The must-have accounting tool for solopreneurs and small business start ups
Overall Satisfaction with QuickBooks Online
Quickbooks Online is one of those web-based accounting tools that, as a new business, you initially don't think you need until you start using it. Prior to understanding the importance of keeping records of expenses that my business incurred, I was using an Excel spreadsheet. I use to dread having to do my monthly and quarterly accounts as it was just so time-consuming and frustrating. Quickbooks literally gave me my time and sanity back.
Pros
- 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.
Cons
- 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.
- QuickBooks online is an expense that I feel is balanced out by the time it saves when gathering your profit and loss reports for your annual self assessments
- For those that hate the idea of excel spreadsheets, Quickbooks literally removes that frustration once you've set up and integrated all the tools you feel would benefit your business.
- For the price, I would expect fewer errors especially with the constant disconnection with my bank accounts. I recommend just keeping an eye and check-in to make sure everything is still connected and doing what it should be doing via the app.
After the first year of running my business and then having to do my self-assessment taxes, I quickly realized using Excel spreadsheets, in the long run, wasn't going to cut it. Quickbooks is like having your very own accountant that you'll have to check in on to make sure they are working efficiently.
QuickBooks Online Feature Ratings
Using QuickBooks Online
- Annual Self-assessment reports and files
- Recording of business expenses
- Drafting invoices to sent to clients
Evaluating QuickBooks Online and Competitors
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Third-party Reviews
Prior to selecting QuickBooks, I took the 30-day trial just to see if I initially needed it and how it easy it would be for me to set things up. After just a few weeks I knew I had to sign up so that I could have a system that helped my business work more professional. Truth be told, that's exactly when I started getting more serious about my business and took more responsibility in managing my expenses.
I wouldn't have changed my selection process of selecting QuickBooks Online as I feel my normal steps include taking advantage of the trial period after reading reviews from users. If I had to do it all again, I would have started out with Quickbooks from the beginning of my business journey.
QuickBooks Online Support
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Support understands my problem Support cares about my success | Problems left unsolved Difficult to get immediate help Slow Initial Response |
Yes - I did report it but it just took way to long to get any feedback from QuickBooks so I gave up. I don't think I even checked in to see any updates as I had other important things to think about. With the use of my online banking services, I was able to get the job that I was unable to accomplish with QuickBooks done.
I havent had a lot of issues with QuickBooks, which is probably a good thing. But on a few occasions, I did it was a negative experience so I'm unable to give any examples of a time that I experience exceptional customer support. I would say this was a year ago so there may have been sufficient improvements on the support end. I hope so.
Using QuickBooks Online
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Technical support not required Well integrated Feel confident using | Slow to learn Lots to learn |
- Creating invoices and sending them to your clients
- Importing and exporting reports
- Loading invoices and recipes that you've taken pictures of for your records
- The constant disconnection of my bank accounts
- App crashing to frequently
Yes - Yes, QuickBooks Online does provide a mobile interface, this was one of the things that made me stay with them. I do not work that much via my laptop as I'm on the go a lot so I appreciate the app. The only frustration is the lack of functionalities. I suppose it provides just about the right amount of features needed for an app.
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