{"id":25522,"date":"2024-08-23T09:40:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T09:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/?p=25522"},"modified":"2025-12-24T13:41:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:41:39","slug":"quickbooks-pros-and-cons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/blog\/quickbooks-pros-and-cons\/","title":{"rendered":"Pros & Cons of QuickBooks Online: All You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a small business owner, you may have heard about QuickBooks Online when researching the best small business accounting software. It has robust accounting, invoicing, inventory management tools, and other features and is known by many accountants and bookkeepers. However, QuickBooks Online has disadvantages, including its pricing and user limits per account.<\/p>\n

This guide will discuss QuickBooks’ pros and cons in depth, giving you all you need to know when considering it for your small\u2014to medium-sized business. We\u2019ll also discuss its pricing, features, and some robust alternatives to QuickBooks Online.<\/p>\n

Read on to learn more.<\/p>\n

Key Advantages of QuickBooks Online<\/h2>\n

Robust Core Accounting Features<\/h3>\n

Unlike other accounting software, QuickBooks Online offers various features to streamline your accounting tasks, like bookkeeping, invoicing, financial reports, bank reconciliation, expense tracking, etc. Here are some of its best core tools:<\/p>\n

Bookkeeping and Detailed Accounting Reports<\/strong> \u2013 QuickBooks Online lets you record and track business expenses accurately, allowing you to add expense categories and insert attachments, memos, and reference numbers. It also allows you to close books at year-end to prevent modifications to your financial data.<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong>: QuickBooks Online doesn\u2019t use intelligent data capture for its receipt scanning feature, which makes your pre-accounting process less efficient. For a more robust solution for tracking expenses, try Envoice<\/strong>. It has SmartExtract and ExactExtract backed by Human-in-the-loop review for automating data extraction tasks, eliminating manual data entry, and ensuring 99.9% accuracy of extracted data. Sign up for a free trial now.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As for accounting report generation, QuickBooks offers different built-in reports<\/strong>, such as balance sheets, income statements, profit-and-loss statements, and trial balance reports. It allows you to create custom reports to track business performance and quickly get needed insights.<\/p>\n

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quickbooks.intuit.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

QuickBooks Online also offers advanced features for job costing and project budget forecasting and oversight<\/strong>, helping business owners track project profitability and plan for future projects. You can also create automated workflows for payment reminders and facilitate recurring invoices. To learn more, read on how QuickBooks Online can automate accounts payable (A\/P)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Inventory Management<\/strong> \u2013 QuickBooks has robust inventory tracking tools for Plus and Advanced users. It allows you to manage vendors and inventory and create purchase orders on the platform. It also makes stock inventory management through automatic updates and on-demand reports, allowing you to see which items are selling and what to reorder.<\/p>\n

Invoicing<\/strong> \u2013 QuickBooks Online has powerful invoicing features, making it a popular accounting software for accounts receivable (A\/R). You can create professional invoices from scratch or use its templates to invoice customers seamlessly. It can automatically calculate sales tax when making a sales receipt, regardless of where you\u2019re running your business.<\/p>\n

Related article<\/strong>: jobber vs quickbooks<\/a> compares invoicing, job tracking, and day to day workflow for service based teams.<\/p>\n

Feature Add-Ons<\/strong> \u2013 QuickBooks Desktop and Online offer multiple add-ons<\/a> to streamline business processes. You can use QuickBooks Time to automatically track employee time and their real-time location for easier time-tracking. Its payroll feature (QuickBooks Payroll) can help you manage employee payments, payroll taxes, and other HR tasks.<\/p>\n

QuickBooks offers assisted bookkeeping through certified bookkeepers, streamlining your bookkeeping tasks so you can focus more on your business and prepare for tax time. You can also pay vendor bills using the software through QuickBooks Bill Pay.<\/p>\n

Diverse Third-Party Integrations<\/h3>\n

Quickbooks Desktop and Online offers a diverse set of third-party integrations (over 750 apps), allowing you to automatically sync data between other apps. It includes project management platforms, e-commerce stores, CRM software, payroll tools, and more. It supports notable platforms like PayPal, Gmail, Stripe, Square, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Zapier.<\/p>\n

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quickbooks.intuit.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Portability and User Support<\/h3>\n

Since it is cloud-based, you can use QuickBooks Online on any computer as long as you have a stable internet connection and are logged in to your online account. It has an intuitive user interface and main dashboard where you can easily find its core features and access reporting data. However, due to its vast feature set, you might experience a steep learning curve if you\u2019re a newbie user with little accounting knowledge.<\/p>\n

When moving from the desktop version to Online or experiencing minor issues, you can access QuickBooks\u2019 online support for help articles, troubleshooting guides, video tutorials, and community discussions about specific features. The platform offers phone support, live chat, email, and an AI support chatbot.<\/p>\n

Where QuickBooks Online Fails<\/h2>\n

Limited Account Users<\/h3>\n

QuickBooks Online\u2019s highest pricing plan (Advanced at $235\/mo.) only allows up to 25 account users. On the other hand, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise ($4,668.50\/year) allows up to 40 simultaneous users. While both pricing tiers are already expensive, they\u2019re minimal compared to other accounting software (e.g., Xero) that allow an unlimited number of users. Check out our QuickBooks vs. Xero comparison<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n

Expensive Pricing Plans<\/h3>\n

QuickBooks Online\u2019s starting plan (Simple Start) costs $35 monthly and only allows one user plus account access for two accountants. The plan has limited expense tracking tools besides receipt capture and mileage tracking. It also doesn\u2019t include advanced features like time-tracking, multi-currency support, and inventory management, which can only be accessed in the Essentials and Plus plans, costing you $65 and $99 per month, respectively.<\/p>\n

Regarding its add-ons, QuickBooks Online provides them to users at different pricing schemes, potentially increasing your costs as you need more features. So, if you\u2019re subscribed to Simple Start as a small business owner, you\u2019ll need to pay more to access services like time-tracking (starts at $40 per month) and payroll ($50 monthly, $6 per employee\/month). More advanced features like Live Bookkeeping and tax help require an additional $50 on top of your monthly subscription.<\/p>\n

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quickbooks.intuit.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lacks Industry-Specific Features<\/h3>\n

QuickBooks Online lacks niche features that are only available in QuickBooks Desktop versions. These include tools for growing companies in manufacturing, wholesale, construction, and other professional services. For instance, industry-specific features such as inventory management, job costing, payroll, and mobile barcode scanning are readily available in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, QuickBooks Online is a one-size-fits-all accounting solution for small businesses, mainly focusing on services like bookkeeping, expense tracking, accounting reports, and invoicing.<\/p>\n

QuickBooks Online Pricing and Features: At a Glance<\/h2>\n

These are QuickBooks Online\u2019s pricing tiers, which include a free trial for 30 days. They also offer a 50% discount for new users for the first three months. Add-ons (e.g., QuickBooks Time, Live, Bill Pay, and Payroll) have their separate pricing plans:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Plan<\/th>\nPrice<\/th>\nFeatures<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Simple Start<\/strong><\/td>\n\n

$35 per month<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Includes one user and two accountants<\/li>\n
  • Create a free-to-open business bank account<\/li>\n
  • Automatically categorize transactions to optimize bookkeeping<\/li>\n
  • Customize invoices and accept online payments from customers to increase cash flow<\/li>\n
  • Automatically sort business expenses to the right tax categories for tax deductions<\/li>\n
  • Capture receipts, track miles, and add trips, using QuickBooks Online mobile apps<\/li>\n
  • Run and export basic accounting reports<\/li>\n
  • Automatically set up sales tax on your invoices<\/li>\n
  • Prepare and file 1099s on the platform<\/li>\n
  • Organize and track business bills and invoice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Essentials<\/td>\n$65 per month<\/span><\/td>\nIncludes everything from Simple Start, plus:<\/p>\n
    \n
  • Three users and two accountants<\/li>\n
  • Integrate your QuickBooks Online account to three different sales channels (e.g., Amazon, eBay, and\/or Shopify).<\/li>\n
  • Process and get payments in currencies of customers or vendors that don\u2019t use your home currency<\/li>\n
  • Track time and billable hours<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Plus<\/td>\n$99 per month<\/span><\/td>\nIncludes all from Essentials, plus:<\/p>\n
    \n
  • Five users and two accountants<\/li>\n
  • Connect QuickBooks Online to all of your available sales channels<\/li>\n
  • Track product inventory and cost of goods and create purchase orders<\/li>\n
  • Track projects, profitability, and expenses with job costing features<\/li>\n
  • Create and manage budgets from scratch<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Advanced<\/td>\n$235 per month<\/td>\nOffers everything from Plus, including:<\/p>\n