Best Quickbooks Program for Small Business

Are you wondering if there’s the best quickbooks to for your small business or about which one is best? QuickBooks is also known as accounting software. It helps in keeping track of all the expenditures and income to avoid unnecessary matters. It has numerous benefits which you can learn about if you carefully assess the following factors.

Now its a great time to ask yourself that question, is quickbooks the best for small business? Are you hesitate to make a decision for this? Are you an owner of a business and want to do some accounting? Are you currently looking for the best program to keep track of your finances, inventory, and other operations on your company? Well, below are some of the important things that you have to consider before choosing what software can truly help your small business grow.

QuickBooks comes in an online and a desktop version. We didn’t include overviews of the QuickBooks desktop software in this guide, because it’s more expensive and doesn’t have any added functionality. Even Intuit is pushing its business customers away from desktop products and toward the online versions, stating on the QuickBooks website that “3 out of 4 customers get more work done with QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Pro.”

In the side-by-side comparison on the site, you’ll also see additional costs associated with the QuickBooks desktop software. This reflects a larger trend in business software toward cloud-based software and away from downloaded software that lives on your computer. Because of this trend and the cost difference, we recommend online versions of products over desktop versions, unless you are in an industry with stringent compliance or security requirements that preclude you from using the online software.

QuickBooks cloud-based software plans

QuickBooks Online plans were overwhelmingly more popular with the entrepreneurs we spoke to than the desktop versions of the product. The popularity of QuickBooks Online is likely because it is less expensive than the desktop version, can be used on mobile devices, and has no contract, giving entrepreneurs the freedom to upgrade or downgrade at will. Another benefit of QuickBooks’ cloud-based software is its low maintenance requirements: When you use cloud-based software, the company typically rolls out updates automatically, which means you don’t have to run updates in-house.

QuickBooks Self-Employed

Best for: Freelancers and independent contractors.

QuickBooks Self-Employed is designed specifically for freelancers and independent contractors to separate their business and personal expenses and prepare their taxes. It includes basic invoicing capabilities and mobile apps for receipt capture and mileage tracking. Top-tier plans also offer direct support for tax filing.

While this QuickBooks product is easy to use, it doesn’t offer extended accounting capabilities (e.g., billing, inventory, reporting) or a chart of accounts.

Pricing

From $15 to $35 per month.

Pros

  • Designed specifically for self-employed professionals.
  • Includes free access for your accountant or bookkeeper.
  • Customer support via live chat and email.
  • Option to upgrade for additional tax features and support.

Cons

  • Doesn’t include an accounting menu or chart of accounts.
  • Can have one user only.
  • Not easy to scale; requires transferring data to QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Self-Employed Tax Bundle

Like other tiered cloud software, QuickBooks adds more functionality with each tier while still including all the features of the lower levels. In the Self-Employed Tax Bundle, which starts at $12 a month, you get everything from the Self-Employed package plus an account for TurboTax Self-Employed, which allows you to seamlessly transfer your tax information from QuickBooks into TurboTax. The TurboTax add-on includes the fees for one federal and one state return. If you plan to file your taxes with TurboTax anyway, you might as well spring for this midrange version of QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Self-Employed Live Tax Bundle

Starting at $17 a month, QuickBooks Self-Employed Live Tax Bundle is the most expensive of the self-employed versions of QuickBooks. It includes the access of the lower tiers and these additional features for tax filing help:

  • Unlimited help and advice all year from a qualified CPA
  • Access to a CPA who will do a final review of your tax return before you file

While these may be valuable features, we haven’t personally tested them and cannot vouch for the efficacy of the tax professionals you’ll have access to or the user-friendliness of the interface.

Additionally, many small business owners already outsource the filing of their taxes to trusted accountants or high-street tax filing shops. If you want a dedicated accountant, you’re probably better off hiring someone to work with for the long term, rather than relying on a rotating cast of remote accountants employed by a massive software company.

QuickBooks Pro

Best for: Small businesses with advanced accounting needs; businesses that prefer locally installed software.

QuickBooks Desktop offers a suite of software options that you download and install on your computer. QuickBooks Pro, its most basic version, offers a full range of features including invoicing, inventory management, reporting, billing, income and expense tracking and more. It can be a viable option for small or medium-sized businesses that need more than QuickBooks Online can offer or for those that prefer a locally installed solution.

QuickBooks Pro is available in two versions: Pro and Pro Plus. Pro Plus includes additional features such as unlimited customer support, automatic updates, data backup and recovery, and the option to add remote access via hosting. As a QuickBooks Desktop product, however, Pro is limited in terms of accessibility, mobile apps and the number of users.

Pricing

Pro starts at $399.99 for a three-year license for one user. Pro Plus starts at $299.99 per year for one user. Pro Plus also includes the option to add remote access via hosting for additional fees.

Pros

  • Features cover accounting, inventory management, invoicing, billing and more.
  • Over 200 third-party integrations.
  • One-time price may be more affordable than QuickBooks Online in some cases.
  • Option to use (or upgrade to) Pro Plus for additional features.

Cons

  • Remote access with Pro Plus (requires additional fees) only.
  • Receipt capture mobile app only available with Pro Plus.
  • Software only compatible with PCs.
  • Allows up to three user accounts; pricing increases per user.
  • Process to scale and transfer data to other Desktop versions can be complicated.

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based product that doesn’t require software installation. This QuickBooks product is available in multiple subscription levels, including Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. It’s ideal for any business that doesn’t have complicated job-costing requirements. QuickBooks Online allows you to access your data from any computer with an internet connection by using your secure login.

The online version of QuickBooks works well for businesses that prefer the convenience of not having software to update, backup or manage. The online version doesn’t include the Collections Center, Inventory Center or Lead Center. QuickBooks Search and the Calendar view to show invoices, billing and other tasks also aren’t provided. QuickBooks online doesn’t support multiple customer invoicing, batch invoicing or the ability to scan and deposit checks.

QuickBooks Online doesn’t support setting inventory reorder points. Sales and expenses are available in one currency only and business plans, sales or expense forecasts aren’t supported. Businesses with basic accounting needs may find the online version suitable. Carefully evaluate whether you need the missing features when choosing a version.

QuickBooks Premier

QuickBooks Premier provides advanced options suitable for most small businesses. The ability to view customized sales and profitability reports provides options to track your biggest sources of income. The Inventory Center makes it simple to access, edit, delete and manage all of your inventory in a single location. Additionally, balance sheet tracking by class provides support for using classes to track your data by office location, department or service type. Multiple billing options are supported that allow you to track charges by job phase. Finally, you can efficiently manage and track your time and expenses by category, including employee, project, client or services.

Conclusion:

Whether you’re a freelancer or run your own small business, accounting software can help you save hours and hours of work. If you take your time and choose the best (and most efficient) accounting software for your needs,you can position your small business to grow and thrive.

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