How to Use QuickBooks Online: Step-By-Step Guide

QuickBooks Pro offers 244 integrations to choose from, QuickBooks Premier has 241 integrations, and QuickBooks Enterprise offers 247 integrations. So we’ve covered how much QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise cost and the additional fees to expect with each. Each of these versions gives you access to specialized features and reports at no additional cost. The price range depends on how many users your business needs.

1. Banking services provided by our partner, Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC.
2. You have to purchase a yearly subscription to use QuickBooks Desktop.
3. Compared with QuickBooks, Xero’s plans and pricing structure are simpler and less expensive.
4. 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.

The main user should be the “primary admin,” but you can add other admins or standard users (with customized levels of access). The best QuickBooks Online plan for you depends on the size of your business and your particular needs. If you deal with inventory or large projects heavily, Plus is the best option. However, self-employed persons should consider Self-Employed—unless they have an employee, which will require an upgrade to Simple Start. In evaluating pricing, we considered the billing cycle (monthly or annual) and number of users.

Plus includes inventory accounting that allows you to monitor stock items and quantity—a necessity if you’re selling products. It also lets you update inventory costs and quantities, separate taxable https://intuit-payroll.org/ from nontaxable items, and set up alerts if you’re running out of stock. Most importantly, Plus will separate the cost of your ending inventory from COGS using first-in, first-out (FIFO).

What do accountants think of QuickBooks Online?

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. Consider what the system’s interface looks like, how the navigation works and what setup entails. Your familiarity with accounting concepts and the availability of customer support is also worth weighing.

QuickBooks Enterprise Industry Editions

Now that business is expanding, get tools to simplify new demands and set everyone up for success. Includes tools that help automate the reconciliation process, along with a global search function and customizable dashboard; however, there is a learning curve. Find help articles, video tutorials, and connect with other businesses in our online community. When an invoice is past due, follow these five steps to collect outstanding payments so you can get paid sooner.

Users must have easy access to customer service channels in case of problems, questions, or assistance. Most small businesses will find Plus the perfect fit, but there are many reasons you may want to upgrade to Advanced, especially now that several new features journal entry for profit on sale of fixed assets have been added to the program. Advanced now offers fixed asset accounting, estimated vs actual cost reporting, and multi-company report consolidation. These can be useful for companies with more complex business structures and accounting workflows.

QuickBooks Integrations

To see which lineup is best for you, compare QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop plans’ main features and pricing. Its range of features can support very small operations as well as growing companies that need granular reporting tools to assess different areas of their business. QuickBooks, on the other hand, is a software dedicated only to accounting.

Read our detailed review of QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping to learn more about this assisted bookkeeping add-on. Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Let us know how well the content on this page solved your problem today. All feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve the way we help small businesses. By providing feedback on how we can improve, you can earn gift cards and get early access to new features.

Based on the depreciation method you choose, Advanced automatically calculates the depreciation for the fixed asset and creates a depreciation schedule. With Plus, you can create projects and add income, expenses, and wages. The Projects tool helps you manage different jobs and projects for your clients and track costs related to labor and materials. However, the problem with Plus or any of the other versions is that you can’t compare cost estimates to actual costs by project. With Plus, you can make POs, track them, and send them to vendors.

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. All plans include access to QuickBooks Online mobile apps, customer support and third-party app integrations. Add-on services — including QuickBooks Payroll and QuickBooks Payments — will incur separate costs.

The company offers video tutorials, webinars and training classes, as well as community forums, support topics and other resources on its website. You have the option of contacting QuickBooks customer support directly for any help you may need too. While there are many options available, you do not need to sign up for all of the QuickBooks services all at once. You can start with a single app, such as the accounting or payroll software, and add others as you expand.

Whether you use QuickBooks Payments or another payment gateway, be sure to take the credit card fees into account. Integrations are third-party add-ons that give you additional features and capabilities. For example, software such as Shopify, QuickBooks Time, and Mailchimp are all integrations.

As a business grows, users can easily upgrade to a more advanced plan with additional features seamlessly. QuickBooks is the platform most used by professional accountants so if you plan to work with an accountant, they will likely be very familiar with the platform, its features and capabilities. QuickBooks offers six accounting products, but one of its online accounting plans will be the best choice for most small businesses. Freelancers and independent contractors may opt for simpler options, while larger small businesses might turn to QuickBooks products with advanced inventory, sales and reporting features. Advanced is slightly better than Plus and the other QuickBooks Online plans in A/P and A/R because of its batch invoicing and expense management features. Batch invoicing allows you to create multiple invoices at once rather than creating them one at a time.