In 2023, QuickBooks will be one of the most popular accounting software for small businesses. Whether you want to transition away from manual bookkeeping, your spreadsheets have turned into a multiheaded hydra, or you simply need a better solution than your present software, QuickBooks can be a solid choice without breaking the bank.
What exactly is QuickBooks?
QuickBooks is best known for its bookkeeping software, but it also provides a variety of accounting and finance solutions for small businesses. Here are a couple of such examples:
1. QuickBooks Payroll: Available as a self-service or full-service solution, QuickBooks Payroll enables businesses to pay up to 50 employees via check or direct deposit. If you choose a full-service plan, your year-end W-2 tax forms for local, state, and federal taxes are computed and submitted immediately.
2. QuickBooks Commerce: It consolidates all of your orders and inventory onto a single dashboard, providing you with real-time order status. QuickBooks Commerce is extremely scalable, allowing you to quickly add new sales channels, build your B2B commerce platform, and integrate with online marketplaces.
3. QuickBooks Online: With QuickBooks Online, you can keep your accounting books in the cloud and access them from anywhere at any time. This service is also capable of invoicing.
4. QuickBooks Live: With QuickBooks Live, you can collaborate with a professional bookkeeper to handle all of your bookkeeping needs.
5. QuickBooks Payments: With QuickBooks Payments, you can produce pay-enabled invoices, set up recurring invoices, and be paid digitally on the go. Customers can pay digitally using whatever manner they like.
6. QuickBooks Time: Use QuickBooks Time to track billable hours for your staff, clients, or projects. QuickBooks Payroll makes it simple to track time and payments.
How Does QuickBooks Work?
While there are several alternatives available, you are not required to sign up for all QuickBooks services at once. You may begin with a single programme, such as accounting or payroll software, and add others as your business grows. If you outgrow a service, you can choose whether to remove or upgrade it.
A typical QuickBooks setup would look something like this: you sign up for the accounting software, then install QuickBooks Live to assist completely personalise your setup. When your company expands, you add full-time workers, contractors, and freelancers. After that, you may sign up for QuickBooks Payroll to automate monthly payments and QuickBooks Time to monitor billable hours.
QuickBooks Software Alternatives
1. Invoicing
Invoicing is a critical activity for many firms, particularly those that provide services or rely on freelancers. QuickBooks makes it simple to generate invoices from scratch or from an estimate. You can even create an invoice to receive recurring payments.
You can then send the invoice to clients via mail or print it and send a hard copy. It enables you to easily run and view reports such as the number of outstanding invoices, the total amount due from clients, and invoice details (paid or due).
2. Tracking of Bills and Expenses
You can connect your bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks while it is being installed. QuickBooks will then automatically track your bills and spending. But, automated bill tracking does not exclude you from doing so manually. You may quickly record a manual transaction, whether in cash or by check. Again, QuickBooks provides a plethora of reports for analysing your invoices and spending. If you keep a record of your bills, you may simply track forthcoming payments to ensure that you pay your bills on time.
3. Monitoring Employee Time and Expenses
It is relatively simple to manage time and chargeable expenditures incurred by workers or subcontractors using QuickBooks. They may input it themselves using the QuickBooks mobile app, or they can submit it manually and have a bookkeeper on their end enter the data in the app.
4. Online Transactions
As a business owner, you understand the importance of maintaining a consistent positive cash flow. When you submit invoices from within the app, QuickBooks Payments makes it easy to accept online payments. QuickBooks allows you to accept payment in local currencies if you operate in multiple international locations. Of course, it is safest to check first to see whether.
5. Payroll
Payroll processing is a critical function for every company. The payroll add-on automatically calculates payroll as often as you wish. Three options provide your company with the scalability it needs to develop and add features as needed. The Core plan includes everything a small to medium-sized business needs to get started, while the Premium and Elite plan adds features like same-day direct deposit and professional setup support.
Pricing in QuickBooks
QuickBooks Online is accessible as a desktop programme as well as an online SaaS (software as a service). Nevertheless, access to QuickBooks Desktop for Windows 2019 add-on services will be stopped after May 31, 2022.
Quickbooks Online, the foundational accounting software, offers the following options (the price list is 50% off for the first three months):
Self-Employed: This membership plan is designed particularly for freelancers and independent contractors and costs $7.50 per month, as opposed to $15 per month.
Simple Start: If you still run your business on your own but it has expanded to the point where you want more capabilities in your accounting software, the simple start package is suitable for you. It costs $15 per month at first, then $30 per month.
Essential: This is the plan for you when your firm expands and you need to add more personnel like your accountant, bookkeeper, or finance team lead to the accounting software. This package allows you to add up to three people and includes bill management and time monitoring. It costs $27.50 per month at first, then $55 per month.
Plus: At $42.50 per month for the first three months, then $85 per month after that, the Plus plan allows you to add up to five people to the programme, as well as help with inventory management, project estimation, and profitability
