QuickBooks Online Review - Features, Benefits, Pricing!

Launched by Intuit in 2001, QuickBooks Online is mainly marketed as accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses. Payroll, bookkeeping, expense tracking, and tax management are some of the areas that can be programmed using QuickBooks. Since the software is web-based, you can easily access the data via the Internet without downloading an application.

There are several plans you can avail of under QuickBooks Online, and each has features that can cater to your specific accounting needs. Each plan has unique tools that will be a great help - whether you're a freelancer, a small or mid-sized business owner, or someone who belongs in the restaurant, finance, legal, retail, or non-profit organizations.

Quickbooks Online is an account management software for your business' every financial need. Invoices, bills payment, tracking monetary gains and expenses are some of the main functions of this cloud-based system. It can also analyze your monthly and annual financial reports while keeping track of your business taxes.



Here are some of the ways you can use QuickBooks Online in your business:

Tax Management

QuickBooks Online's most important function lies in its ability to process the tax return. It compiles financial exchanges, income, and expenses for your business. It is efficient because printing the financial statements is the only thing you do during tax payment.

Invoice Management

With QuickBooks Online, creating invoices and automatically keeping track of your income is possible. It compiles each customer's due payment and puts them under the accounts receivable section. You can also efficiently see which price is long overdue.

Inventory Management

Calculating taxes is a chore that is inefficient to do by hand, so this inventory management feature for businesses is a big help. QuickBooks will mechanically allocate a part of your earnings under the cost of goods sold section by tracking item quantity and product costs, which is vital to identify taxable income. Aside from this, the software also sends notifications when inventory items reach a certain number.

Track Work Hours and Manage Payroll

QuickBooks Online also offers the necessary tools to track your employees' working time and their pay check amount. Its payroll function can automatically calculate employees' hourly wages and creates invoices.

Bills and Expenses

By connecting your credit and bank accounts to QuickBooks, you can keep track of your bills and expenses by category. In cases where you will need to create transactions manually, you can input the data efficiently in real-time.

Under the Accounts Payable section, QuickBooks Online can show you your bills and remind you of your future payments.

Financial Statements

You can also keep track of your business' cash flow through QuickBooks Online through financial statements available in subscription plans. Here are some of the three primary financial statements available:

• Balance Sheet Reports - This shows your business assets, debts, and net equity every month, year, or quarterly.

• Cash Flow Statement - QuickBooks gives you an option to track all your financial activities, which has an impact on your business operations, investments, and cash inflows or outflows.



• Profit and Loss Reports - The software can show you how much you're earning and the amount of your bottom line net income. This helps you compare each month's progress and make you aware of how much you're losing.
  

Online Payments and Receipt Scanner

Since more consumers prefer the efficient way of e-payments, QuickBooks gives you the option to offer your customers a way to pay online. Sales, cash deposits, and credit card fees can also be monitored automatically. Receipt management is also plausible through its feature of uploading multiple receipts in the cloud-based storage, which is beneficial for companies with various transactions.

QuickBooks Premier is part of the QuickBooks Desktop product line, which caters to more than 1.5 billion users globally. This particular product line is suitable for emerging companies eager to obtain and industry-specific finance software. If your business deals with manufacturing or selling products, then this plan is for you.

As a retailer or a manufacturer, QuickBooks Premier offers the best choice to accommodate numerous orders due to its superior inventory management feature. It keeps track of multiple orders and records those in a single invoice, with the option for a partial statement made for goods delivered in more than one shipment process.

Aside from keeping an eye on every backorder made, QuickBooks Premier can be used by five users simultaneously. This is ideal for companies employing an inventory team. It can also show item prices per level, track product availability, and helps in raising an item from scratch.

QuickBooks Premier can be sold at $499.95 and is the ideal accounting software for manufacturing or retailing companies. It can also be used by non-profit or independent contractors that deal with these kinds of business sectors.

In 2020, 78% of small businesses had relied on cloud-based accounting to manage their finances. This is because web-based accounting solutions are flexible, convenient, and user-friendly. In the present era, QuickBooks Online is the leading cloud solution that caters to more than 4.5 million customers.

Aside from the high-quality features, each plan offers, here are other benefits of using QuickBooks Online:

• Work from anywhere - Your data is stored in the cloud, which makes it easier to access your information through various devices as long as it's connected with your account. Whether you're navigating using a PC, mobile phone, or tablet, QuickBooks Online allows you to monitor your accounting books using the Internet.
• Your mobile office - You can keep track of all your documents efficiently in one cloud storage using this software. Monitoring incomes and expenses, sending and recording bill statements, and tracking business progress is possible using your phone.
• Less data entry - The automatic sync feature of your real-time bank transactions in QuickBooks lessens the workload of financial management. All the connected devices are also updated without manual input and data entry.
• Instant insights - By connecting your financial accounts with this cloud-based software, you can easily monitor how much your business income and losses are. Each bank and credit card transaction is recorded and accessible in a single section.
• Collaborate with your accountant - QuickBooks Online makes it easier for you and your accountant to keep track of your financial status and ledgers. This makes it easier for tax payment and monetary problems.
• Protect your data - Your financial information is automatically stored in the cloud, which minimizes the risk of an unauthorized person taking a look at them. QuickBooks Online storage is protected by VeriSign SecuredTM product, the leading company in the data privacy industry.

QuickBooks Online currently offers five versions that have a price range of $15 to $180 monthly. Here are the basic features all five versions of this software can:

• Scan and record receipt
• Provide expert QuickBooks support
• Track income and expenses
• Gives data access to personal accountants
• Keep an eye on mileage using mobile
• Create Invoice and allows e-payments
• Secure Cloud Storage
• iPhone and Android applications
• Monitor bank and credit transactions

Each plan also offers unique features that can cater to different individual and company needs. Listed below are some facts to help you identify which QuickBooks Online version is suitable for your enterprise:

Based on its name, this particular plan is tailor-made for the self-employed. This includes sole proprietors and freelancers offering services or products. QuickBooks Online Self Employed is ideal for solo business owners who handle one account for all income and expenses.



This is also ideal for you if you sell online using a digital marketplace or any third-party website. It helps you manage your income, tax information, and mileage through a mobile application while separating your business and personal accounts. Features include:

This plan is best for start-up businesses handled by an individual who wants an efficient way to track expenses, assets, estimates and send billing statements in one application. Made for small-scale companies without substantial inventory, the QuickBooks Online Simple Start can manage sales and reports at a basic level. Features include:

• Twenty customizable small business reports that show balance, sales, and loss.
• Unlimited creation of invoices which can be altered
• Track expenses and income in one place
• Searchable Customer Center where you can input and locate client information as well as pending transactions
• Automatic syncing of business or credit card exchange

The QuickBooks Online Plus can be used by five users simultaneously and have all the features of Simple Start and Essentials, with some additional ones added. As the most popular QuickBooks Online version, it is ideal for companies that offer their services and products. It is made for retailers, wholesalers, and small businesses that require more advanced bookkeeping services. Product and inventory management, job costing, and budgeting can also be updated through the connected devices in real-time.

Here are its additional features aside from those found in the Simple Start and Essentials plans:

• Monitor project profitability using convenient dashboards and reports
• More detailed and in-depth reporting beyond the basic
• Monitor inventory count and cost of goods
• Automatic low supply notification
• Customize purchase orders and estimates which can be converted into invoices
• Available success manager
• Staff training
• Dashboard for Key Performance Indicators
• Create and send multiple invoices at once

This version is ideal for small to middle-sized businesses looking for an advanced status report, custom user permissions, and an expert QuickBooks manager. It can be used by up to 25 users simultaneously and has all the features of the Plus plan with an additional Smart Reporting by Fathom.

Added features include:



• 20 classes of QuickBooks online training
• Accessible account team with VIP support
• Customized user access by roles
• Automated workflows
• Exclusive premium applications
• Batch invoice
• Smart reporting with Fathom in-depth analysis tools
• Unlimited chart of account entries and company data restoration
• Three accountant seats
• 48 custom fields

QuickBooks Online is the leading account management software that offers its services at a reasonable price.

The five versions of this cloud-based program are priced according to the different features present and have service tiers available for every business type. They offer a thirty-day trial period for each of the five subscription plans and currently give a limited sale of 50% off for three months.

Here is the table list of prices, including the costs of both limited and regular QuickBooks Online subscriptions.

As the leading accounting software provider in the present market, QuickBooks released two accounting management software. Both of these programs provide freelancers and business owners the ideal accounting tools tailor-made for each of their specific needs.



Both offer excellent services, but it is vital to choose which package you will be purchasing for your business financial management.

Here are some of the differences between the QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop lines:

Accessibility

QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based software and can automatically sync data with connected devices over the Internet. Like other web-based programs, it also has application integration and gives access to users' books anytime and anywhere. Tracking income and expenses using mobile devices is also possible due to the data being stored on the net.

QuickBooks Desktop offers software plans locally installed on your computer, which means that your data will be available only to that particular device. Additional licenses are required to access the data from multiple computers. Each license has three-year validity, and once it expires, you won't be able to download bank transactions.

Plans

QuickBooks Online currently has five plans to offer: Self-Employed, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. They expire monthly and require frequent subscriptions with a rate ranging from $15 to $180.



QuickBooks Desktop has a licensing structure method, and each license has a three-year lifespan. Yearly updates are also available, but this is entirely upon your discretion. This software line has three versions in the present, and these are:

• QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2020 - this desktop software tracks businesses' overall performance, from income, expenses to profit and loss. It can import the data into spreadsheets, gives automatic basic reporting, and pay up to 1099 contractors. Recent updates also allow bill reminders, multiple invoices in one email, and additional customer services. Live expert advice is also offered, with a price of $299.95.

• QuickBooks Desktop Premier 2020 - Aside from the features of Pro, Premier can also forecast future business statistics that allow the user to improve track profitability. There are also project levels and run industry reports. Premier can be bought at a price of $499.95, which can simultaneously be used on a maximum of five computers.

• QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 2020 - This version has the features of Premier but also includes mobile barcode scanning abilities, QuickBooks Priority Circle access, advanced picking, and shipping management. It can also be downloaded on 30 computers and available as an annual subscription with a standard price of $1,213

Features and Automations

QuickBooks Desktop and Online versions have almost the same features. However, most of the Desktop's attributes are more advanced. On the other hand, QuickBooks Online has an edge when it comes to automation.

This is because Online is cloud-based and can automatically sync your changes across all devices in real-time. The Desktop line needs manual input, which may create a hassle for users vying for efficiency.

No matter what QuickBooks software you choose, it is ideal to consider your business needs and budget. Operations tasks and management inventory requirements should also be considered before buying either the Desktop or Online versions. (edited)