Balancing accounts, payments to and from suppliers, reconciliation at the end of the month and year. The biggest issue is that our business outgrew QBO and we had to build our own program. However for smaller businesses with not so many customers and sales QBO is perfect I loved it until it wouldn’t load end of month reports because they were to large.
Pros
Custom reports.
Easy to learn.
Easy to teach how to use.
Cons
Need for larger customer base.
Customer service isn’t always quick
Sometimes when to many people are working in it at the same time there are issues.
Likelihood to Recommend
Suited for businesses with small customer base and easy to learn so could be good for start up company.
Less appropriate for larger companies with large customer bases.
VU
Verified User
Manager in Finance and Accounting (Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing company, 51-200 employees)
We use QuickBooks to create invoices, tell when customers have paid, calculate incoming money and outgoing money. We keep up with payroll for the employees and use it to cut bonus checks. The product addresses us to review items that don't seem correct and to make sure the bank is balanced.
Pros
Create invoices
Balance bank account
Payroll
Keep employee's paperwork organized
Cons
Not easy to navigate through
Updates to frequently
Employee navigation should be easier
Likelihood to Recommend
QuickBooks as whole is a great investment. Not sure how anyone was able to keep everything straight without it. For small businesses it really is a necessity, keeping track of new employees and or adding them to payroll. Making sure accounts are balanced and know what kind of money is coming in and out. Clocking in and out is a less appropriate scenario for this because there are far better apps out there for that.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Manufacturing (Machinery company, 51-200 employees)
We use QuickBooks Online primarily for bookkeeping in our very small business with a geographically distributed accounting team. We sync with our bill-pay service, which makes expenses and payment scheduling much simpler to manage. We also generate invoices via QuickBooks Online, and use it for generating financial reports on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.
Pros
Bookkeeping services
Sync with other SaaS platforms
Financial reports
Strong security for remote team
Cons
Collaboration tools
Ai integration
Stock dashboards are not the most useful for our business
Likelihood to Recommend
We think QuickBooks Online is a really good option for small and medium businesses with limited resources. It allows us to easily manage our books with a small, geographically dispersed team of accountants. QuickBooks Online makes it easy for the management team to review basic financial dashboards at a glance.
VU
Verified User
C-Level Executive in Corporate (Medical Device company, 1-10 employees)
I use it for all AP, AR, Banking, taxes, payroll, etc., [and] all company financials.
Cons
QuickBooks Online won't allow me, the owner of the company, to delete payroll that QuickBooks Online processed from the wrong account, even though the correct account shows in the settings. The program created a duplicate account too, and after multiple attempts across several days and hours on the phone, they still cannot fix it. Plus, I am told that a second-tier tech support person is not allowed to speak with a customer. Communication has to go through another person, who (in my case) could not understand the issues.
QuickBooks Online created a duplicate business checking account when it processes taxes and emp payroll, and nobody can figure out why and how to fix it. One person had me merge the two accounts, but when I started processing payments, the second (duplicate) account was created again and used!
Online payment doesn't show on which customer/projects QuickBooks debits [my] bank account. Then [I] get a message that says payments weren't processing right, and [I] have to go back and try to figure out what the heck they did.
[Based on my experience] most of their customer service people don't know what they are doing, and [I] end up on hold for 20-30-40+ minutes waiting for them to try to and figure it out. Most of the time, I have figured it out before they can help me.
[I] cannot set up a new account for your company after 'closing' the books. So if you want to start fresh WITHOUT creating an all new list of accounts, customer files, etc... you cannot! I can have 5 users, but cannot archive a set of books to start a new one. If I saved the data, I wouldn't be able to open it in QuickBooks Online unless I overwrote the new account.
So many more issues, that I can't think of all of them right now. I hate this software program now. They have [me] captive, and I no longer have control over my books.
Likelihood to Recommend
I've listed four specific issues where this program has made it much, much harder for my accounting processes. Wait times on the phone are ridiculously long, and more often than not, take several phone calls to resolve. Not compatible with all banks, and often duplicates deposits and/or doesn't download all transactions.
VU
Verified User
C-Level Executive in Corporate (Food & Beverages company, 1-10 employees)
We use QB as our general accounting and payment system across our entire organization. As a small company, it offers a tested, acceptable, and cost-effective solution to our accounting needs. It offers a variety of functionality important in tracking planned expenditures and commitments (eg Purchase order generation), goods receipt, accounts payable, and integrates with our 3rd party payroll providers. We currently utilize its check printing capabilities and are planning the future implementation of its electronic payment functionalities. As a small company, we find it easy to train new users due to readily available training materials and pragmatic built-in help functions.
Pros
Purchase Order generation, tracking,
Accounts payables
Integration with 3rd party payroll providers
Cons
Greater design flexibility in editing of standard forms
Greater flexibility in report generation formats designed by users
Likelihood to Recommend
It well serves the needs of small size enterprises with a broad variety of useful functions commonly useful to small businesses. Broad installation base and user support groups supplement the manufacturer's support. The system is easy to use and implement including for the occasional user.
VU
Verified User
C-Level Executive in Corporate (Pharmaceuticals company, 11-50 employees)
We use it for business bookkeeping like billing, invoicing, quotes, expense tracking, inventory, and most important payment integration. This is SME, so it is used mainly by the owner. Can't undo mistakes, which ends up calling support. A price hike on a regular basis and integration with other products not as seamless as one would like.
Pros
You can design your own package according to the business needs.
Easily pay invoices online.
Reconciling is much easier due to bank feeds.
Cons
Ability to undo mistakes without calling support.
Monthly fees are high.
Sometimes files get lost due to software updates.
Likelihood to Recommend
QuickBooks Online is solid, dependable software for SMEs. Easily code your transactions when you download from the bank, which makes receipting a breeze. Because of the cloud, I can work remotely and access anywhere, anytime. The ability to add new users [is] also helpful. It's a simple and easy system for a newbies like myself.
VU
Verified User
Manager in Customer Service (Cosmetics company, 1-10 employees)
QuickBooks Online is being used across our organization to track expenses, run accounting reports, reconciling, and assists our CPA with providing the business back with data such as P Vs. L, etc ...
Pros
synching with the bank
classifying items by creating rules
running reports
Cons
should auto sync with the bank
help support could use improvement
better way to flow through website
Likelihood to Recommend
First time user. For the most part, self trained. I did have to reach out to support a few times and I think they can improve in that aspect. I can easily classify items and have the month classified by EOM allowing our CPA to easily provide us back with necessary reporting to see how our business is running within the following days.
VU
Verified User
Administrative Assistant in Human Resources (Automotive company, 11-50 employees)
It is being used by myself and the COO of the company. We use it for just about everything.....banking, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll; as well as customer invoicing and receiving payments online.
Pros
Handles the quarterly taxes for us - or at least figures them for us and let's us know when they need to be paid (for those that QuickBooks Online can't electronically transfer)
I love the payroll feature too - sooooo easy to use and update!
The reports feature is very informative and easy to navigate.
Cons
Hopefully they will add the ability of Schedule K's into their online service
Likelihood to Recommend
I don't have very much to say against QuickBooks Online. The only issue I had for a couple months was the fact that when the State of Washington lowered our Unemployment rate, it took 4 calls to QBO to finally get it changed and matching what the state website showed that we owed. Other than that....it has been great using QBO. I have used the desktop version in the past, and I have to admit....I really like the online version, especially with COVID-19 shut downs....I was able to work from home ;-)
We're a drop-shipping e-commerce store. Our web store is built on Shopify.
It's pretty easy to use. I like how it syncs automatically with my bank and with Shopify.
Pros
Linking to bank, credit cards, and Shopify
Fairly fast to enter transactions
Flexible reporting
Cons
It's hard to see the audit trail of a transaction as debits and credits to the General Ledger.
Likelihood to Recommend
Small business accounting with multiple people (as QuickBooks superuser) in which internal controls are not systemically enforced through the software.
VU
Verified User
C-Level Executive in Corporate (Consumer Goods company, 11-50 employees)
We use QuickBooks Online for our accounting needs including tracking estimates, invoicing, banking, receiving payments, bill payment, and tracking expenses. We are also able to create financial reports to help us predict volume of work trends and let us know how we are performing. Additionally, our accountant has access to QuickBooks Online so that they can retrieve the information and reports they need to prepare our taxes.
Pros
Receive payments
Invoicing
Tracking expenses
Reporting
Cons
They will no longer support their desktop app, which they pushed us to use
They drastically increased their ACH fees (with the benefit of quicker deposits--but this is not a justifiable benefit for our business model)
Some features are limited
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are a small business owner who does most or all of your accounting, I recommend QuickBooks Online. It is very user friendly, intuitive to navigate, and easy to link up with your accountant. I am an engineer by profession, with no accounting background. This saves time and gives me peace of mind that my books are accurate and up to date. Much of what is done in QuickBooks Online is automated, so it also saves me time.
