Intuit reports that 94% of accounting professionals feel QuickBooks Online saves them time and thus saves their clients’ money. 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. If you’re a QuickBooks Online user who wants these Desktop features, many third-party apps offer them for an extra charge. Despite their differences, QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online also have plenty of overlap.

Best QuickBooks Alternatives in 2024 (Free & Paid)

Only Desktop version users who don’t use any add-on apps will be unaffected. Before the launch of QuickBooks Desktop 2022, the QuickBook products were available as a one-time purchase. Now, Premier Plus and Enterprise packages are available on a subscription-basis only.

Another plan separate from QuickBooks Online but offering many of the same features is QuickBooks Solopreneur. This subscription plan is specifically for freelancers and independent contractors and is priced at $10 per month, then $20 per month. You can easily scan and upload receipts in real-time using the QuickBooks mobile app, so you don’t need to run helter-skelter to collect them at the time of taxes.

One-time vs. monthly purchases

Once you have a handle on day-to-day use of the QuickBooks Online accounting software, try adding a few more tips and tricks to help you get the most out of the experience. QuickBooks Online stands as the best accounting software that our researchers have tested, due to a great feature catalog, reporting tools, a top-quality support team, and a customizable interface. You’ll also want to add integrations with any other business software service you already use.

QuickBooks Online service tiers and pricing

It does cost more to access this, which is approximately $22.50 more per month plus $6 per employee, per month. When subscribing to this service, you’ll get a 1099 e-file of forms and a next-day direct deposit. Personalized setup is limited to a 1-hour session with a customer success product expert. Intuit reserves the right to limit the insurance journal entry number of sessions and the length and scope of each session.

1. 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.
2. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.
3. We rate QuickBooks Payroll highly and it will appear as the “Payroll” tab on your dashboard if you use it.
4. However, please note that access to add-on services will be discontinued for all QuickBooks Desktop software after May 31, 2023.
5. 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.

Her postgraduate degree in computer management fuels her comprehensive analysis and exploration of tech topics. The Ascent is a Motley Fool service that rates and reviews essential products for your everyday money matters. 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, a Motley Fool service, does not cover all offers on the market.

This allows them to undo the previous transaction without needing what is other comprehensive income to manually edit individual transactions from within the register. There are two main versions of QuickBooks — QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online — and there are many differences between them. In particular, the QuickBooks Desktop platform, which is either installed locally or hosted remotely, offers different functions than the QuickBooks Online cloud computing version, which is fully remote.

Bookkeepers and accounting professionals using QuickBooks Accountant can simplify tax preparation through ProConnect, a professional tax management solution. By managing all of your cash inflow and outflow activities in QuickBooks, you can print financial statements that provide useful information about how your business is performing. Lenders often require financial statements when you apply for a small business loan or line of credit. What’s more, you can set up scheduled bill payments in QuickBooks using QuickBooks Bill Pay, a new built-in feature that replaced the Bill Pay powered by Melio integration. Available in QuickBooks Online Essentials and higher plans, QuickBooks Bill Pay allows you to pay bills via bank transfer or check directly from QuickBooks in a few seconds and pay several bills at once. QuickBooks allows you to enter new bills and expenses and keep track of them automatically by connecting your bank and credit card accounts to the platform.

QuickBooks offers a range of integrations covering areas including sales, compliance, marketing, and cash flow forecasting. QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online are separate platforms that do not sync with each other. However, in addition to its mobile app, QuickBooks Online has a desktop app.

Meanwhile, QuickBooks Desktop is an on-premise software that needs to be iop intuit installed on the computer where you’ll use it and is available as an annual subscription. For more about the differences between the two programs, read our comparison of QuickBooks Online vs QuickBooks Desktop. Those who want to take their accounting on the go will appreciate the mobile app.