Need help choosing the right QuickBooks Online plan?

Choosing the right QuickBooks subscription

Are you thinking of signing up with QuickBooks Online but are having a tough time deciding which plan is right for you?  If so, you’ve come to the right place.
 
In this article, we are going to compare the types of plans that QuickBooks Online has to offer.
 
The great thing about QuickBooks Online is that it operates through your web browser.  There is no software to install and getting started only takes a few minutes.  QuickBooks Online uses cloud-based software which means that you can work from anywhere on the go.  You can use QuickBooks on your PC, Mac, iPad or phone.
 
Now let’s look at which subscription is right for you.

Comparing QuickBooks Online subscriptions

Types of QuickBooks subscriptions​

QuickBooks Online offers 5 types of subscriptions which are billed monthly.
 
There are no contracts or commitments, and you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your subscription at any time.  The five types of plans to choose from are:
 

1. Self Employed - $15 per month
2. Simple Start - $25 per month
3. Essentials - $50 per month
4. Plus - $80 per month
5. Advanced - $180 per month

 
Now let’s dive into the features among the plans.

QuickBooks Self Employed

The least expensive QuickBooks plan is Self Employed which costs $15 per month.
 
It may be a good starting point if you are a freelancer that strictly uses cash accounting.
 

• Self Employed only allows 1 user and 1 accountant.  
• It only allows you to do simple invoices, so if you need to email invoices, this plan won’t be a good choice.
• You can have both personal and business bank accounts.
• Self Employed doesn’t allow accounts receivable, accounts payable, or payroll.
• It doesn’t allow for receipt capture using the mobile app.

QuickBooks Simple Start

The next plan up is Simple Start.
 
At $25 a month, Simple Start is great for new businesses just starting out.
 
It’s also great for service-based business requiring accounts receivable, payroll, sales taxes, and financial reporting.
 
Simple Start offers:

• Full general ledger 
• Allows for accounts receivable
• Multiple sources of income
• You can have 1 user & 2 accountants
• Custom invoices
• Sales receipts
• Product & service items
• Estimates
• Sales tax
• Financial Statements
• It allows you to convert easily from QuickBooks Desktop.
• You can import lists from Excel.
• Simple Start allows you to integrate apps.
• You can pay bills electronically.
• You can print checks.
• Simple Start allows you to run payroll
• Prepare and file 1099s
• It allows for progress invoicing which is great if you collect deposits on your estimates and invoices.
• It allows for receipt and bill capture from your phone, making tracking expenses a breeze.

QuickBooks Essentials

​One step up from Simple Start is Essentials at $50 per month.  You get all the benefits from Simple Start plus more.
 
Why might you need to upgrade to essentials?
 
Essentials allows for: 

• Accounts payable
• Custom fields
• Recurring transactions
• Multicurrency
• It allows for delayed charges.   So, if you bill a lot of work for a client during the month, but like to invoice them on a single invoice, delayed charges make keeping track of the work very easy.
• Essentials also allows time tracking which you can then use to create billable hours which is great for attorneys or anyone who bills clients by the hour.
• Finally, Essentials lets you have 3 users and 2 accountants 

 
One of the features I love about essentials is recurring transactions.  If you are a business such as a lawn service that invoices monthly, recurring invoicing will allow you to automatically send invoices via email to your customers.  It’s a huge time saver.  Imagine individually creating 100 invoices every month by hand.  Recurring invoicing can save you hours of work each month.

QuickBooks Plus

After essentials comes the Plus plan for $80 per month.
 
Why might you need plus?  For me, the two biggest benefits of the Plus plan are:
 

1. The ability to track multiple revenue streams and/or departments or locations using class and location tracking.
2. The ability to track inventory.
3. Price rules to automate categorization.

 
If you need to track inventory, plus is the plan you want.  Plus also allows you to create budgets and allows for advanced reporting such as the ability to track profitability by class or location.
 
Plus allows all the features of Essentials as well as:

• The ability to track expenses by customer.
• Plus allows you to bill expenses to customers. 
• You can enable class and location tracking of income and expenses.
• You can create budgets.
• Track inventory using the first in first out FIFO method.
• You can create price rules to speed up expense categorization.
• You can create projects and track their profitability. 
• It allows purchase orders.
• You can have 5 users, 2 accountants and make “reports only” users.

QuickBooks Advanced

The highest tier plan in QuickBooks Online is the Advanced plan at $180 per month.  If you are a growing business, this may be the plan for you.
 
Advanced allows for:

• Unlimited accounts, classes, locations, and tag groups.  Other plans have limits.
• It has an advanced import and batch entry features.
• QuickBooks gives you a dedicated account team & on-demand training and premium 24/7 technical support.
• You can have 25 users & 2 accountants with custom user permissions, which is great for accounting departments that may need to limit user access.
• There are custom reporting fields.
• You can import invoices and budgets.
• You can batch enter invoices, checks, bills, or deposits.
• Finally, Advanced allows you to automate approvals and reminders.

Conclusion

Below is a detailed spreadsheet comparing each QuickBooks Online subscription.

QuickBooks Online plan comparison

I hope you found this article helpful when deciding which QuickBooks Online plan to choose from.  If you have any additional questions or comments, feel free to contact us here!