The first tier is the Simple Start Plan at $9 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. QuickBooks Premier includes more than 150 industry-specific reports to help you better manage your finances. It also comes with the ability to track sales, customer payments, product costs and more. There are many factors that go into the cost of QuickBooks, including the plan you choose and adding in extras, such as payroll, payment processing, and bookkeeping services.

Run payroll on any device with taxes, compliance & reporting built-in. By providing feedback on how we can improve, you can earn gift cards and get early access to new features. The good news is that the QuickBooks Online plans are incredibly scalable, so you can start small and upgrade to a larger plan whenever you’re ready. Make sure you are on the right QuickBooks plan so you aren’t paying for features you don’t need. For example, if you bought the QuickBooks Plus plan because you thought you’d be using the Project Management feature and you haven’t used it in over a year, consider downgrading to the Essentials plan. This service gives you access to a QuickBooks debit card, cash flow forecasting, and QuickBooks Envelopes, which is a place to set aside savings.

Getting payments from your customers is easier thanks to automatic payment reminders. If you’ve done several jobs for a client, you can consolidate multiple invoices into one email so they aren’t overloaded with spam. After a customer pays, you can present an air of professionalism with personalized payment receipts. Along with these 150 reports, you’ll also be able to enter up to 14,500 inventory items, which should be more than enough for most businesses.

If you invoke the guarantee, QuickBooks will conduct a full n evaluation of the Live Bookkeeper’s work. According to the Intuit QuickBooks Entrepreneurship in 2024 Report, solopreneurs are increasing in numbers as more people take the leap to work for themselves. Unless you purchase the Enterprise plan, live telephone support is limited to chat. QuickBooks Desktop also includes reports templates, making it easier than ever to create a custom report. All QuickBooks Desktop reports can be reviewed on-screen, printed, emailed to a recipient directly from the print screen, and exported to Microsoft Excel for further customization if desired.

1. You can drill down to a list of your outstanding invoices instead of only the total outstanding.
2. With its straightforward navigation and streamlined features, users can easily handle tasks such as invoicing, expense tracking, and timekeeping without feeling overwhelmed.
3. The most notable difference, aside from price, between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop is the Online version is cloud-based.
4. The QuickBooks Online comparison chart below highlights some of the key features of the five versions.

QuickBooks Online Self-Employed works very well for people who work for themselves in a service industry and report their business income on Schedule C of their personal income tax return. We even consider it the best for tracking freelance income and preparing tax returns in our guide to the best accounting software for freelancers. To see what it can do for freelancers and solopreneurs, check out our QuickBooks Online Self-Employed review. 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. Also, if you’d like to add on the ability to accept online payments for your invoices, you’ll need to sign up for QuickBooks Payments.

However, if you only need to record expenses as you pay them, then Simple Start might be enough. The QuickBooks Online comparison chart below highlights some of the key features of the five versions. https://intuit-payroll.org/ We include in-depth, side-by-side comparisons of each plan against its next-level tier in the sections that follow. Both Quicken and NeatBooks fall short if you want help managing your employees.

The custom price varies depending on the size of your business but should be somewhere between $200 and $600 per month. The QuickBooks Payroll software tracks employees by name, pay rate, pay method, and current status. The Essentials plan is a great fit for growing small businesses that have an increased number of suppliers, employees, and clients.

If you are self-employed and report income on Schedule C of your personal income tax return, the QuickBooks Self-Employed plan will likely make the most sense. All Gold features, average collection period calculator and formula plus advanced inventory, advanced pricing rules and workflow approvals. All Essentials features for up to five users, plus project tracking and inventory tracking.

Having an independent software expert perform the bookkeeping is good for overall ease of use. Lastly, our expert opinion score is our subjective rating based on our experience in trying the software. The software must have features that allow users to set sales tax rates, apply them to invoices, and enable users to pay sales tax liability. The A/P section focuses on vendor management, bill management, bill payments, and other payable-related transactions.

Tax Forms & Support

Although it has the lowest starting price, at $12 per month, it can be a little more difficult to navigate than QuickBooks or FreshBooks. Because there is an unlimited number of users that can use the program, you can maximize its use if you have a team of professionals who need access to your accounting software. For Xero’s Early plan ($13), the number of invoices that users can send each month is capped at 20, but for all other Xero plans, users can send unlimited invoices.

How many different versions of QuickBooks are there?

Intuit typically offers deals where new users can get a discount on QuickBooks Payroll by bundling it with a QuickBooks Online subscription. Our team ranked all the best accounting solutions using a points-system for each category. Once they were done, they compiled all category scores for each brand into a single 5-point score.

QuickBooks Desktop vs. Online: At a Glance

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.

Larger businesses with sophisticated inventory, reporting and accounting needs. QuickBooks Enterprise also offers mobile inventory barcode scanning capability as well as an enhanced pick, pack, and ship option that is perfect for retailers. Your bookkeeper categorizes transactions and reconciles accounts for you, freeing up time to focus on your business. There’s also a side-by-side software comparison chart for QuickBooks features and prices. If you want cloud hosting, QuickBooks Enterprise also has each of its plans available with cloud access. QuickBooks Premier has almost all of the same potential additional fees as QuickBooks Pro, with a few minor variations in cost.

Both versions have mobile apps, but the app for the Desktop version primarily functions as a way to upload receipts, and the Online mobile app is robust in comparison. QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus is ideal for small businesses that need robust, locally installed accounting software for up to three users. An upgraded plan that includes QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll is also available, or you can purchase QuickBooks Payroll as an add-on. Both plans are billed annually and include automated backup and recovery, unlimited customer support, and automatic updates. QuickBooks is the #1 accounting for small businesses.4 It offers the most comprehensive feature set that enables small business owners to manage more of their business.