QuickBooks Online For Dummies. David H. Ringstrom

QuickBooks Online For Dummies

QuickBooks Online Advanced subscribers have only two real limitations: They can have up to 25 billed users and 3 unbilled accountant users. For more information on the Advanced subscription level, see https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accounting/advanced.

I used a QuickBooks Online Advanced subscription as I wrote this book because it offers the whole enchilada with regard to QuickBooks functionality. Accordingly, there’s a good chance that you’ll see references to features you don’t have. If you’re curious, kick the tires for free in the Advanced sample company at https://qbo.intuit.com/redir/testdrive_us_advanced.

Usage limits for QuickBooks Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus

Intuit applied updated use limits to Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus subscriptions (see Table 2-1) when it introduced the Advanced level. Customers with these subscriptions who already exceed their use limits can continue with their current subscription and their existing data, but they won’t be able to manually add to any element that exceeds the use limit without upgrading to a higher-level plan.

TABLE 2-1 Use Limits for Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus Subscriptions

QBO Element	Use Limit
Chart of accounts	250
Classes and locations	40 combined
Billed users	1 for Simple Start, 3 for Essentials, 5 for Plus
Unbilled users	2 Accountant users for all plans; for Plus, unlimited users who have access for reports only; for Essentials and Plus, unlimited users who have access for time tracking only

Suppose that your QuickBooks company requires more than 250 accounts or more than a combination of 40 classes and locations. If your company already exceeds these limits, you won’t be able to add accounts or any combination of classes and locations until you delete or deactivate these elements to bring your total down to the limits listed in the table. If you can’t reduce your accounts or combination of classes and locations, you’ll need to upgrade to an Advanced subscription.

The Dollars and Cents of QuickBooks Subscriptions

One thing to keep in mind is that QuickBooks subscription fees continue month after month, year after year. This fact can result in some sticker shock if you’re accustomed to paying one time for a perpetual software license for, say, QuickBooks Desktop. You can run, but you can’t hide though, as QuickBooks Desktop requires a subscription for the 2022 version and beyond. Table 2-2 shows the current monthly and annual costs so that you can budget accordingly.

TABLE 2-2 QuickBooks Online Subscription Pricing

Version	Sale Price (Per Month)	Regular Price (Per Month)	Annual Cost
Self-Employed	$7.50	$15	$180
Simple Start	$12.50	$25	$30
Essentials	$25	$50	$600
Plus	$40	$80	$960
Advanced	$90	$180	$2,160

The sale and regular prices shown in Table 2-2 are monthly subscription prices. The sale price is typically good for three months.

At the time I wrote this chapter, Intuit allowed Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced users to add full-service payroll for the sale prices of $22.50 per month plus $4 per employee per month, Payroll Premium for $37.50 per month plus $8 per employee per month, or Payroll Elite for $62.50 per month plus $10 per employee per month. Full-service means that Intuit handles your payroll tax deposits and payroll tax returns for you.

Payroll charges are billed monthly as part of your QuickBooks subscription. You can test-drive payroll processing at no charge for up to 30 days. After that period, your overall subscription fee increases to include payroll. Conversely, QuickBooks Payments feature, which allows you to accept online payments from your customers, doesn’t have a monthly fee; you’ll pay per transaction instead. As of this writing, the rates are 2.4 percent for swiped credit card transactions, 2.9 percent for e-invoiced transactions, and 3.4 percent for key-entered transactions, plus a 25-cent fee per transaction. Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions incur a 1 percent fee up to a maximum of $10.

As I write this chapter, QuickBooks is rolling out an additional subscription-based feature called QuickBooks Commerce, which is designed to make it easy to place and sell your inventory products on a variety of major online shopping platforms. You can bet that additional premium offerings will become available in QuickBooks as time goes on.

You have to choose between a 30-day free trial and the 3-month sale price, although Intuit sometimes offers the sale price to trial users. If you’re offered this deal, be prepare to act on it immediately because the offer won’t be repeated. Or you can start your full-price subscription immediately by choosing Buy Now. You can cancel your subscription at any time, but the service is billed in monthly periods with no refunds or prorations.

Accounting professionals can use QuickBooks Online Accounting for free and also sign up for the Wholesale Pricing program, which offers you discounted pricing on QBO subscriptions for companies that you create or manage. Your credit card is charged each month for all the subscription fees, and you can pass along the discounted price to your clients or charge the market rate. As discussed in Chapter 12, Intuit will send you a single consolidated bill for all the QBO subscriptions you manage.

The 30-day free trial isn’t available if an accounting professional creates a company through QBOA because a payment method must be provided when the company is created.

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