QuickBooks is a well-known software among accountants and the accounting community. Many small and medium enterprises have been using it. For decades, it has dominated the need for self-managed bookkeeping and bookkeeping. However, hundreds other companies are launching alternatives to this application, such as the C1 package.
As QuickBooks Desktop has evolved, it has become more and more complex. Every day, QB users found new bugs in the application. This allowed other competitors to offer better accounting software with new features at a lower price. But is everything so bad in this product? Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of QuickBooks and see if it’s worth using at all.
How Does QuickBooks Work?
Everything is quite simple, you just need to register, and by logging into your account. You can already use the basic set of tools for working with your business. If you have already worked in some accounting program and are switching, you can import data from the previous project for convenience. The functionality of the program is fairly easy to use and convenient. So it will be comfortable for a new user to get used to the interface of the app. On the homepage, you can find business accounting data, cash flow status, invoices created, expense, and sales summaries.
If you need to organize the data of all transactions, you can apply the “Banking Services” tab. It holds all your bank accounts, as well as credit card accounts (if you have them). As a result, you can configure the program so that it automatically downloads new invoices that appear and classifies them. In “Banking” when you go to the “For verification” tab, you can find all these accounts and transfers if necessary.
Using the invoice setup, you can get information about the amount of taxes that must be paid on each transaction. This is suitable and doesn’t make it possible to forget an important detail, because it will be calculated automatically.
In addition, you can customize the QuickBooks app to your preferences, namely the setting not only for a laptop. Also for a smartphone, if you need to do urgent work or find something, and you have already left the workplace. Note that this function is not available in all accounting programs. These are large QuickBook advantages that distinguish the instance from the entire set of accounting programs. But what about other more in-depth details?
Benefits of Quickbooks
Let’s start our acquaintance with QuickBooks online reviews’ pros and cons with positive sides because there are much more of them. Even though competitors are releasing alternatives to QuickBooks, it still dominates the market. Some things just cannot be found on other sites and projects. Here are a few benefits of Quickbooks that make many accountants choose this program:
User-friendly.
This application can be run by a user who does not have accounting knowledge. With detailed guides and easy-to-implement accounting solutions, this is an easy-to-use application.
Support for other applications.
Whether you want to export your data to Excel or connect to any other application through QuickBooks, it’s not hard at all. This application provides the flexibility to work with other applications without data loss.
High-quality accounting reports.
The quality of financial and accounting reports can never be compromised. Also, if a user receives erroneous reports, it can affect their business decisions in the short and long term.
Available program.
QuickBooks offers various prices. This helps users pay only for the necessary components of the entire package. Thus, this makes the application accessible.
Easy access.
Depending on the version, you can switch your account to any device at your convenience.
Data and errors.
You can easily contact support. In addition, there are many resources available to troubleshoot any error.
Let’s take a closer look at some QuickBooks online benefits that we think you might be interested in.
✅ Reporting Improves Workflow
The availability of reports and the ability to arrange them according to the desired parameters. It is very good stuff, especially for those accountants who work in an enterprise with many transactions. You can collect, and group your data (which can be simply transferred from the previous program), and see various charts and tables. That will be incredibly useful and interesting for tracking the financial statistics of an enterprise.
In addition, if you take a more expensive monthly package for the project (prices will be discussed below). Then you can configure the program so that it does some work for you automatically. This includes adding new reports to the desired group, filtering, additional calculations and tables, and much more for your convenience. Here the developers have done their best.
✅ App Integrations
Another of the main benefits of QuickBooks is, of course, the ability to work with different applications and add-ons to the program itself. You can work with and sync your QuickBooks database with 650 other accounting solutions, which is pretty impressive. This will allow you to get even more useful properties. It is a combination of several good programs with important tools for the most convenient work and reporting. Internal additions to the program also have special features, including:
- reporting on wages and hours worked by an employee;
- payroll calculation (including the number of hours worked by the employee);
- maintaining reports taking into account the necessary taxation;
- adding analytical additions for monitoring the indicators of the financial part of the business;
- the ability to manage customer accounts.
If you need such additions, we are sure that this will make your work numerous times easier. You will have to pay for some additions to the application, but in general, the vast majority of them are free.
✅ Record-Keeping and Reporting
Many users of this app note that this software can easily be called a standard platform for conducting accounting and financial transactions. And this is another important item on our list of QuickBooks features and benefits. The program can do almost everything that any accountant in any enterprise needs.
Accounting and reporting in this application are thought out to the smallest detail. It is possible to conveniently manage the database, as well as keep detailed records well. You can easily fill in the required fields and add various attachments and notes. It is a great opportunity to “sort things out” and not forget anything. The more fields you can fill in the reporting columns, the more and better you can create the reporting itself. For example, you can sort it according to the necessary parameters. It is not necessary to take more advanced packages here (only if you require additional features for work). The standard packages already have everything you need to view and report on the financial activities of an enterprise.
What’s more, in QuickBooks you can manage your inventory. If you use the Plus and/or Advanced package, you can analyze the amount of inventory and change its cost. If the project sees that your stock is starting to run out, you will receive a message about it. Convenient, isn’t it? In QuickBooks, you can also create purchase orders and manage shipping details, as well as match stock with trading platforms.
✅ Affordable Price
Another significant benefit of QuickBooks is the price of the package and its attribute. Several monthly packages will suit the different needs of any business. This can be attributed to both pros and cons of QuickBooks online because you can choose the right package for yourself. But still, for many, the prices can be quite high, especially if you use some other paid applications. Here are the plans, their cost, and their main features:
QuickBooks Online Simple Start ($30 per month)
Main functions: monitoring of indicators of income and expenses; accepting payments, sending invoices, and organizing them in the system; separation of income and expenditure data into separate tax categories; sharing existing data; a mobile instance for work in any convenient and not-so-convenient place; managing and tracking enterprise cash flow data; the ability to transfer management of the base and payments to up to 1099 accountants.
QuickBooks Online Essentials ($55 per month)
Main characteristics: all the features of the QuickBooks Online Simple Start package; availability and creation of more detailed calculations and reports, including various types of debts (for example, receivables and payables); online payment of bills and management of them in a simple mode; additional tracking of working hours and the number of hours paid to employees.
QuickBooks Online Plus ($85 per month)
Key features: all the details of previous packages; advanced reporting on stocks, profits, as well as individual items from your lists; availability of additional standard templates for quick reporting; synchronization with data from other programs, parallel accounting activities; monitoring of business profitability indicators and production costs; graphical display of indicators of the cost of goods and all stocks of the enterprise.
QuickBooks Online Advanced ($200 per month)
Main functions: all functions of the previous packages; creation of your database, where you will track any financial transactions and indicators in a form convenient for you; batch billing, accelerating the speed of work in the program; simple monitoring of wages of all employees of the company; 24/7 support and assistance from the QuickBooks team who will help you work with the software package; access to additional quality with HubSpot and DocuSign.
QuickBooks Self-Employed ($15 per month)
This special offer is for those who want to practice or do not have a big company. The most profitable offer for freelancers and part-time jobs in the field of accounting.
You can choose the right app subscription plan depending on what tool you need. If the required attribute is there, but the price is too high, think about how important it is to the job. Go ahead and invest additional money if you’re willing to buy the necessary equipment. If you can get by without them, then just go with the cheaper plan.
Cons of QuickBooks
In this program, as in almost any other, there are pluses and minuses. In this case, QuickBooks online benefits are more than disadvantages. But it is still better to find out about them before using them, to understand if they can interfere with work. Here are the most common problems that happen while using the app:
- A lot of mistakes. There are many bugs in QuickBooks, also known as QB bugs. They can slow down your system and interfere with the application as a whole. They also show an error dialog box. To fix these errors, users have to try many methods. But fortunately, if you can’t figure it out yourself, the support service will help you fix all the problems.
- Restrictions on the number of users and file size. As mentioned earlier, Intuit is promoting its product for small and medium businesses. Hence, it limits the number of users and the file size. However, if the volume of your work suddenly increases, it will negatively affect the performance of the software. It can slow down/hang when processing large transactions. It may also prevent multi-user operation in such situations. Depending on how fast your business grows, you need to switch from one version to another.
- Incorrect connection to third-party solutions. Exporting and importing data through third-party apps is excellent. This provides flexibility in operations. However, as your business grows, you may need to further integrate QuickBooks with other tools. Users have often complained that the integration option with QuickBooks is quite disappointing.
Let’s take a closer look at some important points that can interfere with a stable experience in QuickBooks.
Online Support
Many users have complained that the support is not as deep as it could be for an app. If you cannot solve the issue on your own, you are directed to the company’s employees. It in turn can redirect you to other employees, and only then your problem will be solved. Agree, this process looks too long. But more than another possibility, except for having a separate assistant from the company, has not yet been accepted.
Speaking of extra help, some users need extra help from QuickBooks representatives. This is very comfortable, you need to pay extra for this, as in principle in other accounting applications.
In general, you can solve the project, and they can help you if necessary. But the concern here is the time it takes to prepare before solving the problem, which won’t be good if you need to do work.
Lack of Industry and Business-Specific Features
If you have a rather narrow business, you may find it difficult to work in this application. Yes, it is standard for most types of businesses. If the job is specific, there may be important points that the program cannot do, taking into account various factors. Perhaps this difficulty can be partially solved by the Advanced package, where you can independently adjust everything for yourself. But do you want to pay that kind of money for it? We think the answer to this will depend on your business profitability.
In addition, if you would like to use add-ons where taxes are calculated, you will encounter a concern. Not all taxes are always taken into account (after all, they are not so common) in a narrowly focused company. Therefore, you can try to get help from a QuickBooks employee who will probably help you set up basic processes. Or you simply won’t be able to comfortably work only in this scheme, unless in combination with other software products.
✨ Conclusion
QuickBooks is a great accounting software package for small businesses. This gives them the flexibility to work even when their accountants are away. Constant bugs, support issues, lack of special features for a specific business, and less security are constant difficulties for users. But if you are ready to turn a blind eye to the cons, you can safely use the software. Make your decision to buy QuickBooks based on the size, growth, and needs of your business. We think QuickBooks online reviews’ pros and cons have become useful for you and will help you make the decision. What decision will you make?
