QuickBooks Live vs Bookkeeper360: Review and Pricing
Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. He brings his expertise to Fit Small Business’s accounting content.
Danielle is a writer for the Finance division of Fit Small Business. She has owned a bookkeeping and payroll service that specializes in small business, for over twenty years.
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
QuickBooks Live and Bookkeeper360 are virtual bookkeeping services that make it possible to outsource your bookkeeping and other financial tasks, combining the automation of accounting software with the guidance of a professional bookkeeper. Both choices differ in terms of the level of service provided. One major difference is that Bookkeeper360 has add-on options, such as chief financial officer (CFO) advisory services and tax filing:
- QuickBooks Live: Better for QuickBooks Online users looking for a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor to answer questions, import and categorize expenses, perform reconciliations, and create monthly reports
- Bookkeeper360: Better for companies preferring Xero bookkeeping software and for QuickBooks Online users that want financial advisory services in addition to assisted bookkeeping
We chose QuickBooks Online as the top small business accounting software. For more information about its features, check out our QuickBooks Online review.
When To Choose a Different Online Bookkeeper
Other online bookkeeping services may be a better fit for your business than QuickBooks Live or Bookkeeper360. For example, FreshBooks users should consider Bench, which has partnered with FreshBooks to offer basic bookkeeping services.
Are you wondering about what other options exist for virtual bookkeeping services? Check out our picks for the best online bookkeeping services.
Compare QuickBooks Live to Bookkeeper360 at a Glance
QuickBooks Live | Bookkeeper360 | |
|---|---|---|
What It’s Best For | QuickBooks Online users seeking a QuickBooks ProAdvisor to complete basic bookkeeping tasks | Companies that use Xero or QuickBooks Online and that want financial advisory services |
Monthly Pricing Plans | Starting at $200 per month, plus $25 to $80 per month for QuickBooks Online subscription | Starting at $399 per month |
Accounts Receivable (A/R) and Accounts Payable (A/P) Tracking | N/A | Starting at $99 per month |
Invoice Customers | N/A | Starting at $99 per month |
Pay Bills | N/A | Starting at $99 per month |
Account Reconciliation | ✓ | ✓ |
Account Cleanup | ✓ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Live vs Bookkeeper360: Pricing
While QuickBooks Live’s services are monthly, Bookkeeper360 offers more varied levels of support that range from as needed to weekly and monthly. The prices for QuickBooks Live and Bookkeeper360 depend on the number of monthly expenses, but Bookkeeper360 also charges differently for cash and accrual accounting methods. There are additional fees for Bookkeeper360’s other services, such as CFO advisory and tax filing.
QuickBooks Live Pricing
QuickBooks Live offers three levels of service, and the prices vary depending on the monthly expenses for your business. All levels provide access to a dedicated bookkeeper, month-end close with financial reports, and monthly scheduled meetings. You must have a subscription to any version of QuickBooks Online to sign up for the service, which starts at $25 per month for QuickBooks Simple Start. With QuickBooks Live, you can connect an unlimited number of accounts.
There’s an initial cost of $500 for onboarding, and then the monthly fee applies, based on your expenses. QuickBooks Live doesn’t offer a free trial, but you can book a free consultation for more information about the services it provides. There’s no need to sign a long-term contract, and you can switch or cancel the service at any time without incurring fees.
Low Volume | Medium Volume | High Volume | |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly Cost | $200 | $400 | $600 |
Service Level | Monthly | Monthly | Monthly |
Monthly Expense Cap | Up to $25,000 | $25,000 to $150,000 | More than $150,000 |
Dedicated Bookkeeper & Account Manager | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Month-end Close With Bank & Credit Card Reconciliation | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Balance Sheet, P&L, and Statement of Cash Flows | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Cash or Accrual | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Secure Portal With Document Storage | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Bill Pay | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Monthly Scheduled Meetings | No limit, but must be scheduled one at a time | No limit, but must be scheduled one at a time | No limit, but must be scheduled one at a time |
Lite CFO & Advisory Services | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Bookkeeper360 Pricing
Bookkeeper360 allows you to select the level of service based on the frequency that you need, whether that’s on an as-needed basis, monthly, or weekly. Prices vary depending on your monthly expenses and whether your business uses a cash or accrual accounting method. There are several different services and solutions offered for business owners and, depending on the needs of your business, you can choose from the established pricing plans for individual services or work directly with the Bookkeeper360 team to create a custom service plan.
Pay-As-You-Go | Monthly | Weekly | |
|---|---|---|---|
Cost for Cash Accounting Method | Starting at $99 per hour for support | Starting at $399 per month | Starting at $549 per month |
Cost for Accrual Accounting Method | Starting at $99 per hour for support | Starting at $549 per month | Starting at $749 per month |
Cost for Accrual Accounting Method | Up to $20,000 | Up to $20,000 | Up to $20,000 |
Dedicated Bookkeeper & Account Manager | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Month-end Close With Bank & Credit Card Reconciliation | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Balance Sheet, P&L, and Statement of Cash Flows | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Cash or Accrual | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Secure Portal With Document Storage | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Bill Pay | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Monthly Scheduled Meetings | On Demand | On Demand | On Demand |
Lite CFO & Advisory Services | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
In addition to the prices for bookkeeping, below are the prices for each of Bookkeeper360’s optional services:
- CFO advisory: Starting at $1,000 per quarter
- Tax preparation and filing: $800 per filing for business returns and $200 per filing for personal returns
- Payroll and human resources (HR): Starting at $45 per month
- Back office: Starting at $99 per month, includes invoicing and bill pay, payments and collections, and inventory management
Takeaway: QuickBooks Live doesn’t have much flexibility with its subscription plans, offering basic bookkeeping services,+ such as bank reconciliation and reporting every month. Bookkeeper360 allows you to choose from its established plans or create a customized quote based on your company’s needs and whether you require add-ons like payroll or tax filing.
QuickBooks Live vs Bookkeeper360: Features
As compared to Bookkeeper360, QuickBooks Live offers the bare minimum when it comes to bookkeeping services. While both assign you to a dedicated bookkeeper, QuickBooks Live requires you to be more hands-on, and you must do your own day-to-day bookkeeping like paying bills and sending invoices. Bookkeeper360 won’t only handle your bookkeeping tasks, but you can also consider it your one-stop-shop for other business needs, such as CFO advisory services, payroll, tax filing, merchant services, and lending.
QuickBooks Live Features
QuickBooks Live has a couple of features that are unique to the service, the first being its 100% Accurate Books Guarantee, which ensures that your books are correct. You can also meet with your bookkeeper via one-way video chat so that you can see them, but they can’t see you. Whether you’re a new user or have an established account, QuickBooks Live will assist you with cleanup and setup and provide reports on a monthly basis. For more information about its features, check out our review of QuickBooks Live:
- QuickBooks ProAdvisors: With QuickBooks Live, you have access to QuickBooks ProAdvisors, who are well versed in the software and will be able to provide you with bookkeeping support.
- Cleanup and setup: Once you sign up, your bookkeeper will assist with cleaning up your existing information in QuickBooks Online. If you’re new to the software, they will help you set it up, including your chart of accounts.
- Reporting: Once a month, you’ll receive PDF copies of key financial reports, such as your profit and loss (P&L) statement and balance sheet. Your bookkeeper will help you to analyze these reports during your meetings.
- Enhanced communication: QuickBooks Live delivers when it comes to methods of communicating with your bookkeeper. It’s unique in that it allows you to one-way videoconference, with the option to screen share. You can also communicate with Quickbooks Live through the website or with a product expert via live chat.
- Month-end close: Your bookkeeper will close your books each month and prepare a trial balance to confirm that they are accurate.
- 100% Accurate Books Guarantee: QuickBooks Live guarantees the accuracy of its bookkeepers’ work with the 100% Accurate Books Guarantee. At your request, it’ll conduct a full audit of your bookkeepers’ work.
Bookkeeper360 Features
Because Bookkeeper360 offers the ability to create your own custom plan, the features you opt for depend on your specific needs and the business strategy that you develop during the consultation. You can choose from services such as advisory support, hands-on bookkeeping, and payroll. All plans come with your own dedicated bookkeeper that also serves as your point of contact. For more information about this online bookkeeping service, check out our review of Bookkeeper360.
- Dedicated bookkeeper: Your dedicated bookkeeper will be assigned to you upon enrollment, and they will work with you to determine the services you need. They will also be the first person to contact should you have any questions or concerns.
- CFO advisory: Starting at $1,000 per quarter, this optional service gives you the ability to collaborate with your own virtual CFO, who will analyze your financials and offer strategic planning or executive coaching. Other services include key performance indicator (KPI) reporting, inventory projections, and workflow planning.
- Tax services: Bookkeeper360 offers a full spectrum of tax services, including individual or business preparation and filings, sales tax and 1099 reporting, and overall tax planning and compliance. Fees are $800 per filing for businesses and $200 per filing for individuals.
- HR solutions: Using a tool called HRS360, Bookkeeper360 can provide HR support for small businesses. HRS360 gives you access to a forms library and salary benchmarking tools. You can also receive assistance with federal and state compliance, employee onboarding forms, and compliance auditing. This is included with payroll services and starts at $45 per month.
- Payments and lending: Included with its back-office solution, Bookkeeper360 offers merchant services that will integrate with Xero and QuickBooks and include next-day funding.
- Payroll: Bookkeeper360 provides payroll services for an additional fee, in which the payroll team will process your payroll for both employees and contractors. Full-service support, with direct deposit setup, W-2s and 1099s, and health benefits, starts at $45 per month. If you’re using another payroll provider such as Gusto or ADP, Bookkeeper360 will integrate with it.
Takeaway: With its menu of add-on services such as payroll and HR solutions and tax filing, Bookkeeper360 offers many more services than QuickBooks Live, which focuses more on “lightweight” services like account reconciliation, month-end close, and reporting. Both allow you to meet with your bookkeeper once a month, but QuickBooks Live provides more enhanced communication with its one-way video conferencing.
QuickBooks Live vs Bookkeeper360: Working With Your Bookkeeper
Upon sign-up, both QuickBooks Live and Bookkeeper360 will assign you to a dedicated bookkeeper who will collaborate with you to ensure that your records are up to date and accurate. You’ll meet with your bookkeepers every month to review reports and ask questions. However, QuickBooks Live provides a more in-depth view of the status of their bookkeeping progress each month within the QuickBooks Live Hub.
QuickBooks Live: Working With Your Bookkeeper
Once you enroll in QuickBooks Live, you’ll be assigned a dedicated bookkeeper who will meet with you to learn more about your business. You’ll also be given access to the QuickBooks Live Hub, a secure portal that lets you check on your bookkeeper’s progress and schedule meetings. You’ll be able to view a step-by-step task list, which gives real-time updates on action items.
Meetings are conducted via one-way video chat, and if you need to share documents, you can use the screen share feature. There’s no set amount of time per month that you can meet with your bookkeeper, but you can only schedule one appointment at a time. During the meetings, you can ask questions about financial reports and request assistance with bookkeeping tasks. You can also reach out to the extended bookkeeping team or receive product support with the live chat feature:
QuickBooks Live Hub (Source: QuickBooks)
Bookkeeper360: Working With Your Bookkeeper
After your free consultation, you’ll collaborate with your dedicated account manager to decide on the best strategy for your business and any additional services that may be required, such as payroll or tax filing. They will also assist you with connecting Bookkeeper360 to your accounting system—either QuickBooks or Xero. You will then use Bookkeeper360’s cloud-based system to collaborate with your dedicated bookkeeper and manage your finances.
Your bookkeeper is available via email, live chat, or phone. You can schedule phone meetings every month to review financial reports, and your bookkeeper will also grant you access to their screen so that you can view your books. Xero users have the added benefit of a mobile app that integrates with the software to let you view your financial data, track your goals, and access your accounting experts, giving you on-demand access to a full team of bookkeepers, certified public accountants (CPAs), and advisors:
Bookkeeper360 App (Source: Bookkeeper360)
Takeaway: QuickBooks Live and Bookkeeper360 have a similar approach when it comes to working with your bookkeeper, with QuickBooks Live offering more ways to communicate and a transparent view of the tasks that have been completed. Bookkeeper360 customers that use Xero also have access to a mobile app that provides valuable financial data related to business performance, cash management, and payroll analytics.
Bottom Line
Depending on your company’s budget and specific business needs, you’ll be able to determine whether QuickBooks Live or Bookkeeper360 is a better solution for you. While QuickBooks Live has the benefit of enhanced communication and access to QuickBooks ProAdvisors, Bookkeeper360 allows you to add services such as tax filing, payroll, and HR solutions.
