What We Recommend QuickBooks Payments For
QuickBooks has the best accounting software for small businesses. Any business using it needing a simple payment processing solution should consider QuickBooks Payments as the two work seamlessly together with no monthly minimums or additional monthly fees.
In particular, QuickBooks Payments is a good match for:
QuickBooks Online users processing occasional in-person payments:
QuickBooks GoPayment is one of the best mobile payment apps for accepting in-person payments. You can create basic inventory lists, discounts, and taxes. It is, however, exclusive to QuickBooks Online subscribers.
Small B2B businesses:
QuickBooks’ invoicing and ACH tools also make it a good fit for B2B payment processing, particularly if your business already uses QuickBooks accounting.
Small businesses needing invoicing:
QuickBooks Payments syncs your invoice information with your other payments information for real-time, seamlessly integrated cash flow reporting. It’s one of the best ways to accept recurring payments because you can process low-cost ACH transactions.
New businesses needing a free merchant account:
Though QuickBooks Payments requires a QuickBooks Online subscription, there are no additional monthly or setup fees, minimum processing requirements, or other software fees. This flexibility makes QuickBooks one of the best free merchant accounts.
QuickBooks is also a great fit for businesses looking to keep an eagle-eye on cash flow because QuickBooks Payments has a Cash Flow Center with a real-time dashboard that tracks business finances without using complicated spreadsheets.
When QuickBooks Payments Would Not Be a Good Fit
- Businesses that don’t use QuickBooks: Because QuickBooks Payments only works with QuickBooks, you’ll have to either already be on the platform or be willing to migrate to it. Any business not using QuickBooks for accounting should choose a different merchant account provider.
- Businesses needing a full point-of-sale (POS) system: QuickBooks GoPayment is a great payment app for occasional and low-volume sales, and QuickBooks does offer a legacy countertop POS. But, limited hardware compatibility, lack of cloud access, and paid customer support prevent it from being one of our recommended retail POS systems. Instead, opt for one of our recommended retail credit card processing companies or restaurant merchant account providers that work with a variety of software systems.
- Businesses that accept international payments: QuickBooks Payments doesn’t work with international currencies, so there are no built-in foreign exchange rates. PayPal is a better option for small businesses, and Helcim offers international payments for established businesses.
Overall, QuickBooks relies heavily on its ecosystem of tools, so merchants are often locked into all of them if they opt for just one. Other payment processors have more integration options and offer greater flexibility.
QuickBooks Payments Overview
QuickBooks Payments Pros | QuickBooks Payments Cons |
|---|---|
Transparent, flat-rate pricing | Transactions fees more expensive than most competitors |
Volume discounts for businesses processing more than $7,500 monthly | Slow deposit speed |
Mobile POS app | Limited number of users |
Invoicing and recurring billing tools, including ACH payment processing | Only makes sense if you already use QuickBooks |
Easy to learn how to use |
To get up and running with QuickBooks Payments, you’ll need to have your QuickBooks account already set up. From there, it’s a matter of logging in and setting up the backend: connect your bank account and verify your business information. Then, you’re ready to accept cards and send invoices.
We’ve put together a few guides on how to get going with QuickBooks:
- How to Set Up QuickBooks Online
- How to Receive Payments in QuickBooks Online
- How to Process Credit Card Payments in QuickBooks Online
- How to Pay Bills in QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Payments Pricing
In addition to your QuickBooks subscription ($15–$150 per month), you will pay the following transaction fees:
- ACH: 1% (max $10)
- Swiped Card: 2.4% + 25 cents
- Invoiced Card: 2.9% + 25 cents
- Keyed Card: 3.4% + 25 cents
These rates apply to businesses processing up to $7,500 monthly. Above that rate, you can negotiate custom pricing. You can also sometimes get discounts on your QuickBooks Online subscriptions at sign-up or by paying for multiple months upfront. There are also options to pay for a one-time bookkeeping and account setup.
With QuickBooks, there are no additional PCI, cancellation, or monthly minimum fees. QuickBooks does charge a $25 chargeback fee for each chargeback, which is on the higher end of industry standard (typically ranges from $15 to $25).
There is no minimum contract length with QuickBooks Payments, and you can cancel at any time without paying a penalty.
QuickBooks Payments Alternatives and Fees Comparison
Fattmerchant | Square | PayPal | Payment Depot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Best for | ||||
Monthly fee | Starts at $99/month | Starts at $0/month | Starts at $0/month | Starts at $49/ month |
Card-present transaction fee | Interchange + 8¢ | 2.6% + 10¢ | 2.70% | Interchange + 5-15¢ |
Keyed transaction fee | Interchange + 15¢ | 3.5% + 15¢ | 3.50% + fixed fee | Interchange + 5–15¢ |
Ecommerce transaction fee | Interchange + 15¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | starts at 3.4% + 30 cents | Interchange + 5–15¢ |
QuickBooks Payments Features
- Payment types: Accept all Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express cards, ACH bank transfers, and NFC payments like Apple Pay.
- QuickBooks Accounting: QuickBooks Payments integrates seamlessly with other QuickBooks tools. This integration gives you a full view of your business’s cash flow.
- QuickBooks Cash business banking: Free instant deposits (including nights and weekends) when you set up the connected QuickBooks business bank account. Otherwise deposits from card transactions in 2–3 business days. ACH bank transfer payments take longer to process.
- Deposit speeds: Historically, QuickBooks would take 2–3 business days to deposit funds from card transactions and even longer for ACH payments. However, the company now offers free next-day funding to new qualifying customers.
- Invoicing: Create, customize, and send invoices directly from QuickBooks. Customers can easily pay invoices online or over the phone.
- Cash flow management: The Cash Flow Center’s real-time dashboard shows you how much money is coming and going out at any moment. It also automatically reconciles online payments and invoice payments.
- QuickBooks GoPayment: Free connected mobile payment app for accepting in-person cash, check, and card payments.
- Free mobile equipment: QuickBooks gives users a free mobile card reader regardless of the plan they choose.
- Ecommerce integrations: Connect QuickBooks Payments to Shopify or BigCommerce
QuickBooks Payments Ease of Use
- Lots of hardware: QuickBooks has its own line of POS systems, card readers, cash drawers, and other hardware necessary to take in-person payments.
- Mobile payments: Merchants get a free mobile card reader so that they can accept in-person payments on the go.
- Third-party integrations: Though QuickBooks works best within its own ecosystem, there are also integrations with external platforms like Amazon, PayPal, Square, and Shopify.
QuickBooks has a whole collection of proprietary hardware, including cash drawers, card readers, POS systems, receipt printers, and bar code scanners. It also works with a selection of third-party payment processing equipment. It’s easy to use QuickBooks for online, in-person, and even over-the-phone payments—not to mention recurring, ACH, and invoice payments.
The list of software integrations is also long, including additional compatibility with SOS Inventory, QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets), and Fathom. These integrations allow you to use QuickBooks Payments with your tech stack.
QuickBooks Payments Customer Support
Look for the Help button on any screen when in your dashboard to find QuickBooks’ self-serve support content. If you can’t find what you need, you can reach out to them via the website to start a live chat or request a callback. QuickBooks also has a community forum where you can ask and answer questions of other QuickBooks users.
What Users Think of QuickBooks Payments
QuickBooks Payments users enjoy this platform. Many reviews praise the program’s intuitive and straightforward design. Users are also impressed with QuickBooks Payments’ ability to integrate easily with other programs.
- Software Advice: On Software Advice, QuickBooks Payments earned an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 from 44 user reviews, with highest ratings for ease of use.
- G2: While there are only eight current user reviews, QuickBooks Payments is rated 4.2 out of 5 stars on G2.
QuickBooks GoPayment, the mobile payments app, has the following ratings:
- App Store: 4.8 out of 5 from 5,800 reviews.
- Google Play: 4.2 out of 5 from 7,114 reviews.
While reviews were mostly positive, some users found the fees to be high and lacking in transparency. It’s also important to note that QuickBooks Payments is available only to users with a QuickBooks account.
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
How easy it is to use for payment processing | Confusing pricing structure |
Simple system to learn and become accustomed to | Reliance on QuickBooks’ accounting platform |
Bottom Line: QuickBooks Payments in 2021
QuickBooks Payments is a payment processor available to QuickBooks users. This easy-to-use tool is great for businesses that want to keep a closer eye on their cash flow. Some of its best features include invoicing, recurring payments, next-day funding, mobile payments, free mobile card reader, and a variety of proprietary hardware. You can try QuickBooks free for 30 days. To find out if it’s a fit for your business, contact QuickBooks for more information.
