Keeping track of regular accounting and maintaining books of accounts under relevant legislation often saturates entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are ecstatic about their products or services and are primarily concerned with building a consumer base for these products and services.
After all, they are entrepreneurs, not accountants.
Nevertheless, in this situation, a business owner should consider installing an accounting software that meets the growing needs of a small business, fitting within their budget and relieving them of various mundane aspects of small business. Some of these common aspects include accounting, such as invoicing, customer and vendor contact details, inventory, payroll, and reporting.
Fortunately, specific accounting software exists to help entrepreneurs control their finances, time, and business: Introducing QuickBooks Online (QBO).
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is an accounting software package that offers products mainly for small and medium-sized businesses, such as on-premises accounting applications and their cloud-based counterparts accepting business payments, managing expenses, and handling other payroll functions.
Here is everything there is to know about QuickBooks Online.
Pricing
Intuit QuickBooks Online comes in four different versions, all of which look and function similarly and come with a 30-day free trial.
Firstly, Simple Start is a microbusiness plan that costs $25 per month. Among its features include the ability to monitor expenditures and revenue, generate and submit invoices and estimates, accept online payments, run simple reports, and track sales tax.
Secondly, the Essentials plan does all that and more. The $40-per-month Essentials plan also features bill management, assistance for up to three users, and time monitoring.
Thirdly, The Plus package, which costs $70 a month, subsumes the Simple Start plan and Essentials plan features and goes further by including inventory tracking and project profitability and access for up to five users.
Lastly, the Advanced Version, which costs $150 a month, supports up to 25 users and offers various advanced features, such as improved research and support. However, its aim is at larger companies that will need to explore midrange accounting solutions.
To sum it up, here are the pricing tiers offered by QuickBooks Online:
| Simple Start | Essentials | Plus | Advanced |
| $25/month | $40/month | $70/month | $150/month |
| 1 User | Up to 3 Users | Up to 5 Users | Up to 25 Users |
| Basic Features | Adds Bill Management & Time Monitoring | Adds Inventory Tracking & Project Profitability | Supports All QuickBooks Features |
Features
QuickBooks Online offers various features that provide a wealth of benefits, especially for small and mid-sized companies. These include:
- Consolidated Customer and Supplier data: QBO stores data from limitless numbers of customers and suppliers.
- Track Sales and Expenses: QBO tracks and understands sales and expenses, necessary for better decision-making.
- Creates and Manages Invoices: QBO allows the creation, printing, and sending of professional invoices via email.
- Instant Access to Critical Reports: QBO allows instant access to critical information and reports such as P&L A/C, Cash-Flow Statement, and Balance Sheet.
- Easy Service Tax & VAT Computation: QBO facilitates the easy computation of service tax and VAT in just a single click.
- Professional Estimates: QBO allows the creation of professional-looking quotes and proposals for the customers.
- Get the Company Snapshot: QBO presents information about how much a company makes, how much a company spends, and how a company does relative to its performance the previous year.
- Handle foreign currencies: QBO enables the management of international customers as it features the trading in of multiple currencies and switches between them based on up-to-the-minute rates.
Cloud-Based Or Locally-Installed
QuickBooks Online is a small business accounting software that runs on the cloud. Since it is cloud-based, companies can use it whenever and wherever they want as long as they connect to the internet.
The desktop edition of QuickBooks, on the other hand, is a piece of software that must mount on a computer or laptop that meets hardware and software requirements for best results.
If you want your business to benefit from online customer service and frequent device updates, you should invest in the cloud-based version of QuickBooks.
Moreover, entrepreneurs can also opt for the QuickBooks Online mobile app as it offers many tools that allow them to manage their company’s finances in one central place.
The App Store (for iOS) has the QuickBooks Online app compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It is also available for Android on Google Play, and you can access it via any web browser.
Reporting Add-Ons
The following QuickBooks reporting add-ons help companies get the data they need and use it to steer their company in the right direction.
1) Fathom
Fathom was designed to help goal-oriented business owners. Fathom helps companies monitor their progress on a variety of objectives, both financial and non-financial. Fathom allows for the simple and easy creation of custom Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor the metrics that matter most to their business.
Small business plans start at $39 per month. For more prominent companies with many locations and more nuanced requirements, Fathom offers more flexible package solutions to ensure they get the features they need.
Fathom provides plans for small businesses as well as large multi-unit businesses. This add-on is ideal for business owners who are overwhelmed by or unfamiliar with financial reporting, as Fathom can take complex financial data and turn it into actionable details.
2) Futrli
Futrli, like many other reporting add-ons, captures all of the financial data and converts it into easy-to-understand charts and graphs. Moreover, Futrli also includes algorithms that use a company’s financial data to help them better understand the future of their company.
Furthermore, Futrli uses the historical data to create a three-way projection based on your profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, allowing you to forecast your cash flow for up to ten years.
Plans for single businesses start at $49.99 a month, with more comprehensive plans available for accounting and consulting firms with multiple clients.
Futrli is best for anyone who plans to make better business decisions and wants to set themselves up for a successful future but lacks the resources for a business jumpstart.
3) MoreReporting
MoreReporting appeals most to accountants and accounting firms. However, its Platform Plan, which starts at $50 per month, is also perfect for small business owners who need to access quick financial reports so they can go back to more higher-value tasks — running their businesses.
MoreReporting provides companies with the data they need, such as where their money is going or whether it coincides with their business revenue spikes, to make better-informed decisions.
MoreReporting is ideal for small business owners who don’t have time to puzzle about their data or stare at complicated, detailed financial reports cross-eyed.
4) Qvinci
Qvinci helps companies automate the compilation and consolidation of their financial data, allowing them to make informed business decisions using reports, whether templated or personalized.
Qvinci offers a robust feature set for a reasonable price, starting at $15.95 per company. However, smaller businesses can be frustrated and take the most blows by the bells and whistles designed for larger organizations with many locations and teams.
For this reason, Qvinci is best for larger businesses that have numerous employees, several locations, and rely on financial reporting from a multitude of units and sources.
5) Seller to Accounting
With Seller to Accounting, companies can easily monitor their Amazon sales and expenses in QuickBooks and match and reconcile their Amazon payouts.
Seller to Accounting can be available, and you can purchase it at a fairly reasonable price, with the basic plans starting at $29 per month. This pricing scheme is a reasonably priced option for even new Amazon sellers.
With that, the Seller to Accounting design gets aimed toward Amazon sellers who want a simple and easy way to monitor, analyze, and review their Amazon settlement reports.
Reporting add-ons further reinforces the ease and convenience offered and brought about by QuickBooks Online. They make it easier to access and understand crucial financial data for organizational growth and development.
However, business owners who, after having used QuickBooks and such Reporting Add-ons, still have a lot on their plates can always opt to work with a professional. Working with a professional removes the pressure of managing it all yourself without giving up the business intelligence necessary to make informed decisions.
Pros and Cons of QuickBooks Online
After having featured everything there is to know, here are the generally accepted pros and cons of QuickBooks.
Pros of QuickBooks
- User-friendly
- Works and Integrates well with other systems
- Flexible with third-party applications
- Provides accurate accounting reports
- Reasonably priced
- Easy to access from any device, depending on the version
- Easy to find errors and mistakes
- Easy to search crucial customer information
Cons of QuickBooks
- Lack of industry and business-specific features
- Lack of critical reports outside of accounting
- Instability and system crashes
- Lack of direct professional support
- File size issues and limitations on the number of transactions
- Restrictions on the number of users
- Designed from a “small business” perspective
- Data is not always backed-up
- Deficient invoice design tools
- It can easily get manipulated
Conclusion
The QuickBooks Online design strives to meet and address the accounting needs of many small business owners. It has strengths and disadvantages, just like any other tech and software solution.
Every company is different; thus, the first step is to figure out what a specific company needs and whether QuickBooks Online or another tech solution is better suited to address such company needs.
