The headaches of running a small business are plenty enough. You’re juggling marketing and operations and doing your best to turn a profit —so a financial tool that bleeds your budget can feel like the last thing you need.
Summary QuickBooks from Intuit is probably one of the most widely used accounting tools. It’s easy to see why it’s human nature to want one, it offers a lot, but don’t be kidding yourself, it isn’t cheap.
Is the Intuit QuickBooks price doing business that small business owners should simply accept, or are we paying more than we should? How much is Intuit QuickBooks? Let’s take a closer look at what you get for your money and whether it’s worth that monthly ding to your bank account.
What You Get For The Price
QuickBooks has multiple pricing plans. Simple Start, Essentials or Plus are rates most mom-and-pop businesses will land on. Simple Start costs about $30 a month, Essentials will cost around $60 and Plus can rise to $90 or more. So, what do you receive?
With the Simple Start plan, you can do the basics — keep track of income and expenses, invoice — with some basic reporting.” Essentials provides bill tracking and time recording.
Plus profit on project and inventory. But here’s the thing: Payroll is a separate issue. And it’s not exactly cheap — it’s $45 plus $6 per employee, every single month.
The pricing template isn’t drastically skewed from other accounting software options, though it isn’t exactly generous, either. You pay for convenience, and you pay for it often.
QuickBooks Vs. Other Options
QuickBooks is not the only game in town. Xero and FreshBooks are two major options. Xero starts at approximately $15/month for a basic plan and provides unlimited users.
That’s an important distinction, because with QuickBooks you are limited to just one user unless you want to pay more. FreshBooks, on the other hand, start at about $17/month but increases as you increase the list of your clients.
Accountants love it and it’s easy to pass books off during tax season. But if you’re a freelancer or small operation, Xero or FreshBooks may be more budget-friendly and less clogged with tools you don’t use.
What about a free option like Wave? On the basic accounting level, it doesn’t cost you anything. It’s hard to argue with that if your budget is tight. But Wave can’t scale well, and the customer service is thin.
Hidden Fees And Add-Ons
QuickBooks Fire Sale AlertQuickBooks loves to push ‘plain and simple pricing’. But don’t fall for it. The add-ons creep in fast. Want to run the payroll? It’s an additional monthly fee.
Want to take credit card payments? Prepare for the transaction fees. Fancy reporting? That’s the more premium plan levels. Even small things like adding additional users with the QuickBooks Enterprise features.
And if you ever need assistance keeping your books, Intuit will provide its own live bookkeeping service. That’s another charge — typically in the hundreds of dollars a month for what you need.
And tax-time integrations, let’s not forget about those. Another Intuit product, TurboTax, offers QuickBooks connectivity, but again, you’re paying more. And all the nickel-and-diming can add up — especially for lean operations looking to keep overhead low.
Should You Splurge Each Month?
For some business owners. For those with employees, inventory, or complicated billing, QuickBooks simplified life. It saves time. And time is money, right?
On the other hand, if your books are relatively straightforward — say, you only invoice clients and record expenses — you may not need everything QuickBooks has to offer.
Also, remember that learning curves count. QuickBooks may appear simple, but many aspects of the software can be confusing to the novice user. They expense counts too. Downgrading could save you hundreds a year without making a substantial difference in your workflow.
So, Is The Price Fair?
QuickBooks isn’t super cheap, but it’s not highway robbery, either. It walks a fine line. If you’re using the full suite of features and it saves you hours of admin work, then it can totally be worth the money.
But if you’re only skimming the surface, you may be better served by something lighter — and if you’re not getting much use out of most of the tools in their kit, then, yes, it does feel overpriced.
Analyze your needs, kick the tires on your alternatives and don’t be afraid to switch if QuickBooks no longer fits your budget or workflow. When you’re a small business, it all adds up, so spend it where it counts.
