David H. Ringstrom - QuickBooks Online For Dummies

Although the Simple Start version supports accounts-receivable functions, you can’t set up invoices to bill customers on a recurring basis or track unpaid bills. It does include a trial balance and a general ledger, however.

Although the Simple Start version allows two accountants to work in the client’s company, Simple Start is still designed for a single user, so an accountant who uses QuickBooks Online Accountant can’t establish a Simple Start company for a client.

This version offers more than 50 reports that you can customize and save. Go to this address to establish a QuickBooks Simple Start subscription: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing . If you’re on the fence between Self-Employed and Simple Start, you’ll have more options in the future with Simple Start.

A QuickBooks Essentials subscription builds on the Simple Start functionality by allowing you to

Set up invoices to bill automatically on a recurring schedule

Use accounts-payable functions, including scheduling payment of vendor bills

Create and post recurring transactions

Track time

Control the areas of QuickBooks that your users can access

An Essentials subscription permits up to three simultaneous users and two accountant users, as well as an unlimited number of users who log in only to use time-tracking tools. In addition, Essentials subscribers can access 85 reports.

A Plus subscription goes beyond the Essentials level by adding the ability to

Create, send, and track purchase orders.

Track inventory using the first in, first out (FIFO) inventory valuation method. QuickBooks Online supports light inventory needs: If you sell finished goods you should be able to manage your needs. But if you need to assemble finished goods to sell, QuickBooks Online won’t meet your needs on its own. You can look for an add-on app to supplement your inventory needs; I talk about add-on apps at the end of this chapter.

Categorize income and expenses by using class tracking.

Track sales and profitability by business location. You can assign only one location to a transaction, but you can assign multiple classes to a transaction.

Give employees and subcontractors limited access to the QuickBooks company to enter time worked.

Track billable hours by customer. QuickBooks Online supports light job-costing needs, but it doesn’t allow you to cost labor automatically.

Track projects.

Create budgets to estimate future income and expenses. You can create multiple budgets per year, location, class, or customer.

A Plus subscription allows five simultaneous billed users and two accountant users, as well as an unlimited number of users who log in only to use reports or time-tracking tools. Plus subscribers have 124 reports. You can get the lay of the land in QuickBooks Online Plus by way of the free test drive at https//qbo.intuit.com/redir/testdrive .

QuickBooks Online Advanced is the flagship subscription for users who have outgrown QuickBooks Online Plus, which allows you to

Have unlimited accounts, transactions, and classes.

Connect with a dedicated customer success manager to handle support questions; support calls go to the front of the line instead of waiting in queue. Customer success managers also provide information on online training and QuickBooks products; Advanced subscribers are entitled to five free online training courses annually.

Establish custom permissions for your users.

Efficiently import hundreds of invoice transactions into QuickBooks by way of a comma-separated-values (CSV) file. You can create such a file in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

Edit or delete multiple invoices.

Batch-reclassify and batch-create transactions, including invoices, bills, checks, and expenses.

Enable workflows to trigger reminders for customers and team members.

Use up to 48 custom fields.

Visualize your data in the Performance Center with customizable chart widgets.

Employ premium app integration with services such as Bill.com, HubSpot, Salesforce, LeanLaw, and DocuSign. (Third-party subscription fees apply.)

Restore QuickBooks data to a particular date and time. You can also schedule automatic backups and reverse changes made to customers, vendors, and company settings.

Take advantage of a license for enhanced reporting capabilities called Smart Reporting, powered by Fathom. Fathom requires that your chart of accounts have no more than 3,000 active or inactive accounts and no more than 60 classes. Smart Reporting is included at no cost in Advanced subscriptions, or you can add it to a lower level QuickBooks subscription for $44 per month as of this writing.

QuickBooks Online Advanced subscribers have only two real limitations: They can have up to 25 billed users and 3 unbilled accountant users. For more information on the Advanced subscription level, see https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accounting/advanced .

I used a QuickBooks Online Advanced subscription as I wrote this book because it offers the whole enchilada with regard to QuickBooks functionality. Accordingly, there’s a good chance that you’ll see references to features you don’t have. If you’re curious, kick the tires for free in the Advanced sample company at https://qbo.intuit.com/redir/testdrive_us_advanced .

Intuit applied updated use limits to Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus subscriptions (see Table 2-1) when it introduced the Advanced level. Customers with these subscriptions who already exceed their use limits can continue with their current subscription and their existing data, but they won’t be able to manually add to any element that exceeds the use limit without upgrading to a higher-level plan.

TABLE 2-1Use Limits for Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus Subscriptions

Suppose that your QuickBooks company requires more than 250 accounts or more than a combination of 40 classes and locations. If your company already exceeds these limits, you won’t be able to add accounts or any combination of classes and locations until you delete or deactivate these elements to bring your total down to the limits listed in the table. If you can’t reduce your accounts or combination of classes and locations, you’ll need to upgrade to an Advanced subscription.

One thing to keep in mind is that QuickBooks subscription fees continue month after month, year after year. This fact can result in some sticker shock if you’re accustomed to paying one time for a perpetual software license for, say, QuickBooks Desktop. You can run, but you can’t hide though, as QuickBooks Desktop requires a subscription for the 2022 version and beyond. Table 2-2shows the current monthly and annual costs so that you can budget accordingly.

TABLE 2-2QuickBooks Online Subscription Pricing