QuickBooks Online Simple Start review

QuickBooks Online Simple Start is straightforward accounting software for small businesses.

The online accounting solution is designed for ease of use and provides many useful features. Users can create a variety of documents and reports such as invoices and balance sheets.

This QuickBooks Simple Start review will assess the software, so you can determine if it’s the right fit for your business.

Connect QuickBooks and Wise:
Save time on reconciliation

This piece has been written in collaboration with Esther Friedberg Karp, an esteemed bookkeeper and QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

QuickBooks Simple Start review

Overview
Who it's useful for:	Small businesses and freelancers
Top features:	Create customizable invoices View 20+ business reports, including balance sheets and profit and loss reports Sync and download transactions from bank and credit card accounts Track sales expenses Store and search customer data
Pros:	Affordable for small business owners and freelancers Track and download all business transactions to have them in one place Includes FAQs and initial guides for quick setup Create and customize your invoices Mobile apps for various platforms such as iOS and Android
Cons:	Lacks some bookkeeping features (such as accounts payable) No local copy of the information you store in QuickBooks; app required for backups

The software has a score of 4.3 out of 5 on Capterra from over 4500 reviews. The customer service scored 3.9 out of 5. This is an aggregated score for QuickBooks as a whole.¹

🔍 Read on to discover:
What is QuickBooks Simple Start? Who is QuickBooks Simple Start best for? What is included in QuickBooks Simple Start? QuickBooks Online Simple Start pricing Save time with Wise Business and QuickBooks

What is QuickBooks Simple Start?

QuickBooks Simple Start from QuickBooks offers bookkeeping features. These features help business owners manage their accounting, invoicing, and finances.

It gives the user a single online interface on which they can:

• Track their income and expenses;
• Access reports, and;
• Send out invoices.

Automating these processes can save the business hours of admin time.

QuickBooks Simple Start stores information digitally. It saves you from manual entry of customer or business information each time. This can also mitigate the risk of human error.

Who is QuickBooks Simple Start best for?

QuickBooks Simple Start is best for small business owners and freelancers.

Customer support is available to help you get off the ground. This can be helpful for first-time business owners.

QuickBooks also has a learn and support community. Businesses can use this platform to search for answers and get to grips with the software’s features.

As a business scales up, though, it will have more demanding bookkeeping needs. There are a lack of features such as entering and tracking bills. Simple Start is a better fit for smaller companies with simpler accounting needs.

What is included in QuickBooks Simple Start?

With QuickBooks Simple Start, you’ll have access to several bookkeeping features. These features include:

Income and expense tracking	You can download your business transactions from your bank and credit card accounts. You can then store and organize this information for your records.
Receipt management	With your smartphone, you can take photos of receipts and upload them. You can then match the uploaded receipts to the corresponding expenses.
Basic reporting	Access 20+ business reports, including profit and loss reports and balance sheets.
Estimates	Create custom estimates, which you can then convert into invoices.
Mileage tracking	With your smartphone’s GPS, you can track your miles for business expenses.
Sales and sales tax tracking	Accept credit card payments on invoices without lifting a finger. As a bonus, the software will figure out the sales tax on your invoices.
1099 contractor management	Keep up with your 1099s and upload your documents straight from the software when it’s time to file them.
Invoicing	Create customizable invoices to send out to your customers.

Top tips from QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Esther Friedberg Karp

If you’re looking to work with multiple currencies, you may want to use QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus, or Advanced. These QuickBooks online subscriptions include a Multicurrency feature. This feature helps to track international transactions.

Self-Employed and Simple Start do not have the capability to track currencies and exchange rates.

🌎 QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus, or Advanced include the Multicurrency feature. With these subscription levels, you can add Wise Business account details to your invoice. Customers can pay you in their local currency with ease, which can speed up the payment.

QuickBooks Online Simple Start pricing

QuickBooks Simple Start software usually costs $25 a month.

A 30-day free trial of the products and services is available. There are certain offers that reduce the price at the expense of the free trial.²

QuickBooks Simple Start vs Essentials pricing

QuickBooks Essentials is a more comprehensive accounting suite.

For an extra $25 a month, users gain access to more standard reports, accounts payable management and payment, and time tracking. They also gain access to the Multicurrency feature.

QuickBooks Simple Start vs Self-Employed pricing

QuickBooks Self-employed is more affordable than Simple Start, costing $10 less per month. This cheaper alternative comes with a few features, including:

• Income and expense tracking;
• Receipt organization;
• Quarterly tax estimates, and;
• Mileage tracking.

This software has limited reporting available. It does not integrate with the apps that work with QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Self-employed also does not track sales tax.

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Do you deal with overseas customers or vendors? If so, it’s worth choosing a QuickBooks subscription level with the QuickBooks Multicurrency feature.

The Essentials, Plus, and Advanced plans all have this feature. Multicurrency helps you track transactions in different currencies.³

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Save time with Wise Business and QuickBooks

When it comes to invoicing, simplicity is best. QuickBooks Simple Start offers features that can help a small business with its accounting.

If you opt for QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus, or Advanced, you can add your Wise Business account details to the invoice in QuickBooks. This helps your business to receive international payments with ease.

If you have international bills to pay, not only can you pay them at the real mid-market rate with Wise, but now you can also sync Wise with QuickBooks Online.

• You can see your unpaid bills in real time and pay them seamlessly from your ‘Bills’ page on Wise.
• Your bill payments and any other Wise transactions will be synced, matched and categorised in QuickBooks for simple reconciliation.
• Once connected, all bills you create in QuickBooks Online will automatically sync in real time to Wise, where you can choose which ones to pay.

Sound amazing? See for yourself how much time and hassle you can save.

Join Wise Business today

This piece has been written in collaboration with Esther Friedberg Karp, an esteemed bookkeeper, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and founder of CompuBooks. Esther Friedberg Karp, MBA, is an internationally-renowned trainer, writer, business consultant, and speaker with advanced certifications in both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online. She has been named twice to the list of Insightful Accountant’s Top 10 QuickBooks ProAdvisors worldwide, with the titles “Top International ProAdvisor” and “Top Trainer/Writer ProAdvisor.”

Sources:

1. Quickbooks Online Reviews 2021
2. QuickBooks® Online Pricing & Free Trial | Official Site
3. About Multicurrency

All sources checked November 17, 2021.