QuickBooks Online Comparison: Which Version Is the Best for You?
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.
Mark has researched and reviewed accounting software at Fit Small Business since 2019 and has developed an extensive knowledge of accounting software features and how unique business needs determine the best accounting software.
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
QuickBooks Online has five versions—Self-Employed, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced—and pricing runs from $15 to $200 per month. These vary in the number of users and features included and are built for different purposes. Self-Employed is great if you have no employees, but you may need to upgrade to the other versions if you want more features, such as bill management, inventory tracking, and detailed reporting.
- QuickBooks Online Self-Employed: Best for small service business owners reporting business income on Schedule C of their personal tax return, have no employees, and only issue a few invoices per week
- QuickBooks Online Simple Start: Best for small service businesses that have employees and issue invoices regularly
- QuickBooks Online Essentials: Best for small businesses needing to assign hours worked to customers, track bills due, and provide access for up to three users
- QuickBooks Online Plus: Best for retailers, wholesalers, contractors, and other small businesses requiring inventory tracking, job costing, budgeting, and access for up to five users
- QuickBooks Online Advanced: Best for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) wanting more detailed reporting, custom user permissions, a dedicated support manager, and access for up to 25 users
QuickBooks Online Comparison: Pricing & Features
Pricing ($/Month) | $15 | $30 | $55 | $85 | $200 |
Number of Users Included | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 25 |
Create & Send Invoices | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Invite Accountant to Access Your Books | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Connect Bank Accounts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Mileage | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Capture Receipts via Mobile App | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Assets & Liabilities | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Create Estimates & Convert to Invoices | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Manage Sales Tax | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Add Payroll | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Print Checks | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Live (Add-on) | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Manage & Track Unpaid Bills | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pay Bills Directly From QuickBooks | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Record Multicurrency Transactions | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Pay Bills Directly From QuickBooks | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Handle Inventory | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Job Profitability | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Profitability by Classes, Customer Types & Locations | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ |
Create Invoices by Batch | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Custom User Permissions | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Dedicated Success Manager | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Training for Staff ($3,000 value) | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Online is our overall best small business accounting software. To help narrow down the best plan for your business, answer a few short questions below. This will offer you a customized recommendation based on the responses you give. Afterward, continue reading our article for a more detailed comparison of the five QuickBooks Online versions.
Our Case Study
Our internal case study compares the four QuickBooks Online versions across major accounting categories and functions to help you decide which one fits your needs. The results are summarized in the chart below.
Comparison of QuickBooks Online Products
Touch the graph above to interact Click on the graphs above to interact
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Simple Start $30 per month
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Essentials $55 per month
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Plus $85 per month
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Advanced $200 per month
QuickBooks Online case study results
We present a detailed evaluation of each plan and a head-to-head comparison in the latter part of the discussion.
QuickBooks Self-Employed vs QuickBooks Simple Start
Self-Employed | Simple Start | |
|---|---|---|
Standard Price per Month | $15 | $30 |
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $7.50 | $15 |
Number of Users Included | 1 | 1 |
Calculate Estimated Tax Payment | ✓ | ✓ |
Transfer Income & Deductions to Schedule C | ✓ | ✓ |
Use Custom Tags to Categorize Transactions | ✓ | ✓ |
Print Balance Sheet Showing Assets & Liabilities | ✕ | ✓ |
Payroll Add-on Available | ✕ | ✓ |
Add Sales Tax to Invoices Automatically | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Online Self-Employed works very well for people who work for themselves in a service industry and report their business income on Schedule C of their personal income tax return. We even consider it the best for tracking freelance income and filing tax returns in our guide to the best accounting software for freelancers. Check out our review of QuickBooks Online Self-Employed to see what it can do for freelancers and solopreneurs.
Meanwhile, Simple Start includes payroll processing, which allows you to calculate and track payroll taxes, and is preferable to Self-Employed if you need to track assets and liabilities and use automated sales tax on invoices. It’s a great fit if you’ll be doing the bookkeeping yourself and don’t need inventory accounting. If you want a dedicated expert to handle your ongoing bookkeeping work, you can sign up for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, available in Simple Start and all higher plans.
QuickBooks Simple Start vs QuickBooks Essentials
Simple Start | Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
Standard Price per Month | $30 | $55 |
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $15 | $27.50 |
Number of Users Included | 1 | 3 |
Schedule & Pay Vendor Bills | ✕ | ✓ |
Add Billable Time to Invoices | ✕ | ✓ |
Number of Built-in Reports Available | 20+ | 40+ |
The advantage of QuickBooks Essentials vs Simple Start is the ability to assign hours worked to specific customers. Very small businesses that bill customers for hourly services usually find that Essentials meets their needs, and most companies that choose Essentials over Simple Start do so because they either need more than one user or wish to add billable time to invoices automatically. Unfortunately, you can’t assign billable expenses to customers unless you upgrade to Plus.
Case study results for QuickBooks Simple Start vs Essentials
Manage A/P
The biggest difference between Simple Start and Essentials is that Simple Start doesn’t allow you to pay and manage bills. This is a bit inconvenient since even solopreneurs or freelancers have bills that need to be paid. However, if you only need to record expenses as you pay them, then Simple Start might be enough.
With Essentials, you can track your unpaid bills easily and pay them directly within QuickBooks. You just need to select the bills you want to pay from the Pay Bills window, place a checkmark next to the bills, and then select Save & Print.
Pay Bills screen in QuickBooks Online Essentials
Record Time Activity as Billable to Customers
With QuickBooks Essentials, you can track billable time by job and assign it to a specific customer—something you can’t achieve with Simple Start. Once you’ve recorded your billable time, you can add them to your invoice and then send it to your client. This feature is ideal for service-based businesses that charge work by the hour, such as lawyers and independent contractors.
Reporting
Simple Start runs basic reports, including cash flow statements, profit and loss (P&L) statements, and balance sheets. Some of the other 20-plus built-in standard reports available include P&L by month and customer, quarterly P&L summaries, and general ledger.
Meanwhile, Essentials gives you access to more than 40 reports, including those you can generate in Simple Start. Its additional reports include accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R) aging, transaction lists by customer, expenses by vendor, uninvoiced charges, unpaid bills, expenses by supplier summaries, and more. You can drill down to a list of your outstanding invoices instead of only the total outstanding.
QuickBooks Essentials vs QuickBooks Plus
Essentials | Plus | |
|---|---|---|
Standard Price per Month | $55 | $85 |
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $27.55 | $42.50 |
Number of Users Included | 3 | 5 |
Assign Billable Expenses to Customers | ✕ | ✓ |
Class and Location Tracking | ✕ | ✓ |
Profit and Loss by Project | ✕ | ✓ |
Inventory Management | ✕ | ✓ |
Prepare Budgets | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Plus is a substantial upgrade compared to Essentials. The most crucial improvements are the abilities to create billable expenses and assign them to customers, track inventory costs, and calculate P&L by project. Other helpful features in Plus are budgets, classes, customer types, locations, and unlimited report-only users.
Retailers and wholesalers should choose Plus so that they can track the quantity on hand and the cost of inventory. Contractors should also select Plus to track the profitability of individual projects. Other businesses should consider whether tracking P&L by class and location is worth the extra $30 per month.
You can learn more about QuickBooks Online’s most popular version by reading our complete QuickBooks Online Plus review.
While Plus is the best QuickBooks Online option for retailers, wholesalers, and contractors, you should also consider QuickBooks Desktop, which offers more features and flexibility for dealing with inventory and projects. Learn more in our QuickBooks Online vs Desktop comparison.
Track Inventory
Plus includes inventory accounting that allows you to monitor stock items and quantity—a necessity if you’re selling products. It uses first-in, first-out (FIFO) inventory tracking, an essential feature that helps manufacturers or retailers determine how their inventory affects their profitability. It also lets you update inventory costs and quantities, separate taxable from nontaxable items, and set up alerts if you’re running out of stock.
Create POs
With Plus, you can make POs, track them, and send them to vendors. POs are essential because they help you specify what products and services you need from your vendor or supplier and by when you need them. When creating POs in Plus, you can input specific items you want to purchase. When your POs are fulfilled, you can convert them to a bill easily.
Monitor P&L by Location
Plus allows you to assign classes and locations to your transactions, so you can see how your business performs across divisions, locations, rep areas, or any units that are relevant to your business. If you run businesses in multiple locations and you want to see which one is most profitable, an upgrade to Plus from Essentials is worth the price.
Sample report on profit and loss by class run in QuickBooks Online Plus
Track Project Profitability
With Plus, you can create projects and add income, expenses, and wages. The Projects tool helps you manage different jobs and projects for your clients and track costs related to labor and materials. However, the problem with Plus or any of the other versions is that you can’t compare cost estimates to actual costs by project.
Nonetheless, Plus has an advanced job costing capability, which is helpful for construction and contracting firms. If comparing estimated costs to actual job costs is critical to your business, check out Xero.
Project tool in QuickBooks Online Plus
Other features of Plus not present in Essentials include the ability to:
- Create and manage budgets
- Generate 60-plus reports, including unbilled charges, unbilled time, and budget overview and budget vs outturn
- Track time via QuickBooks Time
QuickBooks Plus vs QuickBooks Advanced
Plus | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|
Standard Price per Month | $85 | $300 |
Promotion Price per Month for Three Months | $42.50 | $100 |
Number of Users Included | 5 | 25 |
Maximum Classes & Locations | 40 | Unlimited |
Maximum Chart of Accounts | 250 | Unlimited |
Batch Invoices, Bills, Checks & Expenses | ✕ | ✓ |
Customize Access by Roles | ✕ | ✓ |
Dedicated Success Manager | ✕ | ✓ |
Training for Staff | ✕ | ✓ |
Integrate With Best-in-class Apps Like HubSpot and LeanLaw | ✕ | ✓ |
Submit Expenses Directly to QuickBooks From the Mobile App | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Advanced has many bells and whistles compared to Plus, but no additional features that are crucial to good bookkeeping, such as it removes the limitations on the number of classes, locations, and chart of accounts, making it ideal for businesses with a growing staff. So, unless you need more than five user seats, support from a dedicated success manager, and free training to help your team members familiarize themselves with new features, then you can stick with Plus.
How We Evaluated QuickBooks Online Versions
We evaluated the QuickBooks Online versions based on a set of criteria and functions, including:
5%
Pricing
42%
General Accounting Features
10%
Inventory
4%
Reporting
5%
Mobile App
34%
Ease of Use
5% of Overall Score
The QuickBooks Online plans are rated based on their affordability, with Self-Employed and Simple Start being the most affordable and Advanced the least affordable.
42% of Overall Score
The ability to send invoices and manage and track unpaid bills is important for small business and freelancers. All QuickBooks Online versions have invoicing features but some have more advanced features, like the ability to create recurring invoices. Meanwhile, not all versions allow you to manage and track unpaid bills.
10% of Overall Score
Businesses will need to upgrade to the higher QuickBooks Online plans to use inventory accounting features, such as the ability to track stock items and value and automatically update quantities.
4% of Overall Score
The QuickBooks Online plans vary in terms of the number of reports you can create and the ability to run customized reports.
5% of Overall Score
All QuickBooks Online plans have basic mobile accounting features, such as the ability to create and send invoices. However, higher tiered plans have additional functionality, like the ability to enter bill payments and view reports.
34% of Overall Score
Ease of use consists of customer support, support network of bookkeepers, and user reviews. Intuit generally offers the same customer support options on all its QuickBooks Online products, but Advanced gives you access to a dedicated support manager for more personalized bookkeeping assistance.
*Percentages of overall score
QuickBooks Online Plan Comparison Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which QuickBooks Online plan is right for you?
The right QuickBooks Online plan depends on the size of your business and the features you need. For example, Self-Employed is best for freelancers or solopreneurs, while Simple Start is ideal for small businesses wanting to track assets and liabilities. Essentials is preferable if you need to track unpaid bills, while Plus is great if you require inventory and project management. If you scale to 25 users, then upgrade to Advanced.
Can I upgrade or downgrade my QuickBooks Online subscription?
Yes, you can. You may check out QuickBooks’s guide to upgrading or downgrading your QuickBooks Online subscription.
Is QuickBooks Online better than QuickBooks Desktop?
QuickBooks Online is better than QuickBooks Desktop if you prefer a cloud-based accounting software to a locally installed one. QuickBooks Online’s biggest advantage is its ability to be accessed from anywhere with an internet-enabled device. Learn all the differences in QuickBooks Online vs Desktop.
When do I need to consider a QuickBooks Online alternative?
QuickBooks Online isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Some instances where you need to find an alternative include when:
- You want free accounting software: If you’re looking for a free invoicing and accounting solution, then check out our article on the best free accounting software.
- You need parts inventory management: While QuickBooks Online has strong inventory management features, it can’t track parts and inventory assemblies. If you’re a manufacturing company that needs this feature, QuickBooks Desktop Pro is a good alternative.
- Fixed assets are a big part of your business: QuickBooks Online can’t track fixed assets. We recommend Xero if you need to track depreciation for your fixed assets, like office equipment, machinery, and vehicles.
If you think QuickBooks isn’t for you, check out our top alternatives to QuickBooks to see if you can find something better.
Bottom Line
The best QuickBooks Online version depends on the size of your business and your particular needs. If you deal with inventory or large projects heavily, Plus is the best option. However, self-employed persons should consider Self-Employed—unless they have an employee, which will require an upgrade to Simple Start. If your business is service-based without any inventory, then Essentials should provide everything you need while saving you $30 per month compared to Plus. If you’re scaling from five to 25 users, then go with Advanced.
