This plan is best for small businesses, whether an LLC run by just one individual or a simple partnership. It’ll help someone keep their accounting data in one place, although it doesn’t offer many bells and whistles that could be useful for a larger operation. Whether you use QuickBooks Payments or another payment gateway, be sure to take potential credit card fees into account when calculating how much you’ll be spending on software each month. Most integrations come with monthly subscription fees, so be sure to account for these extra costs when calculating how big of a dent QuickBooks Online is going to leave in your wallet.

Daytime live chat and phone support are available during weekdays. Once your business is large enough to require more automation and more employees, the Plus Plan likely makes sense, as it allows for recurring payments in addition to time tracking. It also includes inventory tracking, making it a must for an operation that sells more than a few products.

What Live Bookkeeping brings to your business

To see what it can do for freelancers and solopreneurs, check out our review of QuickBooks Online Self-Employed. QuickBooks Online Advanced is the newest subscription level in the QuickBooks family. It includes the features in Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus, with additional features for a growing business approaching mid-market size. You can set up a chart of accounts with an unlimited number of accounts to meet the needs of your business. You’ll be able to access the account anywhere with an internet connection. Customer Support is included and available via live chat and email.

• You can also automate key accounting tasks such as setting reminders for invoices, payments, or deposits.
• Its highest-tiered plan is the Advanced option, which costs $100 per month for the first three months, then $200 per month after that.
• It also lets you update inventory costs and quantities, separate taxable from nontaxable items, and set up alerts if you’re running out of stock.
• There are two main factors to consider when deciding which QuickBooks Online product is right for you.

We’ll discuss how to know which plan is right for you and what additional costs to expect, so you can know precisely what you’re getting into before deciding to purchase QuickBooks Online. The Ascent is a Motley Fool service that rates and reviews essential products for your everyday money matters. We’re would you please explain unearned income 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. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.

Accounting

These hours can be added by the manager manually, though the employee in question can also be given permission to add their hours themselves. To manage payroll through QuickBooks Payroll, you’ll need to pay a fee for this add-on service, with plans ranging from $45 to $125 per month, plus an additional $5 to $10 per employee per month. QuickBooks Self-Employed is suitable for freelancers and independent contractors who want to be able to track all their business expenses (such as rent or marketing) in one place. If you report income on Schedule C of your personal income tax return, this cost-effective option might be best for you. QuickBooks Payroll is an add-on service that starts at $45/month plus $6/month per employee. These costs are in addition to your monthly QuickBooks Online subscription fees.

QuickBooks Online also comes with e-commerce support and inventory tracking on higher plans, which works well if you sell physical items. Overall, we like QuickBooks Online for small businesses that are beginning to ramp up their sales and would like professional guidance along the way. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Self-Employed are monthly subscription packages from Intuit that let you track your expenses and send invoices to clients—but the similarities end there. Generally, QuickBooks Online is designed for small businesses with numerous employees, clients and vendors, while QuickBooks Self-Employed is tailored to freelancers and solopreneurs. Both versions offer automatic syncing with your bank so you can categorize transactions. Add payroll to QuickBooks Online starting at $45 per month, or to Desktop starting at $50, plus $2 per employee, per month.

Check For A QuickBooks Online + Payroll Bundle Discount

QuickBooks Self-Employed is not included in the case study because it is not a full double-entry bookkeeping system. Your bookkeeper categorizes transactions and reconciles accounts for you, freeing up time to focus on your business. QuickBooks Online Essentials has all of the features included in Simple Start, with extra functionality for businesses with more needs.

Computing taxes and using the correct forms are part of the plan. When subscribing to this service, you’ll get a 1099 e-file of forms and a next-day direct deposit. Since QuickBooks Online is priced as a monthly subscription, it doesn’t require a contract and you can cancel your account at any time. Additionally, the desktop products are only available as annual subscriptions, making them a bigger commitment than QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks offers a separate product — QuickBooks Self-Employed — designed for freelancers and independent contractors, with plans starting at $15 per month. If you’re considering desktop offerings, try exploring QuickBooks’ other small-business products and checking out our full breakdown of QuickBooks pricing.

QuickBooks Online Essentials

For example, the QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus plan is no longer available to new QuickBooks users. In order to accurately compare top accounting software, the Tech.co research team picked out the eight core categories to divide their efforts along, from help and support to accounts payable tools. Setting up the software involves plenty of one-time tasks that you’ll want to get right the first time, like connecting your bank account and setting up a series of automated processes and templates. Through Live Bookkeeping, you’ll get a single one-on-one session that can clear up any questions and start your accounting software subscription off on the right foot. With it, users can track their billable hours, categorizing them under the correct client and employee, while automatically adding them to invoices.

However, it removes the limitations on the number of classes, locations, and chart of accounts, making it ideal for businesses with a growing staff. So, unless you need more than five user seats, support from a dedicated success manager, and free training to help your team members familiarize themselves with new features, then you can stick with Plus. The main differences between the two QuickBooks plans are the ability to create billable expenses and assign them to customers, track inventory costs, and calculate P&L by project. Other helpful features in Plus are budgets, classes, customer types, locations, and unlimited report-only users. 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 filing tax returns in our guide to the best accounting software for freelancers.

Let’s build your business together

Its basic plan is in line with QuickBooks Simple Start, at $15 per month. 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. Once your bookkeeper receives all the necessary documentation, they’ll typically complete your cleanup within 30 days. In some cases, your cleanup may take longer depending on timeliness of documentation and the complexity of your books. There is no need to download QuickBooks Online because it is connected to the cloud, which means you can access online accounting from any device with an internet connection. You can download the QuickBooks Online mobile app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.