Intuit QuickBooks is the top-ranking accounting software for small business owners because it offers depth, flexibility and a user-friendly platform that puts all a business’ financial information in one place. From invoicing to inventory management, the various functions within QuickBooks let small businesses manage, audit and maintain their books and keep them clean and up to date using accounting best practices. However, some small businesses find it challenging to keep up with their QuickBooks accounting, especially if they don’t have a dedicated bookkeeping department, but Navitance can help.

QuickBooks Versus FreshBooks and Other Competitors

QuickBooks has consistently ranked the highest as the best accounting software overall, but there’s a wide array of competing accounting programs. In 2021, PC Magazine again ranked QuickBooks in its top 10 as the best small to medium-size business software choice. Other notable programs included:

  • Canadian-based FreshBooks is likely QuickBooks’ largest competitor and similar in design. It was dubbed the best for very small businesses and sole proprietors.
  • Wave, an online accounting platform exclusively designed for small business owners, consultants and freelancers, was praised as the best for free invoicing.
  • Xero, a cloud-based accounting software offered by a New Zealand company, was listed as the best for integrated add-ons.
  • Another Intuit product, QuickBooks Self-Employed, was included as the best for mileage tracking but also lets users export their data directly into TurboTax.
  • Sage’s accounting and business management software was regarded as the best for inventory tracking.

While each of these programs offers distinct pros, QuickBooks Online remains the most popular among small business owners and CPAs alike for its overall functionality. Its popularity also primarily stems from its user-friendly interface, continued focus on core accounting tasks and precise organization that keeps businesses tax-ready year-round.

QuickBooks Online Versus Desktop Version

Intuit’s two most popular products are QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. While both products offer strong accounting features, there are several key differences. The QuickBooks Desktop version, available for PCs or Mac computers, is ideal for companies wanting locally installed software that have complex accounting needs, which are generally large companies.

QuickBooks Online offers a cloud-based accounting product that provides access anytime and from anywhere, making it ideal for virtual assistance and consulting with bookkeepers or CPAs. The online version is less expensive upfront compared to desktop editions and offers much lower monthly fees overall, making it more cost-effective for small businesses. It also has numerous added perks like a mobile app for Android and iOS devices, customer support included with subscription costs and less data entry with its ability to automate downloading and categorizing transactions from bank accounts.

QuickBooks Online Pro Pricing Plans

QuickBooks Online offers four plans from its Simple Start to Advanced versions, depending on your small business accounting software needs. Each version is billed through a convenient monthly fee and allows bookkeepers to perform common tasks, such as track income and expenses, invoice and accept payments, track sales and sales tax, manage cash flow, track miles, automate budgeting, track time and capture and organize receipts to maximize tax deductions.

The more popular advanced versions include additional features that let users track inventory, track project profitability and generate more comprehensive reports to compile important financial information. For business owners wanting to tie payroll to the time tracking feature in their QuickBooks accounting, it also offers three different add-on payroll modules with any pricing plan.

How Navitance Helps with Small Business Accounting Software

Although QuickBooks is often considered the best accounting software for storing, tracking and analyzing financial information, companies still need a trained bookkeeper who understands how to utilize all this financial data. Our QuickBooks bookkeeping services allow businesses to outsource their accounting needs to trained professionals. Navitance founder Laura Glennon is a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor with advanced training and expertise using this software to the fullest. These are just a few of the challenges we can help your business overcome by outsourcing your QuickBooks accounting needs with us.

Interim Assistance

Whether you need help daily, weekly or at the end of the month, we scale our services to fit your needs. We can assist from day one by installing and setting up your new QuickBooks application or customizing an existing application to better fit your company’s needs. We also provide ongoing assistance with your QuickBooks processes, which use double-entry accounting principles with both accrual and cash-basis accounting options.

We help you use QuickBooks to create journal entries and a detailed chart of accounts, perform bank reconciliations, record accounts payable and receivable and generate basic reports, such as balance sheets, profit and loss statements, cash flow statements and other important financial reports needed to run your company. We also specialize in QuickBooks month-end close and monthly financial reporting.

Automate Bookkeeping Tasks

We can help make your day-to-day bookkeeping tasks quicker and easier by streamlining your QuickBooks processes. By connecting your QuickBooks to your bank accounts, credit cards, Square, PayPal and other merchant accounts, we set up your platform to automatically import transactions for you and eliminate the time required to manually input all this data. We can also automate other bookkeeping tasks to perform calculations and organize your data, so your books remain balanced.

Measurable Data

If you’re still manually inputting data into Excel spreadsheets, upgrading to QuickBooks automates most accounting tasks and instantly provides measurable data. Comprehensive reports are a key feature of QuickBooks, and through automation, you can get cash flow insights immediately. We show you how to view your balance sheet or profit and loss reports with the click of a button to simplify your bookkeeping and always know your company’s financial health. You can also easily schedule reports to be generated daily, weekly or monthly to make better business decisions.

Assist with Year-End Tax Returns

Navitance helps ensure you stay organized for tax time by simplifying your small business taxes with QuickBooks. Throughout the year, you can track mileage and snap and store receipts right from the mobile app, or we can input this data for you. The software not only tracks your expenses but also organizes them into the appropriate categories for tax deductions.

We run sales tax liability reports, so you always know the amount of your taxable and nontaxable sales, and create quarterly reports that display exactly how much your annual taxes will be. QuickBooks keeps records in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board. You can count on your software and our accounting professionals to ensure your books are balanced and every dollar is accounted for when it’s time to complete your tax return.

Rely on Navitance QuickBooks Bookkeeping Services

Navitance is a leading QuickBooks accounting company that follows a streamlined, well-organized process for delivering our services. QuickBooks offers tutorials for new users and QuickBooks Live to connect small businesses to virtual bookkeepers, with several limitations. You can count on Navitance for interim or ongoing assistance with all your QuickBooks accounting needs. Contact us at 978-809-3282 to learn how our QuickBooks accounting services can help you maintain more accurate books today.