| As of July 31, 2024, Intuit QuickBooks will no longer sell new subscriptions to its QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, Enhanced Payroll or Mac Plus plans.
Current QuickBooks Desktop subscribers will be able to renew their subscriptions year over year, but all new sales will stop at the end of July 2024. So far, this product change applies solely to the United States. QuickBooks will continue to sell desktop software in the form of QuickBooks Enterprise only. |
Intuit QuickBooks is an incredibly well-known accounting software program used by companies worldwide. While QuickBooks Online might be the company’s most popular product, it isn’t the only one offered by Intuit. With multiple products — and multiple plans within those products — it can be hard to know which QuickBooks product is best for your business.
In my review, I found that QuickBooks Online is the best Intuit QuickBooks accounting product for most small, midsize and growing businesses.
However, QuickBooks Solopreneur can work well for individual business owners who want in-depth tax help while QuickBooks Desktop is a more robust option for bigger businesses with complex finances. Keep reading to learn more about the different types of QuickBooks products and find the accounting software that will work best for you.
Plan and pricing information verified as of 3/7/2024.
*Annual subscription required. Listed starting price is for the first year of service only. Price increases after 12 months of service.
**Pricing varies based on your business’s average monthly expenses. Monthly fee is subject to reassessment at Intuit’s discretion.
Our star rating: 4.6 out of 5
While QuickBooks Online is incredibly popular among accountants, it was primarily built to help non-accountant business owners manage their finances without an accounting degree. The user-friendly interface, straightforward setup and intuitive dashboard quickly get new business owners up to financial speed so they spend less time on bookkeeping.
As a cloud-based accounting software program, QuickBooks Online can be securely accessed from any web-enabled device. QuickBooks’ excellent mobile accounting app extends access to your phone — use it to snap receipts, upload expenses, check your finances, create mobile invoices and build estimates on the go.
For more information, read our full QuickBooks Online review.
There are four QuickBooks Online plans, each with a different number of users:
New users can choose to test the software free for 30 days or opt to take 50% off for three months. Note that you’ll have to enter your payment information upfront and agree to scheduled autopayments. If you decide QuickBooks Online isn’t for you, make sure to cancel your free trial before the 30 days are up.
Every QuickBooks Online plan includes these essential bookkeeping features:
Higher-tier QuickBooks Online plans add more advanced accounting features:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Our star rating: 3.8 out of 5
If you’re a freelancer in need of basic bookkeeping software only, QuickBooks Solopreneur could be a better choice for you than QuickBooks Online. With its limited set of features, QuickBooks Solopreneur helps individuals hone in on the most important aspects of growing a business, from setting financial goals to correctly categorizing expenses for tax time.
QuickBooks Solopreneur is most useful for freelancers filing Schedule C with their end-of-year taxes. Using the Solopreneur app, you can automatically log mileage in an IRS-friendly format for easier itemization come tax time.
However, if you’re looking for anything beyond the basics, I recommend QuickBooks Online over QuickBooks Solopreneur. For just $10 more a month, you get a far more expansive set of features, a more robust mobile app and the option to disregard any accounting tools (like a chart of accounts) that your business doesn’t need — yet.
QuickBooks Solopreneur costs $20 per month. If you waive your free trial and choose to take 50% off for three months, you’ll pay just $10 a month for three months. Alternatively, you can pay yearly, which gets you 50% off for your first year of service ($120 total).
Users can also choose to open a QuickBooks Checking account to manage their business finances (alternatively, you can connect a pre-existing business bank account for automated profit tracking).
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Our star rating: 4.5 out of 5
QuickBooks Enterprise is a robust, desktop-based version of QuickBooks’ accounting software. It features a far more extensive suite of tools than any other QuickBooks accounting product, plus stand-out perks like access for up to 40 users and optional industry-specific software packages.
From July 31, 2024 onward, QuickBooks Enterprise will be Intuit’s sole desktop-based accounting software product. Although it’s eliminating other desktop software, QuickBooks has no plans to scrap QuickBooks Enterprise: It’s one of the most widely used, well-respected and longstanding products in the accounting software field.
In other words, you don’t need to worry about suddenly losing product support if you choose QuickBooks Enterprise. The product is a top choice for accounting firms and enterprises in industries across the world, so it should be here to stay.
For more information, read our full QuickBooks Enterprise review.
QuickBooks sells three different versions of its Enterprise desktop software. All three software options require an annual subscription:
After one year, the pricing for your Enterprise subscription increases. You’ll also pay an extra fee for features like cloud access, online data storage and priority customer service.
All three enterprise-level plans include industry-standard accounting features, from expansive industry-specific reports to online payment acceptance.
Along with standard accounting tools, QuickBooks Enterprise users can expect the following:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Our star rating: 4.1 out of 5
QuickBooks Payroll is Intuit’s cloud-based payroll software product, and it primarily supports QuickBooks Online users with employees. It isn’t the most comprehensive payroll solution on the market — for instance, it lacks the more complex HR features you’d get from a combined HR/payroll software provider like ADP or Paychex.
However, if you’re familiar with QuickBooks’ interface, recently hired your first employee and want to start running payroll as painlessly as possible, QuickBooks Payroll is the simplest solution.
For more information, read our full QuickBooks Payroll review.
QuickBooks Payroll offers three basic plans, each with a different base price and per-payee fee:
As with other QuickBooks products, users can choose to try QuickBooks Payroll free for 30 days or get 50% off the base price for three months.
All three QuickBooks Payroll plans share the same basic features:
The two higher-tier payroll plans include expanded features, such as the following:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
Our star rating: 4.6 out of 5
If you don’t want to handle bookkeeping entirely on your own but don’t have the funds to pay for an in-house accountant or in-person bookkeeping services, QuickBooks’ virtual bookkeeping service is a smart choice.
With QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, business owners tracking their finances with QuickBooks Online can quickly, easily get virtual bookkeeping help from financial professionals. After an initial setup where your QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper reviews your financial records from the previous year and gets your books in order, they’ll be available to tackle basic bookkeeping tasks month over month while you focus on other aspects of running a business.
Monthly pricing for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping varies based on your average monthly expenses:
Additionally, you’ll pay a one-time “cleanup” fee to get your books in order the first time you sign up for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping. The cleanup fee is custom and can vary based on your business’s age, tax-filing status and service signup month.
No matter what you’re charged for your QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping subscription, you’ll get access to the same set of services provided by your QuickBooks-certified virtual bookkeeper:
QuickBooks Live doesn’t offer any tax services, including tax preparation assistance, so you’ll need to work with your own accountant or another tax professional to file taxes at the end of the year.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
|
|
For most non-enterprise U.S.-based businesses, QuickBooks Online is the best Intuit accounting product. As a cloud-based solution, it’s flexible, accessible and extremely approachable for non-accountant business owners. And with four plans, QuickBooks Online gives growing businesses room to expand into more complex plans with advanced accounting features.
But QuickBooks Online isn’t the right match for every business owner. If you’re not interested in QuickBooks Online, we recommend the following Intuit accounting products:
If Intuit QuickBooks doesn’t offer any products that appeal to you, there are dozens of other accounting services that could meet your needs instead. Find a good fit by reading our list of the year’s best accounting software and services.
Finally, don’t forget that most accounting companies offer free trials (or, at the very least, free demos), Intuit QuickBooks included. Signing up for a free trial — whether with QuickBooks Online or one of its top accounting competitors — and testing the software yourself is the best way to find the right accounting software service for your business.
To review and compare each QuickBooks product as thoroughly as possible, I took advantage of free trials, virtual demos and information provided directly by members of the QuickBooks team. I also read a variety of verified user reviews on sites like Gartner Peer Insights, the Better Business Bureau, the App Store and Google Play (among others) to ensure my viewpoint and hands-on experience weren’t the only ones represented in the review.
I also use an in-house algorithm and scoring rubric to generate star ratings for each brand (and in this case, each standalone product) I review. Here’s a quick summary of how we score the products we review:
My own experience testing and reviewing the software — including criteria like how easy it was to research software specifics and whether or not I was able to test the software firsthand — comprises the final 10% of our star rating.
QuickBooks offers a variety of accounting, payroll, bookkeeping and other business products. QuickBooks Online is its most popular cloud-based accounting product while QuickBooks Enterprise is its flagship desktop-based accounting product.
QuickBooks’ other accounting software product, QuickBooks Solopreneur, is a bare-bones tool well-suited to single-owner businesses that want basic accounting help only.
Apart from its accounting software products, QuickBooks sells the following business software tools:
QuickBooks will stop new sales of most of its desktop-based programs in the United States on July 31, 2024. While existing annual subscribers will be able to renew their subscriptions and enjoy ongoing support, new subscriptions of QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Enhanced Payroll and Mac will no longer be available.
If you want non-enterprise desktop software from QuickBooks, you’ll need to purchase the product on or before July 31, 2024. After that point, new sales will end, but existing customers will retain access to their software program.
However, QuickBooks has no plans to phase out QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. Additionally, customers in regions outside of the U.S. should be able to access their region’s desktop-based QuickBooks software for the foreseeable future.
If you’re looking for non-QuickBooks desktop-based software, we recommend the desktop-based Sage 50 Accounting for midsize and large businesses.
