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About QuickBooks

Category: Accounting Software

Quickbooks leads the way in cloud-based accounting software for small businesses by keeping it simple and effective. Everything your business needs is housed under its site and app. It is packed with features and integrations for automating aspects deemed too time-consuming.

Company: Intuit

Intuit is a global technology platform that helps customers and communities overcome their most important financial challenges. Serving millions of customers worldwide with TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, Credit Karma and Mailchimp.

Simple Start

$12.50

/mo

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

Plus

$40

/mo

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

Advanced

$90

/mo

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

Desktop Pro Plus

$199.99

/yr

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

In-Depth Analysis

Overall

Price 4.5

Ease Of Use 4.5

Features 4.5

Support 4.5

Pros

Robust and secure cloud-based software
Customizable and intuitive dashboard and reports
Numerous integrations
Full desktop and mobile access

Cons

Lack of 24/7 customer phone support (except for Advanced)
Payroll costs extra
Learning curve

QuickBooks Comparisons

Plans & Pricing

QuickBooks offers a 30-day free trial, during which you can experience everything the software provides. If you enjoy using the software during your trial, you can subscribe to one of three plans. Each one charges $4 per employer per month on top of the base subscription price.

QuickBooks is pricier than most, but its features certainly make up for that. The introductory pricing saves you some cash, too.

Simple Start

$12.50

/mo

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

Get Started

Plus

$40

/mo

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

Get Started

Advanced

$90

/mo

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

Get Started

Desktop Pro Plus

$199.99

/yr

30-day FREE trial, 60-day money-back guarantee

Get Started

Simple Start

The Simple Start plan costs $12.50/mo for three months, then $25/mo after. With Essentials, you can invoice and accept payments, track your income and expenses, sorts your receipts, track sales tax, and generate reports. Essentials doesn’t allow multiple users.

Plus

Plus is the most popular QuickBooks plan, costing $40 for three months, then $80/mo after. It includes all features from Simple Start and adds profitability tracking, inventory management, time and attendance tracking, 1099 contractor management, and enhanced reporting. You can add up to five users and give them all basic permissions with Plus.

Advanced

Advanced comes with all the Plus features, but it adds a host of its own. These include automated approvals and reminders, invoice and expense batching, management reports, and more. Plus, Advanced users have 24/7 access to premium support and on-demand online training. You can add up to 25 users with custom roles under the Advanced plan. This plan costs $90 for three months, then $180/mo after.

Featured prices can be updated and free offers may include additional terms.

Ease of Use

QuickBooks’ interface can take a little getting used to, especially if you’re a beginner. Fortunately, Intuit offers an extensive library of video tutorials to guide you in setting up your account and using Quickbooks. Plus, you can find additional online help through third-party tutorials (like YouTube walkthroughs) because QuickBooks is so popular.

Still, you can pay QuickBooks $50, and they’ll set up your account for you.

With that said, QuickBooks has quite an intuitive interface. Once you familiarize yourself with the program, you should find it easy to navigate around it.

Customer Support

QuickBooks offers online chat and phone customer support 6am – 6pm PST during the week, and 6am – 3pm on Saturdays. Advanced plan users can access 24/7 support. Customer support is fairly responsive, although a few online have complained about reaching them.

In addition to customer support, you can access all of QuickBooks’ educational resources, including FAQs, video tutorials, the QuickBooks blog, and the forums.

Additional customer support:
Blog
QuickBooks’ blog is full of helpful information.

Community Forum
If QuickBooks’ resources can’t answer your question, you can ask it in the community forums.

24/7 Help & Support

Live chat support available 24/7

Phone Support

Available 6am - 6pm PST during the week

Live Online Chat

Available 24/7

Email QuickBooks a question, and they’ll get back to you shortly

Video Tutorials

Tutorial videos available on QuickBooks site and YouTube

FAQ

A large FAQ library is available

Features & Functionality

General Features

Business Insights and Reporting

You can generate succinct balance sheets, P&L statements, and other reports with the click of a button. You can also export reports as needed with ease.

Customer Quoting, Invoicing, and Payment Tracking

QuickBooks has a suite of quoting and invoicing features that make it easy to provide customers quotes, send custom invoices, and keep track of payments. You can set up recurring invoices, send payment reminders, track the status of specific client/customer payments.

QuickBooks lets you account for discounts, shipping, and taxes, making organization and recordkeeping easy.

Project Tracking

QuickBooks Plus lets you evaluate the potential profitability of individual projects for better decision-making. Since you can add up to five employees, multiple people can analyze the project.

Mileage Tracking

QuickBooks’ Self-Employed offers a mileage tracker so you can track and write off business miles.

This feature uses your phone’s GPS to track the distance traveled automatically. You can then categorize miles as personal or business as needed.

Features

General Ledger
Bookkeeping
Manages Accounts Payable/Receivable
Income & Expenses Tracking/Management

Account Reconciliations
Financial Reporting
Receipt Scanning
Invoicing

Track Expenses

Features

Record Expenses
Record Mileage

Generate Invoices
Recurring Expenses

Tax Preparation

Features

Tax Compliance
Manage Tax Calculations/Reporting

Accountant-Prep Friendly

Time-Saving Automations

Features

Automation of Invoices/Notifications
Suggests Transaction Matches

Purchase Order Automation

Add-Ons

QuickBooks offers payroll add-ons for an extra monthly fee. There are three plans:

Core: Provides full-service payroll with automated payroll tax calculations, automatic payroll, health benefits services, garnishment and deduction management, next-day direct deposit, and reporting. $22.50/mo, then $45/mo, plus $4/employee/mo.
Premium: Contains all Core features plus same-day direct deposit, worker’s compensation administration, an HR support center, expert setup review, and on-the-go time tracking. $37.50/mo, then $75/mo, plus $8/employee/mo.
Advanced: Includes all Core and Premium features plus white glove custom setup, 24/7 support, on-the-go project tracking, Tax Penalty Protection, and a personal HR advisor. $62.50/mo, then $125/mo, plus $10/employee/mo.

QuickBooks supports integrations with numerous third-party products as well:

Transaction importing from PayPal, Square, or your financial institution
Sales and sales tax tracking for Shopify and other major e-commerce platforms
Payment processing for PoS or mobile card readers
Accounts payable automation through Bill.com

Lastly, QuickBooks can connect you to a QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper if you need someone to handle your books.

Features

Payment Processing
Payroll Processing
Project Management

Time Tracking
Third-Party Integrations

Supported Devices

Features

Windows
Android
Linux

iPhone/iPad
Mac
Web-Based

Verdict

QuickBooks has set the standard for small and mid-sized business accounting software. It provides an array of powerful features — from reporting to invoicing and more. With three available plans and several helpful additions/add-ons, QuickBooks can be customized to fit nearly any small or mid-sized company.

Intuit ensures user-friendliness by offering multiple avenues of customer support, a vast collection of learning resources, and continuous updates. Overall, an investment in QuickBooks can make your business accounting a lot easier.

Visit QuickBooks Site

Author: Murad Jaffery

Murad Jaffery is a chartered accountant specializing in the field of accounting and finance. He has been writing on these areas for nearly a decade, and is also an accounting tutor. He holds master’s degrees in accountancy and English literature. Murad enjoys traveling and reading.