QuickBooks Online Pricing & Costs Explained

QuickBooks Online offers three payroll plans: Payroll Core, Payroll Premium, and Payroll Elite. All three plans are full-service payroll options with automated tax support, but each payroll plan varies in terms of features and customer support.

QuickBooks Online payroll costs between $50-$130/month plus $6-$11/month per employee. If your small business needs a payroll solution, be sure to add this cost to the regular QuickBooks Online monthly fee. Read our complete QuickBooks Online Payroll review for the details, and be sure to visit the QBO website to see if Intuit is running a QuickBooks payroll discount before buying.

There are two options for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping:

• QuickBooks Live Assisted Bookkeeping: Services with Assisted Bookkeeping include categorizing transactions, automation to meet the needs of your business, account reconciliation, and reviews of business reports. This service costs $50/month.
• QuickBooks Live Full-Service Bookkeeping: This option includes cleaning and setting up your account, account reconciliation, categorizing transactions, closing the books, preparing a trial balance, and running financial reports. This service starts at $300/month plus a one-time cleanup fee.

QuickBooks Online users can access QuickBooks’ lending service. QuickBooks Capital offers term loans up to $200,000 and an invoice financing option that provides up to $50,000 to eligible QBO users.

Depending on which product you choose, you will have to make weekly payments plus APR or other fees.

QuickBooks now offers a free small business checking account called QuickBooks Checking (formerly known as QuickBooks Cash). Opening a QuickBooks Checking account is free, with no monthly fees or account minimums.

This service gives you access to a QuickBooks debit card, cash flow forecasting, and QuickBooks Envelopes, which is a place to set aside savings.

Some additional costs and fees do apply. Read our full QuickBooks Checking review for more information.

QuickBooks Online supports W-2s and 1099-MISCs. You can order tax forms directly from Intuit. Pricing starts at $17.99. If you purchase QuickBooks Online payroll, these forms may be included, depending on your chosen payroll plan.

You can purchase checks, voucher checks, business wallet checks, and more from QuickBooks. Standard checks begin at $46.26 per 50 checks.

Integrations are third-party add-ons that give you additional features and capabilities. QuickBooks Online has over 750 integrations to choose from, including common software programs, such as Shopify, Gusto, and Mailchimp.

Most integrations come with monthly subscription fees, so be sure to account for these extra costs when calculating your total costs for QBO.

Payment gateways allow you to accept payments from your customers. Common payment processing options include PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Authorize.Net. QuickBooks Online offers around 25 payment processors, or you can use QuickBooks Payments.

You can read our QuickBooks Payments review, also known as Intuit Merchant Services, for more information, but the basic charges are as follows:

Whether you use QuickBooks Payments or another payment gateway, be sure to take potential credit card fees into account when calculating how much you’ll be spending on software each month.

QuickBooks Online is almost always offering a discount on its website, so be sure to check for any promotions before buying.

Note: Discounts are invalid if a customer uses the free 30-day trial before purchasing (there is a test drive of the software you can use instead of a free trial). Also, if you are switching over from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, you may be eligible for even better discounts. Contact the QuickBooks Online sales team for more details.

Make sure you are on the right QuickBooks plan, so you aren’t paying for features you don’t need. For example, if you bought the QuickBooks Plus plan because you thought you’d be using the Project Management feature and you haven’t used it in over a year, consider downgrading to the Essentials plan.

All plans (except QuickBooks Simple Start) come with an unlimited number of time-tracking-only users. If you have five employees who need to track time and only two who need access to other features in the software, you can still use the Essentials plan without upgrading to the Plus plan.

When it seems like there is a business software application for everything, it pays to be choosy. If your business was using a project management app (such as Basecamp) before purchasing QuickBooks Online, you might find that QBO’s project management features are enough for your business now so that you don’t have to pay double for something that’s already included with QuickBooks Online.

Intuit typically offers deals where new users can get a discount on QuickBooks Payroll by bundling it with a QuickBooks Online subscription. Be sure to check for these deals before purchasing.

Unfortunately, there is no free version of QuickBooks. If you want to give QuickBooks a try before buying, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial or use the company’s interactive test drive that’s set up with a sample company.

QuickBooks Solopreneur (formerly known as QuickBooks Self-Employed) costs $20/month or $120 for the first year. This software is best suited for freelancers, allowing them to track income and expenses, track mileage, estimate quarterly taxes, and run basic reports.

Whether QuickBooks Online is a better deal than QuickBooks Desktop depends on the needs of your business. QuickBooks Online can be a more cost-efficient option for businesses with multiple users that don’t want to navigate the steep learning curve of QuickBooks Desktop. However, QuickBooks Desktop may be the better value for businesses that want a locally installed software option with enhanced accounting features.