Standard Accounts vs. QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)

QuickBooks is a great tool for new SoleTraders that need basic accounting software and require digital invoicing for their clients to send via email and access key features via a mobile app on the go. QuickBooks is a straightforward tool to use with a simple design and learning curve for business owners that are not very tech-savvy. For businesses that operate on a larger scale and need to provide access to other users on their team, QuickBooks is limited. This type of business may also require more insights into the business outside of accounting, and QuickBooks won't be able to supply insights outside of that.

Incentivized

• Tracking expenses is as simple as swiping left and right, it couldn't be easier.
• Running invoices through QuickBooks is simple and effective.
• Allowing clients to pay by card or check allows you to get paid faster and give the clients multiple ways of paying invoices, which helps everyone.
• Automatically tracking estimated quarterly taxes is very helpful and it keeps it top-of mind for each month.

Incentivized

• There are a number of unnecessary and ongoing prompts to do small tasks, like creating a rule for certain transactions. I could do without those.
• There are also occasional glitches with bank setup that produce duplicate transactions which can be a pain to deal with. I also haven't been able to find a way to effectively edit transactions.
• I also wish that QBSE integrated with software like Freshbooks, Tripit and Expensify.

I have been using this software for several years now and it has always put out my data in beautiful generated reports that I can use for verification purposes with my financial institute and the IRS. It has all the tools I need to run my business without loosing track of anything

Incentivized

I have never faced any difficulties that required me to contact QuickBooks customer service. QuickBooks has plenty of online tutorials, blog posts, and helpful tips and advice for almost any issues you may face using the desktop or app version of the software. Even if you can not find the right answer on the QuickBooks webpages, there are loads of YouTube videos from experts.

Incentivized

To be honest, I haven't shopped around for a bookkeeping package. I've been using TurboTax for well over a decade, and adding on QuickBooks Self-Employed (once I made the switch to freelancing) was a no-brainer. I probably could have used the program to help me keep track of employee expenses as I was working for others in the past.

Incentivized

• A positive impact on my business is, of course, keeping track of income and expenses, and approximate quarterly taxes. QuickBooks is a little better at this than Quicken, I think.
• By using QuickBooks (and Quicken) it saves me having to spend money on an accountant. (At least up to this point.)
• However, the time I spend on daily or weekly entries takes billable time away from other things.

Incentivized