QuickBooks Online Review: Pros, Cons, Alternatives

quickbooks for accountants

If you would like to add your client as the primary admin on the Ledger subscription, during the “Add Client” process, do NOT select “Make me the primary admin” checkbox. By default, your client is the primary admin when they first sign in to QuickBooks. The runway is there for clients to grow into QuickBooks Online product offerings that support their changing needs. Requirements for 1099s, such as adding vendors and mapping transactions back to those vendors, can also be managed in Ledger. 1099s can also be filed from Ledger using QuickBooks Payroll 1099 or exported to other 1099 software.

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NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. The best accounting software received top marks when evaluated across 10 categories and more than 30 subcategories. NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks.

Awards for QuickBooks Online

The QuickBooks ProAdvisor program offers benefits and resources that get better as your firm grows. QuickBooks Online Accountant wins in almost all categories, which isn’t surprising given that it has many advantages over its competitors. For instance, it’s free for accounting professionals, and it offers enhanced bookkeeping features through QuickBooks Online Advanced. QuickBooks Online Accountant is a cloud-based portal that allows an accountant to access their clients’ data in QuickBooks Online from any computer. Accountants love the Accountant Toolbox that puts everything at their fingertips.

quickbooks for accountants

Seamless product updates

The solution is ideal for business owners who’d like to step away from day-to-day bookkeeping tasks and outsource them elsewhere to save time. Whether you’re searching for you or your clients, cloud or desktop, you’ll find core products built to pivot seamlessly between essential tasks, from accounting to bookkeeping to taxes. Moving up to the Essentials Plan, you’ll pay $30 per month for the first three months, then $60 per month.

QuickBooks Online is a leader in the accounting industry with it being the bookkeeping software of choice for many accountants, certified public accountants (CPAs) and bookkeepers. When comparing it to other bookkeeping providers, such as FreshBooks and Xero, we note that all three have a 30-day free trial to test the system out. This is important to note since you’ll want to make sure that it is capable of doing what you need in a manner that you understand and can digest. Help your clients improve efficiency, productivity, and the bottom line by easily recording and tracking customer prepayments and deposits on sales orders. Then you can automatically apply that payment when the sales order is converted to an invoice.

Satisfied users commented that the platform is easy to set up and use, which aligns with our key findings (discussed in our ease of use section below). One user who left a positive QuickBooks Online Accountant review explained that it has a simple interface and that it is feasible for startup ventures. With an average user rating of 4.5 out of 5 on a top review site, QuickBooks Online Accountant is commended for its ease of use and setup.

What’s the difference between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Online Accountant?

quickbooks for accountants

Workflow and process consistency are crucial for an accountant’s day-to-day work, but are especially important at the end of the year through January. Because Ledger adds the serviced clients to QBOA as all other QuickBooks clients, switching costs and access delays can be reduced. Those who want to take their accounting on the go will appreciate the mobile app.

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Time-saving tech

  • Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.
  • Today’s leading accounting platforms offer standard security features like data encryption, secure credential tokenization and more.
  • Quickly access financial data and accounting reports in an instant with QuickBooks online software for accountants.
  • By taking the data entry work for the lower-complex clients into Ledger and out of spreadsheets, the changes, adjustments, and reconciliations are less manual, with workflows in place to ensure greater accuracy.
  • Starting February 2023, you must use QuickBooks Online Accountant to add payroll to your service.

For the Desktop version, you pay an annual fee starting at $1,922 per year, and the cloud-based option starts at $15 per month. Both versions have mobile apps, but the app for the Desktop version primarily functions as a way to upload receipts, and the Online mobile app is robust in comparison. However, a client can be added as primary admin on the subscription (see below) to allow access to review transactions, connect bank feeds, collect documents, and run reports. The Plus Plan is $45 per month for the first three months, then becomes $90 per month, and adds up to five users. It also has inventory management and gives you the ability to project profitability with forecasting reports.

quickbooks for accountants

Since you have free access to the QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor program, you can serve your clients regardless of the QuickBooks Online product they use. When it comes to cost, Wave is the winner with a zero-dollar fee for the basic service. Sage Business Cloud Accounting will quickbooks accounting review your business needs before giving you a quote, whereas QuickBooks Online Accounting is a per-client charge that is easy to understand. The extensive optional app library allows you to seamlessly add productivity boosting functionality to your technology stack.