QuickBooks Review & Testing – Is It Good for Beginners?

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This in-depth QuickBooks review explores one of the most popular cloud accounting software programs, with over 7 million active users. QuickBooks has made a name for itself due to its ease of use and no-nonsense accounting features, such as invoicing, automated bank reconciliation, and excellent visual reporting.

That said, it’s not the only accounting solution available, which can make you wonder if QuickBooks is right for your business.

Read our comprehensive QuickBooks review where we will discuss every feature in detail and compare it with some of the best accounting platforms. We’ll also look at what customers have to say about QuickBooks so that you can make a well-informed decision.

QuickBooks Pros and Cons

Here are some pros and cons of QuickBooks.

What Is QuickBooks Accounting?

QuickBooks is an online accounting platform founded by Scott Cook and Tom Proulx in 1983. It’s currently ranked #1 in the Small Business Accounting category in Canstar Blue’s 2022 list, with a market share of 85.25%.

QuickBooks is owned by Inuit – a global financial technology platform offering various software solutions for businesses. Apart from accounting, Intuit also houses TurboTax, Mailchimp, and Credit Karma.

However, QuickBooks is Intuit’s major product, generating 56% of its total revenue. The platform is very easy to use and beginner-friendly. The dashboard is clean, and all functions are easy to find.

The features are all simple to understand and there are tons of videos to help you out in case you’re stuck. All-in-all, QuickBooks is popular as a plug-and-play solution with a minimum learning curve.

Is QuickBooks Actually Good?

QuickBooks is a cloud accounting software catering to almost 7 million users worldwide. We found the platform ideal for businesses of all sizes – small, medium, and large enterprises alike.

You can start with its Simple Start plan, which comes with essential accounting features such as invoice and payment management, income and expense management, cash flow tracking, and several reports.

You also get a free checking account with QuickBooks with up to 5% Annual Percentage Yield (APY). The platform has also introduced several automation features that suggest categories to segregate your transactions, saving you a lot of time.

Plus, its tax expert feature ensures you don’t face a tough time during the tax filing season with dedicated help from tax experts.

As you move up the plans, you can increase the number of users, along with adding advanced features like inventory management and sales channel integrations.

Overall, QuickBooks delivers excellent value for money and there’s a plan for every business’s need. They’re also currently offering a 50% discount for the first three months of subscription.

QuickBooks Key Features

QuickBooks comes with a lot of features that simplify accounting, even for more novice bookkeepers. Let’s look at some of its important features.

1. Invoicing and Payments

QuickBooks make invoicing a breeze for all businesses. You can create custom invoices, add a business logo, and set up recurring invoices for regular payments.

The best part is that you can add a ‘Pay Now’ button and receive payments directly from your invoice. QuickBooks supports options like cards, ACH, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Venmo, among others – more than any other cloud accounting software.

Another thing we loved about the platform is its progress invoicing feature. Many times, businesses receive multiple payments for a single project at various stages.

QuickBooks splits an estimate into various invoices based on milestones and keeps track of the amount paid and outstanding. This takes away a lot of manual work involved in tracking project payments.

2. Bank Feeds

Sure, other accounting platforms also allow you to connect your bank accounts and import and reconcile transactions. QuickBooks, however, is a step ahead. You can connect bank accounts in as many as 33 countries, such as Italy, UAE, Spain, Germany, and so on.

This makes it easy for businesses that operate in countries outside the US. Usually, you have to manually export bank feeds from these international banks and then post journal entries one by one. However, with QuickBooks, you can save a lot of operational time.

All your bank data flows directly into your QuickBooks account where every transaction is instantly synced and sorted. The platform automatically matches invoices with income and all debit transactions with expenses.

Once you’ve used QuickBooks for a month or so, it learns from your business and recommends categories to segregate your bank transactions.

3. Expense Management

QuickBooks lets you manage and categorize your expenses for easy tracking. You can directly upload expense receipts using the QuickBooks mobile app and attach them to bank transactions.

This is helpful in cases where you bill your clients for the expenses you’ve incurred on a project. QuickBooks helps you keep all your proofs in one place so that you can quickly attach them to the invoices.

After a quick setup process, QuickBooks automatically applies the taxes to all your invoices. This way, you don’t have to run from pillar to post to consolidate your tax expenses during tax filing.

4. Inventory Management

If you deal in products, inventory management becomes crucial. QuickBooks lets you manage your inventory levels in real-time. Adding a product to the inventory list is simple – enter the details, add an image, and click on done.

Now, every time you make a purchase, QuickBooks will automatically increase the quantity of stock available. Not only that, it will also convert the purchase order into a bill so that you don’t miss out on any payments.

Similarly, you can check the live inventory count on every invoice you make. If the stock levels fall below a certain point, the platform will send you alerts so that you can replenish your stock in time.

This way, you can focus on products that bring in the most revenue for your business.

5. Taxation Features

QuickBooks offers several ways to manage your taxes easily. For starters, it has brought TurboTax’s capabilities to the platform.

With this, you can get the help of a tax professional in preparing and filing your current year’s taxes. The best part is that you get a 100% Accurate Calculations Guarantee, and you will be refunded for any calculation errors.

The platform also helps you track your mileage and claim deductions as per IRS rules. QuickBooks uses your phone’s location to calculate the total distance traveled by you. You can categorize each journey as Personal or Business for accurate tax deductions.

6. QuickBooks Integrations

QuickBooks currently offers integration with 750+ popular business apps, which is much more than competitors like Xero and Zoho Books.

Integrations like Shopify, eBay, Amazon, and Etsy allow you to seamlessly connect your online store with QuickBooks. All transactions made on your e-commerce store will then directly flow into QuickBooks, saving you time exporting and importing data into the accounting platform.

Other popular integrations include PayPal, Square, QuickBooks Time, Gusto, Buildertrend, and Housecall Pro.

QuickBooks Pricing and Plans – Is It Expensive?

QuickBooks offers four plans catering to businesses of every size – Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. The platform has introduced certain new features available on all plans:

In addition, each plan includes a free guided setup in which a QuickBooks expert helps you prepare your charts of accounts, connect your bank, and learn your best practices.

You’ll currently find two offers on QuickBooks – 50% off for 3 months and a 30-day free trial. You can only choose one of these.

However, if you choose the 30-day free trial option, you do not get the option of tax expert help and guided setup.

That’s why we recommend opting for the 50% discount. You’ll pay half for the first three months, and you’ll also receive professional guidance to help you get started with the platform.

Now, let’s look at each of the four QuickBooks plans in detail to help you choose the right one for you.

Simple Start

The Simple Start plan, starting at $30/month, is ideal for small and mid-sized businesses. It is meant for one user, and you can also bring your accountant on board.

It comes with all the essential features you need – income and expense tracking, progressive invoicing, bank feeds and reconciliations, and others. This plan encompasses all core accounting platform features – the only thing missing here is bill and payment management.

QuickBooks is priced at par with popular accounting platforms like Xero. However, as our detailed Xero review discovered, its plans start at $29/month and only allow 20 invoices and five bills. There are no such limitations with QuickBooks.

On the flip side, QuickBooks is a bit more expensive than FreshBooks. Their plans start at $5.70/user/month and include unlimited estimates, invoices, automated bank imports, and various reports. However, with this plan, you can only manage 5 clients.

Essentials

Next is the QuickBooks Essential plan, priced at $60/month. This plan accommodates up to three users and an accountant. In addition to everything in the Simple Start Plan, this plan allows you to track time and record transactions in multiple currencies.

This plan allows you to track bill status, create recurring payments, and record payments, in addition to paying multiple bills simultaneously.

For the jump in pricing, this plan doesn’t offer much value addition. You’ll only need this plan if you bill clients on the basis of time tracked or if you deal in multiple currencies.

Plus

This QuickBooks plan costs $45/month and is ideal for larger teams with up to five users and an accountant.

If you need to maintain a lot of inventory in your business, the QuickBooks Plus plan will help you track stock levels in real-time, build purchase orders, and manage all your suppliers.

This plan is way more affordable than Xero’s highest plan, which costs $62/month with no feature differences.

Similarly, Zoho Books’ Professional plan, which costs $50/month, doesn’t offer multi-currency accounting and only allows 25 custom reports. Thus, QuickBooks delivers excellent value for money along with all essential accounting features.

Advanced

Priced at $100/month, the Advanced plan is meant for enterprise-level teams and comes with a lot more automation options. For instance, you can create and process multiple invoices, set up automated workflow rules, and track fixed assets in real time.

If you’re on this plan, your employees can upload all their expenses directly to the platform, allowing you to manage them in one place.

This plan is comparable to the Zoho Books Elite plan, which costs $120 per month. Zoho offers a few extra features, such as a dedicated customer portal, managing 1099 contractors, and custom domain and workflow rules.

However, it has limited analytical functions where you don’t get a real-time dashboard. Plus, it’s on the expensive side.

QuickBooks Accounting Ease of Use – Is the Interface Good?

We found the QuickBooks dashboard to be pretty informative. It’s truly a one-stop destination for all your accounting needs.

The dashboard is divided into two main parts – the navigation panel and the business overview.

The navigation panel allows you to execute various actions on the platform. It’s like a central portal for all your accounting needs. You can view transactions, add bills, make invoices, generate reports, and manage your taxes—all from this single navigation panel.

If you’re working on a smaller screen, you can hide the navigation panel by clicking on the ‘three lines’ on the top-most row.

We love QuickBooks’s central dashboard section the most. It gives a snapshot view of all the key business metrics, such as cash flow, profit and loss, and expenses.

This section is beautifully designed with bar charts and pie graphs, so you don’t have to spend much time reading through the numbers. You’ll also see all your bank account details with balances. You can even customize your view and rearrange the panels the way you like.

QuickBooks vs Top Accounting Software

Below, you’ll find a table highlighting the key differences between some of the best cloud accounting platforms so that you can choose one that meets your needs.

QuickBooks is one of the best value-delivering accounting platforms around, with something for all kinds of businesses. We loved its starter plan, which has all the essential accounting features – you won’t need to upgrade to a higher plan for accounting functions.

That said, QuickBooks isn’t your only option for the best accounting software, as highlighted by our detailed comparison table.

You can look at something like NetSuite if you’re a large enterprise with an enterprise-level accounting hierarchy.

On the flip side, as per our comprehensive Freshbooks review, if you’re a small business with a limited budget, Freshbooks can be a good entry-level accounting platform.

QuickBooks Accounting Reviews – What Are People Saying?

QuickBooks has received numerous positive reviews on different review sites. For instance, it has scored 4.3 stars on GetApp from more than 6,500 users, more than 84% of which are 4 stars and above.

Most people like how easy the platform is to use. This particular customer has appreciated the platform’s quick bank reconciliations and ease of navigation.

Similarly, QuickBooks has an excellent rating of 4 stars on G2 – another popular review website. From 3,000+ reviews, 82% are 4 stars and above.

For instance, the review below highlights how someone with no prior bookkeeping experience can quickly start using QuickBooks.

Many users also have QuickBooks’ reporting dashboard, a handy addition that helps them look at their business finances at a glance.

That said, we found quite a few reviews highlighting the platform’s lack of customer support. Moreover, the provider upsells its products too aggressively—even to customers calling for customer support.

However, QuickBooks has recently introduced a guided setup feature that helps new users get started with the platform.

Why You Can Trust Our QuickBooks Software Review

With almost a decade of experience, our experts are well-versed in the ins and outs of the accounting industry. We have been testing the best cloud accounting software for years now, which has helped us identify the best features you need while looking for a reliable accounting platform.

Our testing method involves first-hand analysis of the software. Our experts test out each and every feature of the platform to verify if they work as advertised.

We also compare the software with other popular accounting platforms so that you can compare and choose the one that best suits your needs.

Lastly, we review thousands of customer reviews so that we can provide you with a balanced and unbiased review.

How to Use QuickBooks for Accounting: Beginner’s

QuickBooks is one of the most beginner-friendly platforms we have come across. Here’s how you can get started performing essential accounting tasks on the platform.

1. Creating Invoices

Here’s how you can quickly create a customer invoice on QuickBooks.

Step 1 – From the left panel on your QuickBooks dashboard, click Sales > Invoices. Then click ‘Create Invoice’

Step 2 – Click the ‘Add customer’ drop-down menu and choose a customer you want to bill. You can even click on ‘Add new’ to add a new client. Other details like invoice number, terms, and date will automatically flow into your invoice based on your account settings.

Step 3 – Scroll down to the ‘Product or service’ section to add details of the invoice. You can again choose from a drop-down of pre-saved products or add a new one. Then enter the quantity and unit price.

Step 4 – If your product attracts tax, check the ‘tax’ box beside each product, and QuickBooks will automatically calculate the applicable tax amount.

Step 5 – On the bottom-left of your screen, you’ll see the ‘customer payment options’ section, from where you can enable or disable modes of payment available to your client.

Step 6 – Once you’re done, click ‘Review and Send’ at the bottom right of your screen.

2. Paying Bills

Let’s see how you can make bill payments through QuickBooks.

Step 1 – From the left panel, click Expenses > Bills.

Step 2 – From the top-right corner, click Add bill > Choose from computer. If your vendor sends you bills directly on QuickBooks, you’ll see the bill in the ‘unpaid’ section of your expenses dashboard. You can even create a bill directly on the dashboard itself.

Step 3 – Once QuickBooks processes your bill, you’ll see all the details, such as the source, vendor, bill number, due date, and bill amount.

Step 4 – Ensure that the bill information has flowed correctly into QuickBooks. After this, click ‘Create bill’ on the Action tab of the uploaded bill.

Step 5 – Go to the ‘Unpaid’ tab to find your bill and click ‘schedule payment’. Then, choose your preferred mode of payment, enter your details, and complete the transaction.

3. Adding Products and Services

Let’s see how you can add new products/services in QuickBooks.

Step 1 – From the left panel, click Sales > Product & Services, and then click ‘New’ from the top-right corner.

Step 2 – Choose the type of product – non-inventory, service, bundle, or inventory. However, inventory tracking is only available if you’re on the Plus or Advanced plan.

Step 3 – In the dialogue box that opens, enter details of your product, such as name, description, category, sales price, and the income account where this product’s sales income will be categorized.

Step 4 – Once you’ve entered all the information, click ‘Save and close’. The product will now be added to your inventory list.

4. Categorizing bank transactions

QuickBooks makes it simple to import and categorize all your bank transactions. Here’s how you can do it.

Step 1 – Click Transactions > Bank transactions from the navigational menu. You’ll see the ‘Transactions’ dashboard with different boxes. Each box represents a separate bank account. Click on the bank account whose transactions you want to categorize.

Step 2 – In front of your transactions, you’ll see two options: ‘Confirm’ and ‘Review’. For the transactions that QuickBooks auto-categorizes, you only have to click ‘Confirm’ (if the suggestion is correct). For other transactions, you need to click ‘Review’.

Step 3 – Enter the transaction’s account details, including the vendor/customer name. You can even split a transaction into two or more accounts.

Step 4 – Once everything looks good, click ‘Confirm’.

QuickBooks Accounting Review – Verdict

QuickBooks is one of the most popular and trusted accounting platforms with almost 35 years of experience in the industry.

It has evolved and adapted to the needs of accountants over the years. This is evident by its new features of expert tax, help, and bookkeeping automations.

Overall, the platform isvery easy to use. We loved the dashboard view, which gives you a snapshot of all your key financials in one place without having to generate reports.

Other features include receipt capturing, cash flow tracking, generating estimates, converting them to invoices, and managing all expenses.

Although QuickBooks delivers excellent value for money, businesses on a budget might find it a bit too expensive. Its plans start at $30 per month and can go up to $100 per month.

However, you do get 50% off for the first three months or a 30-day free trial to test out the platform. Try QuickBooks now!

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