QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is Intuit's cloud accounting software for small and mid-sized businesses. It connects to your bank and card accounts, pulls in transactions automatically, and turns them into the books, reports and tax figures a business needs — profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, VAT or sales tax, and the records your accountant works from.

It is one of the most widely used small-business accounting platforms in the world, and its biggest practical advantage is that so many accountants and bookkeepers already know it. If you work with an accountant, there's a good chance they'll be comfortable in QuickBooks, and every paid plan lets you invite them in for free.

Over the past year Intuit has rebuilt much of QuickBooks around Intuit Intelligence, a set of AI agents that categorise transactions, reconcile accounts, chase payments, flag anomalies, estimate tax and answer questions about your numbers in plain language. Several of these features are still labelled beta and some are limited each month, so treat them as helpful assistants rather than a replacement for checking your books.

How QuickBooks works

A typical setup and monthly routine is:

1. Connect your business bank and card accounts so transactions sync automatically.
2. Review the bank feed: QuickBooks suggests a category for each transaction and learns from your choices.
3. Send invoices and estimates; customers can pay by card or bank transfer inside the invoice with QuickBooks Payments.
4. Snap receipts on the mobile app and log mileage as you go.
5. Reconcile accounts at month end and review the profit and loss and cash flow reports.
6. Prepare VAT (UK) or sales tax (US), or let your accountant do it inside your file.

Key capabilities

Automated bank feeds and bookkeeping — Transactions import automatically and QuickBooks learns how you categorise income and expenses, then matches and records them.

Invoicing and payments — Customised invoices and estimates, reminders and in-invoice payment by card or bank transfer through QuickBooks Payments.

Receipt capture and mileage — Photograph receipts on the mobile app and track business mileage.

Reports — Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow on every plan, with enhanced reports on Essentials and comprehensive reporting on Plus and Advanced.

Bills and bill pay — Track and pay what you owe suppliers; US plans include free standard ACH up to a monthly allotment, then $0.50 per transaction.

Multi-currency — Accept and make payments in different currencies (Essentials and above).

Projects and inventory (Plus and Advanced) — Project profitability, budgeting, stock tracking with purchase and sales orders, and class and location tracking.

VAT and Making Tax Digital (UK) — HMRC-recognised software that submits VAT returns directly to HMRC, with a VAT pre-file check that flags duplicates, missing transactions and inconsistent VAT codes. QuickBooks is also ready for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

Intuit Intelligence — AI agents for accounting, payments, customers, tax and projects: auto-categorisation, reconciliation, anomaly detection, late-payment chasing, scenario planning and plain-language questions about your numbers. Availability varies by plan and some features are beta or limited each month.

Advanced tools — Custom user roles, workflow automation, batch invoicing and expenses, Excel sync, unlimited classes and locations, and priority support and training.

Payroll — An optional add-on in both the US and UK.

QuickBooks plans explained (US)

Free — $0 a month with no credit card: 1 user, income and expense tracking, profit and loss, balance sheet and account reports, 1 connected bank and up to 2 invoices a month (unlimited if you enable QuickBooks Payments). It has no accountant access, no mobile app and no third-party integrations.

Simple Start — $38 a month. One user plus up to 2 accountants, automated bookkeeping, invoicing and payments, receipt capture, mileage, tax deduction tracking and general reports.

Essentials — $85 a month. Three users, enhanced reports, employee time on invoices, bulk invoicing, Payments AI and quarterly tax estimates.

Plus — $140 a month. Five users, comprehensive reports, budgets, project profitability, inventory and up to 40 classes and locations.

Advanced — $340 a month. Twenty-five users and 3 accountants, Bill Pay Elite with 1099 e-filing and approval workflows, construction and project financials, custom permissions, workflow automation, Excel sync, batch transactions and priority support.

US prices rose for Essentials, Plus and Advanced from 1 August 2026; Simple Start and Free were unchanged. New subscribers keep their starting price for the first six months. Intuit usually offers either 50% off for 3 months or a 30-day free trial — not both.

QuickBooks plans explained (UK)

UK plans are priced excluding VAT at 20%: Sole Trader Plus £10 a month (self-employed and landlords, MTD for Income Tax, no VAT returns), Simple Start £16, Essentials £38, Plus £56 and Advanced £123. UK payroll is an add-on from about £5 a month plus £1.50 per employee. UK customers get free phone, chat and screen-sharing support seven days a week. Introductory discounts are frequent and can be large, but the full price applies afterwards.

Who QuickBooks is for

Small businesses with an accountant — shared access is free and most accountants know QuickBooks.

US businesses — the broadest feature set, payroll and the largest app ecosystem.

UK VAT-registered businesses and sole traders — HMRC-recognised MTD for VAT and Income Tax.

Growing businesses — a clear upgrade path from Simple Start to Advanced without switching software.

Getting the most out of QuickBooks

Connect every business account on day one — the automation only works on complete data.

Review the bank feed weekly, not quarterly; correcting the AI early teaches it your categories.

Invite your accountant before your first VAT or tax deadline so they can check your setup.

Budget for renewals: price rises have been regular, and introductory discounts end.