Bookkeeper vs QuickBooks Live for December 2025 Bookkeeping Services

Small business owners appreciate that QuickBooks offers very affordable rates for smaller firms. Monthly reports are prepared to give you an accurate snapshot of your firm’s financial picture. It can help you streamline your bookkeeping process, with personalized help from a trusted professional along the way. This article will provide a full QuickBooks Live review, covering features, pricing, pros and cons, and much more. QuickBooks Live is a relatively new service, launched in 2019. There is a variety of software available in the Intuit QuickBooks lineup.

QuickBooks Online Pricing

For example, you could take out one of QuickBooks’ seasonal offers that often give a number of months at a heavily discounted price, or you can sacrifice the longer-term offer by signing up to a month-long trial, after which you’ll begin to pay the full price. For example, we’ve seen deals of 70% for three months, and even up to 90% for six months. There’s a new QuickBooks Business Account digital payment option aimed at small business owners now too. Professional accountants have new tools, including a month-end review tool.

These include time tracking, project management, inventory management, budgeting, and more. QuickBooks users can also easily apply for funding through the built-in lending platform QuickBooks Capital. Additionally, there are numerous time-saving automations, such as recurring invoices and auto-scheduling. Some features are hidden in settings and are frustratingly difficult to find, but the built-in help button can make it easier to discover what you’re looking for. QuickBooks Live Full-Service Bookkeeping is priced at $300+/month.

QuickBooks: Support

As far as the quality of customer support, QuickBooks Online users are split. Other support options include live chat, a knowledgebase, community forum, helpful tutorials, and a company blog. QuickBooks Online offers tax support through all of its plans, although an additional fee applies if you opt to e-file. While all plans include basic accounting features, you can upgrade your plan for more advanced features. This service starts at $15+/month for up to 20 contractors. QuickBooks Contractor Payments is an add-on that’s ideal for businesses that pay 1099 contractors.

Project Management

Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated and ranked the best bookkeeping services available today. Despite advertising cleanup services starting at $800, you might face higher costs, and some users report their books actually got worse under QuickBooks Live’s care. We research products, write reviews, and create in-depth guides and how-tos on cost of goods sold for cleaning industry topics like ideation, marketing, financing, accounting, and human resources. QuickBooks Online costs anywhere from $12.50 to $150 per month, depending on the features you need and whether or not you pre-pay. It’s also a new service, so new features may be added over time. This monthly report gives you an accurate snapshot of your financial health in real-time, and many companies find it much more useful than a simple balance sheet.

QuickBooks Online Features

Keep in mind that QuickBooks Live is designed to work with QuickBooks Online and other QuickBooks software. QuickBooks Live comes with a customized set-up of accounts and linking to bank accounts for new QuickBooks users. Essentially, the roles of a traditional bookkeeper are split between your own staff and your QuickBooks bookkeeper. With that said, QuickBooks Live is not quite the same as having an in-house bookkeeping team. Pricing scales with the volume of your monthly expenses, so smaller companies can get one-on-one help for as little as $200 per month.

• It’s a great option for small to mid-sized businesses that don’t have in-house bookkeeping staff.
• Unless you want to explore deeper (which you can do when you’re ready), the out-of-the-box experience is simple enough for self-employed individuals who might not have as much accounting experience.
• It’s tedious, time consuming and totally vital to ensure that businesses can remain in business and don’t run afoul of …
• A cash-basis system records income and expenses only when money actually hits or leaves your bank – a simple fit for small operations with straightforward activity.
• Small business owners appreciate that QuickBooks offers very affordable rates for smaller firms.
• Browse through thousands of reviews.

Frequent complaints about the software running slow have been addressed, but other problems still exist, like poor customer support and bugs on the mobile app. QuickBooks Online has many positive reviews from its users. Many users, however, have voiced complaints of not receiving the answers they were seeking or getting cut off during phone calls or live chats.

• This is for new QuickBooks users, who may need help with setting up their chart of accounts, invoicing, connecting bank accounts, etc.
• Professional accountants have new tools, including a month-end review tool.
• We love how intuitive the user interface is – new users can take advantage of a pretty simple onboarding process, and there shouldn’t be too much of a learning curve when getting used to this particular platform.
• FreshBooks is worth considering if you prioritize simplicity and cost savings over comprehensive features and reliability in a bookkeeping service.
• It’s for these reasons that QBO makes our list of the best accounting software for small businesses.
• The online versions clearly have a better set of features than the downloadable version.

QuickBooks Online Essentials Plan

Overall, QuickBooks Online has a lot to offer in terms of features, accounting, and usability. QBO also has far more integrations with other business apps and software. On the other hand, QuickBooks is easier to learn, has strong mobile apps, and has tax support.

QBO has everything you’d expect from accounting or bookkeeping software, including expense tracking, bank reconciliation, journal entries, class tracking, and more. While your QuickBooks Online plan includes most of the features you’d expect from accounting software, there are a few additional add-ons available. QuickBooks Online is cloud-based accounting software that has the complex accounting capabilities small business owners need. Good bookkeeping is necessary to have the financial information you need to make sound business decisions.

QuickBooks Online Simple Start Plan

It’s for these reasons that QBO makes our list of the best accounting software for small businesses. However, Xero has a few advantages because it supports unlimited users at no additional cost, making it a solid choice for larger businesses. However, QuickBooks Online may be the ideal solution for businesses that want lots of features in easy-to-use, cloud-based software.

Best Bookkeeping Services in 2025: Compare Top 12 Providers

No credit card information or contracts are required, and you can cancel the service at any time. The more expensive plans include additional users, in-depth reporting, and advanced features. Pricing increases throughout the years also make QuickBooks Online an expensive choice for some businesses.

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Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. By providing feedback on how we can improve, you can earn gift cards and get early access to new features. One of the biggest issues you’ll find with QuickBooks is poor customer support.

However, QuickBooks Online offers phone support from 6 AM to 6 PM PST, Monday through Friday; Saturday interest rates on loans hours are 6 AM to 3 PM PST. One major drawback of QuickBooks Online is that there is no email support. QuickBooks Online makes it quick and easy for business owners to balance the books and track financing. QuickBooks Online has strong invoicing capabilities, complete with multiple templates, numerous customization options, and time-saving automations. Let’s take a closer look at the features that QBO offers. QuickBooks has a robust set of features when compared to its competitors, which is why we’ve given it a perfect 5-star rating in this category.

The business owner will still need to input some data, manage physical receipts, connect expense accounts, etc. QuickBooks Live is an add-on to the QuickBooks platform, so it’s not a complete accounting solution on its own. QuickBooks Live is intended to be just a part of your overall accounting system. This is for new QuickBooks users, who may need help with setting up their chart of accounts, invoicing, connecting bank accounts, etc. There is a $50 initial fee for a one-time QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Setup session. Pricing is nonetheless approachable for most firms, and QuickBooks Live is often more affordable than hiring independent professional bookkeepers.

It works with other QuickBooks products, such as QuickBooks Online (QBO), to add live support features to an already-impressive lineup of accounting tools. Owned by Intuit, QuickBooks offers useful accounting, bookkeeping, and tax preparation software for business use. With their proactive support team earning a stellar 4.7-star rating and books delivered within 3-5 days of month-end, Fincent stands out as a premium bookkeeping service. If you’re a freelancer or small business owner who just needs basic bookkeeping services, FreshBooks offers a streamlined solution at a lower price point than most competitors. Our lower rating reflects our recommendation that you explore other bookkeeping services first – and remember, you can use QuickBooks Online with virtually any bookkeeper.

Freshbooks

Browse through thousands of reviews. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who … Many, audit: what it means in finance and accounting, and 3 main types or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising … A company hires a bookkeeper to manage and organize its finances, including detailing and categorizing all transactions.