This easy-to-use and feature-rich software is ideal if you have no bookkeeping experience and want top-notch customer support. QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise, and Mac are the best for users with existing accounting experience or who want a locally-installed option. The main differences between the versions are your computer’s operating system and your business’s size. The number of users you need will also help determine which software is best for your business.
The Best Reports in the Business
Read our comprehensive QuickBooks Online review to decide if this popular accounting software is the best choice for your needs and budget. Businesses with multiple users or that need more advanced features won’t find what they’re looking for here. QuickBooks Solopreneur is more tax software than accounting software, lacking many of the features you’d find with full-fledged cloud-based accounting software like QuickBooks Online.
QuickBooks Self-Employed is tax software created to help freelancers manage their finances. QBO offers up to 25 full-fledged users total and an unlimited number of time-tracking-only users. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us.
It costs more than any of the competing small business accounting applications I’ve reviewed. FreshBooks, for instance, can be more affordable, depending on the number of users. Its Premium version ($60 per month) offers some of the same functionality as QuickBooks Online Plus, along with some unique features.
You can upload them from your computer, upload them from Google Drive, forward them from email, and enter them manually on a form. You can also snap photos of receipts with your smartphone and let the site use OCR to transfer the details to an official form. The site lets you create and send purchase orders, too, which isn’t common in this group of asset definition and meaning applications. Bank-level security ensures your data is safe and accessible only to you and the people you choose to share it with.
Where QuickBooks Online falls short
The Android and iOS apps for QuickBooks Online are attractive and intuitive. They provide many of the tools and data from the browser interface—but you may have to search for some of them. I hoped Intuit would have brought them out of hiding by now (they’re under the More/All icon). The apps support most of the features you need to get your accounting work done remotely, however. Terms, conditions, pricing, special features, and service and support options subject to change without notice. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise has the same great accounting capabilities as Pro and Premier but allows access for up to 40 users and much more storage space.
Bill and Expense Management
If you’re a one-person business owner, consider QuickBooks Solopreneur. While we don’t recommend using Excel as your base bookkeeping program, we do have a guide on how to use Excel for accounting. Our comparison of QuickBooks Online vs Excel will help you better understand the differences between the two programs. By far, the largest headache in preparing a tax return is compiling your income and expenses.
- We’ll break down the pros, cons, pricing, and other details for each product to help you make the most informed purchasing decision.
- The downside of QuickBooks Online is that customer support is a bit lacking, and the subscription fee can be a bit expensive for smaller businesses in need of advanced features.
- Its features include invoicing, bill tracking, tax simplification, and much more.
- A Live Bookkeeper cannot begin cleaning up your past books until they receive the required supporting documentation, which your bookkeeper will request from you after your first meeting.
- Quickbooks Solopreneur is an easy-to-use, cloud-based software with strong mobile apps.
All feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve the way we help small businesses. Run payroll on any device with taxes, compliance & reporting built-in. On the other hand, if you’re an accountant or someone with a great deal of accounting experience, you may like QuickBooks desktop options that use traditional accounting practices. Larger businesses will be looking at QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Enterprise, or the QuickBooks Online Advanced plan, depending on the number of users they need. The type of business you run has a huge influence on which QuickBooks product is right for you. If you’re a freelancer, QuickBooks Solopreneur is the obvious choice.