if desired.
You can sign up for a 30-day free trial of the application and use a sample company to get a feel for how things look and feel, which is much less time consuming than entering a lot of sample data and then deciding you want to go in another direction.
The dashboard shows the expenses, invoices, profit and loss including bank accounts. Image source: Intuit QuickBooks Online
On the left side of the Dashboard, you'll find a vertical menu that offers quick access to all of the system functions you choose when creating your account. Just place your cursor on one of the options and a list of features will pop up. The Dashboard is somewhat busy, but you do have the option to choose which items you wish to display if you would like it a bit cleaner.
During the setup process, you can choose a standard chart of accounts, or import an existing chart of accounts into the application. To save time, you can also import a list of your products and services into QuickBooks Online using an Excel file.
One thing that I find a little strange is the placement of the icons at the top right of the dashboard that are used to access company information, so you’ll have to navigate away from the main interface to access them. But icons aside, the product offers easy, intuitive navigation, even for those new to QuickBooks Online .
Need to compare software solutions?
- Xero vs. QuickBooks Online: Finding the Right Accounting Solution for You
- FreshBooks vs. QuickBooks: Which Is Best for Your Business?
- GnuCash vs. QuickBooks Online: Which Is Right for You?
- Wave vs. QuickBooks: Which Is Right for You?
No. QuickBooks Online offers much of the same functionality, but system navigation is very different from the original desktop version.
Yes, you can, although the budget feature is hidden under the Tools options.
Yes, QuickBooks Advanced can support up to 25 system users.
Which one is right for you?
How quickbooks online compares.
Mary Girsch-Bock studied accounting and business at UIC. After working as an accountant for many years in various industries, including healthcare and property management, she returned to her first love, writing. She specialized in accounting and business articles, with an emphasis on software reviews, which she wrote for more than 20 years. She continues to write for the first publication she ever wrote for, CPA Practice Advisor, while blogging for several software companies.
We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.
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If you’re running a small business, you know how important it is to keep your books up to date. QuickBooks is an accounting software program that takes the guesswork out of balancing books and monitoring cash flow. Read on to learn how to u...
If you’re using QuickBooks to manage your company’s books, you’ll have a number of features that should make easy works of these tedious tasks. The Intuit company supports QuickBooks, offering customer service for those who use the program.
Tackle any kind of accounts job with QuickBooks No offers found TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more By Rob Clymo , Jonas P. DeMuro published 3 ...
QBO strikes a nice balance between functionality (I'm a CPA, and it works the way I want it to) and being user-friendly. The bank account/credit card
Although QuickBooks Online is user-friendly, there can be a learning curve, particularly if you're unfamiliar with the basic principles of
QuickBooks Online is cloud-based accounting software that covers all the accounting needs you may have. It's a subscription-based service that
We recommend Intuit QuickBooks Online so highly because its simplicity belies its depth. It's truly intuitive and deep: easy enough for an
I use Quickbooks on a daily basis for invoicing clients, bank reconcilliation as well as looking at
QuickBooks Online is solid, dependable software for SMEs. Easily code your transactions when you download from the bank, which makes receipting a breeze.
Quickbooks Online is very easy to use and has everything you need in one place. It keeps the flow of the business finances running smoothly. The invoicing
QuickBooks Online from Intuit is our choice as the best business accounting software for small businesses because of its affordable pricing and
Most Unfriendly Software I ever worked with. Customer Support cannot help - They need support too. Absolutely not customizable. I tried to use the the time for
Overall: Overall, Quickbooks Online is an excellent financial solution. It is easy to use and provides an array of features that make it easy to track and
QuickBooks Online Review ; Bottom Line: QuickBooks Online is the browser-based version of the popular desktop accounting application. It has extensive reporting