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QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online

Overview

What is QuickBooks Online?

QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.

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Recent Reviews
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 44 features
  • Bank reconciliation (137)
    6.2
    62%
  • Accounts receivable (131)
    6.0
    60%
  • Standard reports (128)
    5.3
    53%
  • Dashboards (124)
    4.7
    47%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Self-Employed

$15

Cloud
per month

Simple Start

$25

Cloud
per month

Plus

$75

Cloud
per month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

QuickBooks Online Demo | CAN

YouTube
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Features

Payroll Management

Provides for pay calculation and benefit plan administration, in addition to managing direct deposit, salary revisions and payroll tracking.

3.1
Avg 7.5

Customization

This addresses a company’s ability to configure the software to fit its specific use case and workflow.

2.5
Avg 7.1

Security

This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.

3.7
Avg 8.0

Reporting & Analytics

Users can report on and analyze usage, performance, ROI, and/or other metrics of success.

5.3
Avg 7.6

General Ledger and Configurable Accounting

Financial management solution, including capabilities for general ledger and configurable accounting

3.7
Avg 7.4

Inventory Management

The ability to track and manage the flow of goods or materials into and out of an inventory.

1.2
Avg 7.0

Order Management

The ability to process orders, and track them from quote to cash.

3.7
Avg 7.4
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Product Details

What is QuickBooks Online?

QuickBooks Online is a SaaS verison of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version, features typical of similarly priced accounting software. The monthly fee for this service starts at $10 and climbs to $30 with the Plus version, which has the richest features. The base level allows for unlimited invoices and estimates, expense tracking, importing from Excel or Quickbooks desktop, data backup, mobile accessibility, and integration with many other applications. The Essentials pricing plan contain more automation, more bill and payment management, as well as inventory and time tracking, and the Plus package contains budgeting and analytic features.

QuickBooks Online Competitors

QuickBooks Online Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.

Priority AccountEdge, FreshBooks, and Zoho Books are common alternatives for QuickBooks Online.

Reviewers rate Cash management highest, with a score of 6.3.

The most common users of QuickBooks Online are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(1810)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(76-100 of 161)
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Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Streamline quarterly billing. By creating a recurring sales receipt that goes out to my clients, it saves me time each quarter by not having to manually push them through.
  • The secure portal (attachments) enables me to quickly upload monthly credit card and bank account statements to my bookkeeper for reconciliation purposes.
  • Mobile access seems confusing at times due to a slightly different interface on the mobile app compared to the online version.
  • ACH and credit card process fees, while norm for the industry, seem like they should be reduced given the overall size of the QuickBooks organization.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Cloud based accounting provides users with anytime access that allows work to be completed faster. Gone are the days of having to be at the office or use remote access software to use the QuickBooks file when away from the office.
  • Robust tools for importing client data whether it is from desktop versions of QuickBooks or other software vendors
  • Growing resources of add-on apps in the Intuit apps marketplace. Allows users to add additional systems (CRM, inventory, ecommerce)
  • New UI (Harmony Edition) is a bit confusing for some users to get used to. Navigation is not very intuitive and many users have to search for things that were easy to find in prior versions.
  • Bank feeds could be better. Some of the transactions that come in from the bank do not import the correct information need to correctly code transactions, thus taking time to research.
  • Advanced features (job costing, inventory, multiple currencies) are not available in the basic version and users must purchase the Plus version or purchase add-ons
  • The reporting in not as robust in QBO versus the desktop product.
  • The software is "walled" in that it does not integrate with non-Intuit tax and accounting products, practice management, workflow management, or portal solutions (unless add-ons)
Amanda Layman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Ease of use/gamification.
  • Syncing with bank accounts and PayPal.
  • Some menu items are tricky to find/not as intuitive as I'd like.
  • My accountant has mentioned that QB sometimes makes changes to its service agreements/pricing that can be a pain for her when managing her accounting business.
Warren Marland | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • 24/7 access in the cloud to our books from geographically diverse locations and timezones
  • Relatively simple interface for non finance people who need to deal with invoicing or entry of bills
  • Relatively low cost solution
  • Compared to the full desktop version, there is still a great deal of functionality missing. In particular sales orders and greater levels of report and invoice customization.
  • There is a desktop app that can be downloaded but it doesn't really do much to provide better access than directly through the browser. It could be developed to provide better offline access or at least storage of some regularly used data.
  • Unfortunately, there just isn't much out there that answers all the needs and QBO is more of a 'better the devil you know' solution than one that I would actively advocate.
Samarah Sardoni | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • QuickBooks Online allows me to create "delayed charges" which helps forecast income as well as guarantee that invoicing is not forgotten.
  • QuickBooks Online has several shortcuts to get to where I need to go faster. For example, jumping directly to a client or invoice number.
  • My favorite feature on QuickBooks Online is that I am able to plan ahead for project invoicing and create custom reports that fit my exact needs.
  • Whenever I set up a new invoice or delayed charge and adjust the due date, it uses that same due date for my next invoice. It can get very confusing if I'm not extremely attentive while I am adding in delayed charges.
  • When I create a delayed charge, I add in a "memo" line, but when I create an invoice based on that delayed charge, that memo line does not transfer over.
  • After I've created a line item in an invoice, if I change the "category" or "department" it clears out all other details and forces me to start over.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Invoicing - I can create products and services as well as enter line items "free-form" for a more specialized service.
  • Sales tax calculation - NJ has changed the sales tax rate 3 times since I went into business. Changing the tax rate is easy, and the calculations Quickbooks does keeps it on track.
  • Expense Tracking - You can create rules to make it easier to track expenses.
  • Announcing changes- The last major changes had me thrown off because I didn't have a preview or transition period.
  • Support - Too much of support can get shrugged over to an accountant, who then tells me it's a Quickbooks issue.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • One of my favorite things Quickbooks Online does well is automation of Payroll. I never have to worry if taxes are calculated correctly or print checks - it's all automated and direct deposited. Normally i'd have to pay an accountant to keep up with this or calculate myself - but this is far more efficient.
  • Quickbooks Online as opposed to the older software model allows you the conveniences and confidence of a secure bookkeeping software along with the modernization of cloud based access.
  • Automated tax payment calculations and reminders help me make sure I'm never late for payments, which if you've ever been late on an income tax payment - you don't want that to happen.
  • The feature-set of QBO is so broad that it's sometimes hard to know how to get behind the veil of the simplistic interface and to really put it to use. It would be great to have some built in, hands on training for small business owners who are accounting novices.
  • I have had issues at times where the OS X software doesn't want to load the Quickbooks Online account, which a restart usually fixes - but that's a bit annoying. The browser version usually works pretty flawlessly.
  • Some of the end of year tax systems are built into QBO as third party plug ins (like for 1099 filing i.e.) - which is a bit odd. I'd almost rather integrate them then white label rather than having it take me to some third party website or design layout within the same window. Minor improvement but it does feel a bit clunky.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Syncing banking transactions makes it really easy to know when the accounts are current.
  • Accepting payments directly through invoicing is a great time saver.
  • I know who has done what tasks through the audit trail.
  • Interactive reports/hyperlinks provide personal customization for the user and provides many places to change or correct data easily.
  • Accepting pre-payments is a hassle and would love to have a way to not have to re-touch invoices in the undeposited funds account due to date incompatibly.
  • Finding matches for transactions on a more intuitive level would be helpful.
  • Providing short videos on simple tasks as quick links within the current screen would be awesome.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Good for Invoices.
  • Cloud based means easy access.
  • Overall number of features makes this system effective for most businesses.
  • Occasionally, features are not intuitive.
  • It can be expensive.
  • Customer service wait times can be very long.
Christopher Cantrall | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Large list of features. There is a lot of functionality packed into QuickBooks Online. It can fill the role of multiple other tools.
  • Being the industry standard. Need an app to interface with QuickBooks Online? It will. Need to connect an accountant? They all know how to use it.
  • Constant innovation. New features get added constantly and improved constantly.
  • Sluggish platform. The interface itself is slick, but slower than it needs to be. A lot of time is wasted waiting for loading.
  • Service unavailability. At times certain parts of the QuickBooks Online platform go down. It's more frequent than it should be.
Susan Hammiche | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Provides an overview of financial standings in various reports.
  • Easy to use and access.
  • Print checks to pay bills.
  • Reduce cost by being able to do payroll ourselves.
  • It has a monthly cost to maintain.
  • No job costing or large inventory management.
  • Direct deposit to vendors not available.
Meiyee Apple Tam | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Track billing.
  • Create reports.
  • Categorize expenses.
  • Track payments.
  • Timekeeping is not as specific.
  • It doesn't talk to our program, an in-house intranet called ArchiOffice.
  • Is not meant for our specific industry, which is architecture, so we have to use another program, ArchiOffice.
  • Project management is lacking.
Ayo Bamgbose, Assoc CIPD, MSc | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Ability to import and export reports that you will need to help you do your self-assessment annual taxes.
  • Connect your bank accounts and set it to recognize different types of expense and total up your business profits.
  • The ability to take photos of your invoices and receipts and stores them for you.
  • Draft invoices that I'm then able to send to my clients.
  • The app is very limited in what it can really do when trying to manage your accounts on the go.
  • The connection with my bank accounts keeps getting disconnected and I'm constantly having to reconnect them which is time-consuming and annoying.
  • There's a learning curve with using QuickBooks Online if you've never used accounting software. I had to watch a lot of video tutorials online.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Cloud-Based Accounting
  • Simple and Straightforward UI
  • Quick Response Time
  • Cleaning up outdated reports is time-consuming
  • Exporting Reports to Excel/PDF has been troublesome a fair number of times
  • Audit log could be more transparent
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • The user interface is relatively easy to follow. Because it is such a popular system, there is a copious amount of free training information out there to use.
  • Being able to access the accounting software from anywhere on any device is a huge plus.
  • For what you get with Quickbooks Online, it really is quite affordable.
  • Since the software is on the 'cloud' connecting to the server can take a little more time than I'd like. This is simply a side-effect of having a bad internet connection depending on where I'm at and not necessarily a defect of the software. If the software was just installed on my computer, this wouldn't be an issue.
  • The system is perfect for an individual that is not well versed in accounting systems. Can feel restrictive at times if you're familiar with other accounting software application. The user experience is certainly geared toward a novice user.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • QuickBooks makes invoicing and matching transactions easy.
  • QuickBooks can generate accurate p&ls, balance sheets and gives you a good picture of what’s going on with your business.
  • They have a great mobile app that is very functional as well.
  • QuickBooks online can be very slow, sometimes very frustrating.
  • Better customer support.
  • More training options for newcomers, it’s not an easy to learn software if you’ve never used accounting software before.
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Payroll is easy.
  • It's easy to compare reports like P&L and Balance Sheet from year to year.
  • The dashboard makes it easy to get a snapshot of your company.
  • The lack of forms customization is really terrible. It isn't malleable enough for the needs of different types of business.
  • The program runs WAY TOO SLOW! Every click takes too long to connect with the server.
  • It often has too many clicks to get to areas I use often. It needs to be more intuitive with fewer clicks to get to everything.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Ease of use, it's important for non-financial background business owners to understand the flow of money
  • Great help with keeping track of your money flow
  • Very easy to keep track of recurring invoices and customer payments
  • Even after you've purchased the product Quickbooks will advertise loans and plugins to you occasionally
  • Invoice filtering doesn't default to most recent, but defaults to open invoices and then some random ordering
  • More complicated processes require an accountant version of Quickbooks to complete
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