QuickBooks vs HoneyBook: Which One is Better in 2024?

QuickBooks (now Intuit QuickBooks) and HoneyBook are two notable accounting software and project management tools today. Each tool has its strong points: QuickBooks is mainly known for expense and cash flow management, detailed financial reports, inventory tracking, etc., while HoneyBook is more of a client management software with automation tools for specific business operations.

If you’re a small business owner, you might be wondering which tool is better for your business needs. In this article, we will compare HoneyBook vs QuickBooks in terms of their key features, user-friendliness, pricing, and other essential factors to help you choose the best software for your daily business operations.

Read this guide to learn more.

HoneyBook vs QuickBooks Online: An Overview

HoneyBook

HoneyBook is a robust client tracking and project management software for freelancers, creative professionals, and SMBs looking for software to manage clients, create professional invoices, and automate specific business tasks using AI. It offers various tools for client communication, file management, online payments and invoicing, and project management.

Besides client management, HoneyBook offers tools for basic financial reporting, which displays key insights about your business’ sales, project bookings, lead conversion, and other existing data.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks is a popular accounting software for tracking and managing financial data for businesses of any size. Compared to HoneyBook, it’s a dedicated bookkeeping software recognized by most accounting professionals due to its robust accounting features. The platform offers different software editions depending on your business needs, industry, and size.

It contains multiple tools for bookkeeping tasks, tax preparation, creating professional-looking invoices, expense management, and sophisticated financial reporting (e.g., profit and loss reports, cash flow statements, etc.). QuickBooks also has a very user-friendly interface and supports integrations to various third-party platforms.

HoneyBook vs QuickBooks: Side-by-Side Comparison

Key Features

Automation Tools

HoneyBook
HoneyBook’s workflow automation tools allow you to respond automatically to client inquiries and establish follow-ups based on specific triggers. For instance, you can send personalized emails containing marketing materials and a scheduling link so potential clients can easily reach out for your services. HoneyBook also provides a workflow overview, where you can check files and emails set to be sent to clients and tweak specific steps.

QuickBooks
Besides providing basic bookkeeping tools and financial reports, QuickBooks is adept at automating accounting tasks. The platform can automate bill payments, recurring invoices, and payment reminders. It also offers tools for automatically categorizing financial data, such as income, expenses, and bank transactions.

Project Management

HoneyBook
HoneyBook lets you access multiple tools essential for project management. Their Projects dashboard gives you a complete view of where your clients are in the project stage process and checks new inquiries from potential clients. You can also create a separate and personalized dashboard for each project.

QuickBooks
QuickBooks offers an in-depth project management tool that lets you track a project’s profitability, labor costs, income, and expenses and run project-specific reports. You can easily create project dashboards for each customer. The platform also lets you add old transactions to your new or ongoing projects.

HoneyBook – Additional Features

Client Proposals
HoneyBook has an all-in-one client proposal feature, which allows you to integrate contract terms and invoices into your main business proposal. This offers a streamlined experience for your clients, who can co-sign the contract and process their first payment.

Online Scheduling
HoneyBook lets you quickly set up online appointments with clients and potential leads. You can get a shareable scheduling link that syncs to your calendar and enables clients to book meetings based on availability. You can also select whether you’ll meet in person, video, or over the phone.

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HoneyBook AI
Among HoneyBook’s new features is HoneyBook AI, which integrates artificial intelligence into its set of tools and boosts productivity. It offers an AI composer that lets you create AI-generated replies to clients and Priority Leads, which predicts client leads that are more likely to avail of your services.

QuickBooks – Additional Features

Financial Reporting
Unlike many competitors, QuickBooks is a superb accounting software for generating financial reports. It has multiple built-in reports and statements, such as trial and balance reports, profit and loss statements, general ledger reports, aged receivable reports, and balance sheets.

Receipt Capture
Receipt capture in QuickBooks is part of its expense management tools. It lets you turn paper invoices into digital copies, which is essential when managing expenses for your business. This allows your employees to seamlessly submit receipt information for your accountant to review.

Note: This feature is exclusively available in QuickBooks Advanced, which starts at $100 monthly. If you want a cost-effective and automated expense tracking solution that seamlessly integrates with QuickBooks, try an add-on like Envoice. It incorporates human-in-the-loop review with ExactExtract in its machine-learning systems for 99% accuracy of your receipt data. Sign up now for a free trial.

Live Bookkeeping
QuickBooks offers bookkeeping assistance to its customers through QuickBooks Live. It connects you to one of their certified virtual bookkeepers, streamlining your bookkeeping and tax preparation tasks and letting you focus on your business more. You can access Live Assisted Bookkeeping by adding $50 to any of their plans.

Ease of Use

HoneyBook
HoneyBook has an intuitive interface and dashboard to access your projects and essential tools for finance, lead capture, and productivity. As a business owner, you can easily use the platform to customize invoice templates, schedule appointments, and create easy-to-sign contracts, helping you to enhance client relationships.

QuickBooks
QuickBooks offers a feature-packed yet user-friendly interface with several data visualization tools, helping users without accounting expertise to understand specific financial aspects. You can effectively keep track of your daily tasks, financial transactions, and quick actions in the main menu. You can also easily customize forms and invoice templates.

Invoicing

HoneyBook
HoneyBook has tools that allow you to create professional-looking invoices to bill your clients. Your client can also pay through HoneyBook since the platform accepts online payments via major credit cards and bank transfers from other financial institutions. Payment processing fees start at 2.9% plus 25 cents for credit card transactions or 1.5% per ACH or bank transfer payments.

QuickBooks
QuickBooks offers robust features for creating professional invoices. After creating your personalized invoice, you can set up recurring and payment reminders. The platform also processes online payments through QuickBooks Payments or third-party payment processors (e.g., PayPal) so you can bill your clients seamlessly.

Integrations

HoneyBook
HoneyBook supports essential third-party integrations to enhance client experience and relationships. These integrations involve platforms like Zoom, Meta Ads, QuickBooks, Zapier, and Calendly. Its integration with Zapier and QuickBooks notably allows you access to over 6,000 apps and automates your financial processes; however, you’ll need to make an account for these platforms, and depending on the integrations you need, you might pay for them as well.

QuickBooks
QuickBooks has extensive third-party integration support compared to most of its competitors. It allows seamless data transfer between apps instead of having to manually import and export data to other business platforms. The platform supports integrations with popular apps for CRM, payment processing, e-commerce, payroll, and more.

Pricing

HoneyBook
HoneyBook offers three main pricing plans: Starter ($19/mo.), Essentials ($39/mo.), and Premium ($79/mo.). All plans include unlimited access to accounting and client management tools, 24/7 support, integrations, and more. They also have a 7-day free trial for all plans and discounts for yearly subscriptions.

QuickBooks
QuickBooks has the following pricing plans: Simple Start ($30 monthly), Essentials ($60 monthly), Plus ($90 monthly), and Advanced ($200 monthly). They offer a 30-day free trial for all plans and discounts for your first purchase. The platform has different fees for add-ons, like their payroll and live bookkeeping service.

Who is it For?

HoneyBook
HoneyBook is ideal for freelancers, creative professionals, and small business owners who need a reliable solution for client management, invoicing, scheduling, and other key business management tools. So, if you’re a professional who needs a tool that optimizes client experience and only needs basic financial reports for your business, HoneyBook is a great choice.

QuickBooks
As one of the best accounting software today, we recommend QuickBooks for businesses of different sizes needing tools for basic expense tracking, invoice creation, and financial reporting. You can connect multiple bank accounts to the platform to keep track of your existing transactions and do bank reconciliation tasks. Overall, QuickBooks is a solid choice for scaling enterprises looking for reliable accounting software to track their business expenses.

Claim to Fame

HoneyBook
HoneyBook excels as a premier client communication software compared to other accounting and CRM software. It’s excellent for independent business owners and professionals who mainly need invoicing, business proposals, and online scheduling tools to make their brand known and gain more leads. With its basic financial reporting and automation tools, it can also help you manage finances and create automated workflows to increase efficiency.

QuickBooks
QuickBooks automates key financial processes, mainly invoicing, smart bank reconciliation, and financial reporting. Its smart expense management tools also support foreign currency transactions, which is handy for overseas businesses. The platform now incorporates AI and machine learning in its expense tracking tools to better track spending habits and automatically categorize expenses.

Conclusion

QuickBooks is ideal for SMBs and e-commerce businesses needing cost-effective invoicing, accounting, and expense management software. It has robust bookkeeping, reporting, and automation tools, which separates the platform from its competitors. As a small business owner, you can easily customize how you use the platform and only use the necessary tools depending on your accounting and financial needs.

HoneyBook, on the other hand, is an excellent choice for small business owners, freelancers, and creative professionals looking for an all-in-one light project management tool and business management software. It excels in helping you manage leads and sustain client relationships. However, compared to traditional accounting tools, it only provides basic sales and project reports.

In addition, HoneyBook isn’t ideal for larger businesses and agencies. If you’re transitioning to QuickBooks and need pre-accounting software to track your growing income, expenses, and other financial data, you can consider an add-on like Envoice. It streamlines your pre-accounting processes and easily integrates with QuickBooks, Sage 50, and other popular accounting tools.

Interested in knowing more about how Envoice can help standardize your accounting tasks? Check out its complete set of features and how it makes your accounting workflows more efficient than ever!