in the Essentials version. In addition, you can
Create, send, and track purchase orders.
Track inventory using the first in, first out (FIFO) inventory valuation method. QBO supports light inventory needs: If you sell finished goods, QBO should be able to manage your needs. But if you need to assemble finished goods to sell, QBO won’t meet your needs on its own. You can look for an add-on app to supplement your inventory needs; we talk about add-on apps at the end of this chapter.
Categorize income and expenses 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 QBO company to enter time worked.
Track billable hours by customer. QBO supports light job-costing needs, but it does not allow you to automatically cost labor.
Track projects.
Create budgets to estimate future income and expenses, and you can create multiple budgets per year, location, class, or customer.
The Plus version supports 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. The Plus version also contains more than 120 reports: all the reports found in both the Simple Start and the Essentials versions, and some additional reports.
The Advanced version
Intuit has recently started offering QBO Advanced, a version aimed at users who have outgrown QBO Plus. In addition to all the features you find in QBO Plus, using QBO Advanced, you can
Have up to 25 simultaneous users with full access.
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; subscribers to QBO Advanced are entitled to five free online training courses annually.
Establish custom permissions for your users.
Efficiently import hundreds of invoice transactions created outside of QuickBooks through a CSV file at one time.
Enable workflows to trigger reminders for customers and internal team members.
Utilize up to 48 custom fields.
Implement the included online backup service, which allows you to back-up and restore your accounting data.
Batch create transactions, including invoices, bills, checks, and expenses.
Visualize your data in the Performance Center with customizable chart widgets.
Take advantage of enhanced reporting capabilities called Smart Reporting, powered by Fathom.
Users of QBO Advanced face only two real limitations: They can have up to 25 billed users and 3 unbilled accountant users. For more information on QBO Advanced, see https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accounting/advanced.
Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced with Payroll
If an end user signs up for QBO Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, or Advanced on his own and creates his own company, he can create the company using the Self Service Payroll option or the Full Service Payroll option, or later, he can sign up for Payroll from within QBO. An accountant also can create the company that uses Self Service Payroll for a client. For details, see the section “Addressing Payroll Needs” later in this chapter.
What Does It Cost?
The big question: What’s it cost? The price is dependent primarily on the QBO version you choose and whether you start with a trial.
If you are an end user who signs up on your own for a QBO subscription, foregoing the trial, the price per month as of the date this book was written appears in Table 2-1.
TABLE 2-1 QBO Subscription Pricing
| QBO Version | Regular Price | Sale Price |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Employed | $15/month | $7.50/month |
| Simple Start | $25/month | $12.50/month |
| Essentials | $40/month | $20/month |
| Plus | $70/month | $35/month |
| Advanced | $150/month | $75/month |
Each month, your credit card is automatically charged for your subscription. You can opt for a free 30-day trial that includes payroll processing along with the rest of the subscription’s features. If you opt to continue QBO Payroll after the 30-day trial, your subscription fee increases. You also can use the QBO Payments app for free; it gives you the capability to process online and mobile payments at a rate of, at the time we wrote this book, 2.4 percent for swiped transactions, 2.9 percent for eInvoiced transactions, and 3.4 percent for key-entered transactions. In all cases, there’s also a 25 cent per-transaction fee, and ACH costs 1 percent with a maximum fee of $10. QuickBooks Self-Employed users can enable mobile payments and enjoy free bank transfers and accept electronic payments.