QuickBooks Online Review: Features, Pros & Cons
Larger businesses with substantial accounting teams may want to consider the QuickBooks Advanced plan. It covers up to 25 users and provides dedicated customer support and advanced reporting features. Although you can track expenses, QuickBooks Simple Start doesn’t enable users to pay bills. 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 $6 per employee, per month.
QuickBooks Online has a true bank reconciliation feature that allows you to reconcile your bank accounts even when timing differences exist, like outstanding checks and deposits in transit. Some less expensive software, like Wave, claim to do bank reconciliation but don’t allow for any reconciling items. They require your bank account and books to be exactly the same, which is problematic if you record transactions in your books as they occur. While the program is laid out differently, the underlying functionality is very similar. Our reviewers evaluate products and services based on unbiased research. We spend hours researching and evaluating each accounting software system we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings.
While Zoho Books is fantastic small business accounting software across most categories, it is soundly beaten by QuickBooks in the usability category. This is because you’ll be on your own to solve any bookkeeping problems that arise. Unlike QuickBooks Online, Zoho Books doesn’t offer any bookkeeping service, and it’s difficult to find an independent Zoho Books Advisor in the US. One of the primary drivers behind the popularity of small business accounting software is its ability to streamline complex financial tasks. Traditionally, small business owners grappled with intricate spreadsheets and manual calculations, leading to errors and inefficiencies. Accounting software automates these processes, reducing the likelihood of errors and saving everyone’s time.
- This efficiency boost is particularly crucial for small businesses, where every minute counts towards keeping and growing the business.
- While Desktop is a one-time purchase, it lacks the flexibility and accessibility of the online version.
- Workers’ compensation, 401k plans, and expert product support are also available.
- See where you’re making and spending money with reports and budgeting tools to enhance profits.
Best features
- Get instant access to the tools and features you need to drive your business forward with deeper insights, custom workflows, easy collaboration, and more.
- If you just need something to track your cashflow, look for a platform with fewer features and an appealing interface.
- QuickBooks Online Payroll’s 4.4/5 star rating in the user review category reflects its notably high 4.5/5 star rating across user review sites and its positive feedback on other platforms.
- The software offers an impressive number of integrations and also has a few unique features you won’t find elsewhere, such as QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping service and QuickBooks Capital built-in lending.
- QuickBooks Online Payroll is a full-service payroll processing software solution from Intuit that works directly with QuickBooks Online.
For example, a business looking to just track income and expenses after the fact can save money by going with a cheaper program. However, QuickBooks Online is the better choice for most companies that actively use their software to invoice customers, pay bills, track inventory, and more. QuickBooks Online pricing ranges from $35 to $235 per month, depending on the number of users and features you need.
QuickBooks Online Review: Features, Pros & Cons
You can play around with the software to get a feel for it before running your first payroll or adding your employees. Additionally, while QuickBooks Online Payroll’s cheapest plan for paying both employees and contractors doesn’t include local tax filing and payment, both Gusto and OnPay’s cheapest plans do. Speaking for myself—a CPA with 29 years of experience—yes, I like QuickBooks Online for small business users. It’s designed for business owners and non-professional bookkeepers. Accountants at larger companies might prefer software geared more toward professional accountants. Beyond just the cosmetic aspects of the invoice, I can choose exactly which fields to show on the invoice and even create custom fields.
Business
QuickBooks Online Payroll’s 4.4/5 star rating in the user review category reflects its notably high 4.5/5 star rating across user review sites and its positive feedback on other platforms. While the people on the other end of the phone/chat/screen are well-intentioned, very few of them are actual payroll experts. Overall, QuickBooks Online Payroll boasts a range of features that make it a great option for businesses already within the QuickBooks ecosystem. As a standalone solution, though, it doesn’t stand out from the competition. As cloud-based software, QuickBooks Online Payroll operates with nearly all internet browsers so long as you have internet access. I evaluated basic financial reports (such as a balance sheet, income statement, and general ledger) and common management reports (like A/R and A/P aging).
Available for Android and iOS devices, it contains many features in the browser-based desktop interface, making it one of our best mobile accounting apps. It also allows me to create and send invoices on the go, receive payments from customers, assign expenses to customers or projects, and view financial reports. QuickBooks Online is by far the most popular small business accounting software in the US. I find it suitable for most small businesses, especially those with inventory and projects or that collect sales tax in multiple states. The primary features are tracking income and expenses, paying bills, invoicing customers, and running reports to prepare a tax return.
QuickBooks Online Pricing Review for Small Business Owners – Budget-Friendly or Expensive?
Your employees have the option of direct deposit, and you can file and pay federal and state payroll taxes automatically. To delve deeper into our best small business accounting software, we tested and used each platform to evaluate how the features perform against our metrics. This hands-on approach helps us strengthen our accounting software expertise and deliver on the Fit Small Business mission of providing the best answers to your small business questions. When rating payroll software, we are looking for very specific qualities. We also look for the presence of client and employee portals, benefits administration, PTO and time management tools, and many more vital features.
We also searched for the ability to create estimates and assign those estimates to projects. Ideally, the program would then compare the actual expenses to the costs on the original estimate. QuickBooks Online is relatively easy to use, but there will still be a learning curve for some users, especially since the platform has plenty of features to master. quickbooks online trial Fortunately, the interface is easy to navigate and has an organized dashboard where you can find the features you need easily. You can learn QuickBooks even without an accounting background, but it becomes much easier to use if you have some knowledge of basic accounting concepts. QuickBooks Online is arguably one of the best accounting software programs for reporting.
The features listed below have been recently added within the last three months of this publication. The recognition highlights QuickBooks’ adaptability, ease of use, and comprehensive financial management features that continue to meet the evolving needs of the freelance economy. The vast majority of finance leaders have been surprised by the true price of their software, whether through hidden costs or sudden increases. QuickBooks Online Advanced supports the upload of 1000 transaction lines for invoices at one time.
QuickBooks Online is one of the preeminent cloud-based accounting software platforms on the market. With four plans available, there are several options from which to choose, depending on your needs. In this guide, we’ll break down QuickBooks Online pricing, including plans, key features, and alternative platform costs so you can decide which option is best for you. Note, each QuickBooks Live offering requires an active QuickBooks Online subscription and additional terms, conditions, limitations and fees apply. For more information about services provided by Live Bookkeeping, refer to the QuickBooks Terms of Service. These prices rose in early 2024, when this plan cost just $30 per month.
And yes, we’re talking about more than just a glorified calculator or a digital ledger. When you first land on QuickBooks, the platform directs you to choose a subscription plan, decide whether you need a payroll add-on, and proceed to checkout. The options vary in price and capabilities, so you can pick what fits best for your business and avoid overpaying for features you won’t use.
Teamwork.com keeps your client projects on track, resources in check, and profits on point. Your external accountant or bookkeeper can be added to any plan without counting toward the user limit. Automatically sort transactions from connected accounts into tax categories for easy organization.
Streamtime is a project management tool that helps teams stay organized. It’s easy to use and connects well with QuickBooks to sync financial information like expenses and invoices. After testing it out, I found it great for managing tasks and time, but it doesn’t offer as many advanced financial features as some other tools.
