ApprovalMax vs. QuickBooks Online

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ApprovalMax
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
ApprovalMax provides approval workflow automation for cloud accounting platforms such as Xero and QuickBooks Online. It replaces paper- and email-based approval processes with multi-step and multi-role automated approval workflows that enable automated notifications to approvers, automated audit trails, and mobile approvals. Approval workflows include: Invoice approvals / bill review and bill approval Purchase order approval, including the functionality to create…
$54
per month per organization
QuickBooks Online
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.
$38
per month
Pricing
ApprovalMaxQuickBooks Online
Editions & Modules
ApprovalMax Standard
$54
per month per organization
ApprovalMax Advanced
$83
per month per organization
ApprovalMax Premium
$121
per month per organization
Simple Start
$38
per month
Essentials
$75
per month
Plus
$115
per month
Advanced
$275
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ApprovalMaxQuickBooks Online
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscount available for annual pricing and for management of multiple organizations.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ApprovalMaxQuickBooks Online
Features
ApprovalMaxQuickBooks Online
Payment Management
Comparison of Payment Management features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
8.0
Ratings
6% above category average
QuickBooks Online
-
Ratings
Customizable Approval Policies9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial Document Management9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Payment Status Tracking9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Payment Audit Trail9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Bill Detection4.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts Payable
Comparison of Accounts Payable features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
8.5
Ratings
25% above category average
QuickBooks Online
-
Ratings
Automated Accounts Payable Processes9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Vendor Management8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.4
Ratings
8% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.3
Ratings
8% above category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
9.7
Ratings
15% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.2
Ratings
4% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.6
Ratings
10% above category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
7.5
Ratings
2% above category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
ApprovalMax
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.4
Ratings
8% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
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User Ratings
ApprovalMaxQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
1.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
2.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
1.1
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
1.3
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ApprovalMaxQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
As mentioned previously - able to send invoice based on amount , program code and division code ,supplier is very useful feature ; If an invoice does not fit into approval process than it is rejected and an email is received mentioning the reason
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I appreciate the ability to auto-generate invoices for recurring transactions, which saves time, as well as the option to set up auto-generated transactions. The report option is super helpful when reviewing information, as you can click to view the details in the report without having to go back and forth.
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Pros
  • choice based on Program codes / division codes - we use Xero accounting system and we have 22 program codes and 11 divison codes ; once invoice is entered in Xero depending on relevant program code and divison code, Approval max automatically send invoice to relevant person depending on approval workflow process . One manager could be handling multiple divison and program codes; if our approval work flow process is properly designed - it is accurate in sending invoice to relevant manager.
  • invoice can also send to various managers based on General ledger codes ; this flexibility makes useful when manager is handling only certain nature of expenses regardless of program codes / divisionl.
  • Approval process can also be designed based on level of amount ; and level of amount is derived from our Delegation policy. it makes audit of application of delegation policy easy ; we give copy of delegation policy and print of approval work flow process to auditor.
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  • It enables me to do a P&L for each specific program as requested by the county for the grant money that they give us.
  • It enables me to do [an] organizational budget as well as a budget for each specific program
  • It enables the accountant and the auditor access at any time for transparency
Read full review
Cons
  • date and time of change in approval process ; for example if Mr. A was responsible for all expenses above $1000 in Oct 23 and from Nov 23 it is changed to $5000 . in Dec 23 if it is checked - it will show approval limit of $5000 ; but will not show from which date limit was changed. Auditor always asks this question when the limit was changed in approval max - we cannot prove it.
  • If there is audit trail of who made the changes , when and what changes were made ; will be good.
  • when we are in main page of seeing invoices awaiting approval - there are hundreds of invoices - searching for one invoice from particular supplier is very cumbersome job - we have to go by each and every invoice in order to find that invoice ; it will be good if we have search function on main page itself ; in current scenario we have to go to report section - input all filters and than search for that particular invoice.
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  • Purchase Orders cannot be linked to multiple bill payments which makes tracking purchase orders in QuickBooks Online obsolete. Without the function we have to track this within a different more manual spreadsheet.
  • Would be helpful if you could "split" bank transactions directly from the "review" downloads from the bank. Currently, to split transactions to multiple accounts we need to first categorize, then review after assigning to 1 account.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
QBO needs better integration with non-Intuit products and developers need to use Intuit's open API to develop better add-ons. Clients are having a great deal of problems with their data importing from the bank and this takes time away from better revenue producing activities. Although the efficiencies are there, they are outweighted by the shortcomings of the product. When we ran a parallel of QBO versus other cloud accounting products, we had more issues with the QBO product than any other
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Usability
No answers on this topic
I had very little trouble setting up the program and migrating from our old accounting system. The daily usage is also very intuitive and easy. Anytime we run into minor trouble with the program, there are always tons of help available on YouTube, so we don't even look up the online manual anymore.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
We have rarely had outages in the last 10 years. I can only recall 2 times in the last 10 years where we were not able to access our client files.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
Everything process has its bugs lately with the new interface. Nothing has worked smoothly since this all began last month.
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Support Rating
No answers on this topic
In my experience, most representatives keep me on the phone for hours, literally, for a single issue and then usually cannot resolve it satisfactorily. I have 10 open cases that need resolution and, in my experience, there has been NO follow-up communication on any of them.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
The person in charge of QB needs to be very accurate with record keeping and is recommended to stay on top of tasks. The biggest issue we have is reconciliation, and those issues occur only when too much time has occurred between reconciliations
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Alternatives Considered
Read full review
QuickBooks Online is an accounting software package that allows companies to use a cost-effective and efficient software package. QuickBooks Online allows companies to prepare their balance sheets and income statements. It connects with a variety of other applications, which allows you to be efficient. We are very pleased with QuickBooks Online, and we would highly recommend it.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
As we have grown along our professional path, we have also expanded our use of QB. The scalability is easy and features seem to be waiting for you until you need them. We have increased profits by over 10x from our first year in business to the current and have yet to find a reason to look elsewhere
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Return on Investment
  • It has certainly made a positive impact ; it is definately worth its value ; when we are processing hundreds of invoices every fortnight ; getting approval of invoices in timely manner for all invoices is of paramount importance . as approval max has its own app - approval can be done on mobile phone also ; this is particularly helpful when staff is travelling .
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  • I think the help function is cumbersome and hard to use. When I go to refresh myself on a function, say quarterly, I feel like I have to cast about just looking for it.
  • The account reconciliation works, but in this place that could benefit from messaging, there are no easy helping functions flagging things like amounts that fit the discrepancy.
  • Even styling invoices and documents is more cumbersome than it should be.
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ScreenShots

ApprovalMax Screenshots

Screenshot of where approval processes are set up  – no matter how simple or complex.Screenshot of the interface to build approval steps that follow any business rules – whether approvals happen one after another, all at once, or only in certain cases. The user can also control who approves based on things like amount, supplier, account code, or category.Screenshot of where to approve bills and purchase orders the way that works best.Screenshot of the interface that matches bills to approved purchase orders from the same supplier to keep coding accurate and control spending. Unmatched bills can also be stopped from being approved.Screenshot of where to mention others in comments to bring them in or get their input – even if they’re not part of the original approval. If they don’t have access, a prompt to add them as a Watcher is sent. Mentions work on web and mobile, sending notifications as soon as access is granted.Screenshot of where to raise purchase orders, approve requests, and extract key details from bills and purchase orders – all on the go with the ApprovalMax mobile app for iOS and Android.

QuickBooks Online Screenshots

Screenshot of the accounting and bank transactions interfaceScreenshot of an overview of the accounting inventoryScreenshot of book marksScreenshot of the business tax overviewScreenshot of the customer hubScreenshot of the dashboard