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Our Verdict
Our Verdict
QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping is a comprehensive bookkeeping service that businesses can contract with to maintain their books, properly categorize expenses and perform reporting. With the subscription, the small business is connected with a dedicated bookkeeper who is available to work on the account virtually. There is a cleanup fee to get started and get your books in order, and then pricing drops to the monthly fee of $200 to $400. Read our comprehensive QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping review to decide if this popular managed service is right for your business.
Pros
- Easy to access reporting
- Simple to use
- Helps business remain on top of finances and growth
Cons
- Takes some time to understand and utilize the entire subscription
- Messaging platform is cumbersome
- Bookkeeper not always available
On QuickBooks' Website
4.5
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Starting Price
$200
Cleanup Fee
Yes, $500 for one month
Report Running
Yes
Table of Contents
- At a Glance
- Other Benefits
- Fine Print
- How QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Stacks Up
- Is QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Right for You or Your Business?
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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At a Glance
QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping is a subscription service that gives a business a certified bookkeeper to help manage the company books. There is a $500 cleanup fee to get started, which pays to get your books up to date, and then you pay $200 to $400 per month for the service. Prices are contingent on your monthly account average.
Here’s how QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping pricing costs by account balance:
- $0 to $10,000 per month: $200
- $10,001 to $50,000 per month: $300
- $50,001 or more per month: $400
With the service, you get a dedicated bookkeeper who will categorize expenses, reconcile accounts and close your books at the end of the month so that you know where your business stands financially at any given moment.
QuickBooks vets bookkeepers to ensure they are certified in QuickBooks accounting software and have the experience to manage accounts. Having a dedicated bookkeeper means that the business maintains the continuity of one person who learns the ins and outs of the company and what the business owner needs by way of reporting.
You get an Accurate Books Guarantee with this service. This guarantee is offered by getting your books evaluated. Should an error be found, QuickBooks will reopen the books for that month and fix the error with no extra charge.
Other Benefits
Using the QuickBooks Live service is often cheaper than hiring an independent bookkeeper who will likely charge you hourly, which makes budgeting the expense a chore as it probably will change monthly.
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Starting Price
$139 per month
Payroll
Yes
Invoicing
Yes
Fine Print
If you haven’t worked with a bookkeeper before, it may take you some time to learn how to utilize the QuickBooks Live service best. While maintaining the records is relatively straightforward, getting valuable reporting pertinent to your business may take some time working with your dedicated bookkeeper. While reports are easy to run, you may find that you need some reports and not others to best get a pulse on your business’s finances.
Users find the messaging platform cumbersome. While you can send a message anytime, it often takes 24 to 48 hours to get a response. When you have communicated with your bookkeeper, you’ll get emails saying that they are waiting for a response, which may not be accurate—you may have already dealt with the issue, but they might have responded with an “ok” that triggers the system to notify you.
How QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Stacks Up
| QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping | Decimal | Ignite Spot Accounting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $200 per month | $395 per month | $199 per month |
| Set Up Fee | $500 clean-up fee | Yes, equate to your first month’s payment | None |
| Accuracy Guarantee | Yes | No | No |
| Dedicated Bookkeeper | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learn More | On QuickBooks' Website | -- | -- |
QuickBooks Live, Decimal and Ignite Spot Accounting are three competitors that offer subscription bookkeeping services. All three boast a dedicated team to ensure that your bookkeeper learns about your business and what makes it tick.
QuickBooks Live and Ignite Spot Accounting are two competitively priced services, where Decimal is substantially higher in cost for the same services. One thing that we found that separated QuickBooks Live from the competition was its accuracy guarantee. If a mistake is found, it will fix it for no additional cost. Some businesses will appreciate this guarantee that the service stands behind its work.
Is QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Right for You or Your Business?
If you’re already using QuickBooks as your accounting program, using the bookkeeping services is a natural transition for extra support. It’s a cost-effective way to get the bookkeeping that will make tax time easier and help keep you from audit issues. It also puts the reports you want at your fingertips, so instead of using your time to enter data, you can spend your time thinking about how to grow your business based on real data.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a QuickBooks live bookkeeper?
A QuickBooks live bookkeeper is a dedicated bookkeeper provided to your business through the QuickBooks Live subscription. They categorize expenses, reconcile accounts and close your books for you as needed.
Is QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping setup worth it?
For a small business that needs help with bookkeeping and expense entry, QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping is a great resource to get the work done for a low monthly fee.
How much does online bookkeeping cost?
If you work with a popular subscription service such as QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, you can pay as little as $200 per month for bookkeeping. Other services may cost as much as $2,500 per month, depending on the complexity of your business’s books.
How many different versions of QuickBooks are there?
Currently, there are six different versions of Intuit’s QuickBooks :
- QuickBooks Online: Best for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with up to 25 users; a cloud-based version of QuickBooks; provides more than 650 integrations with other software
- QuickBooks Self-Employed: Best for freelancers and solopreneurs
- QuickBooks Pro: Good for SMBs; ideal for up to three users; offers more advanced features than QuickBooks Online as well as additional software integrations
- QuickBooks Premier: Ideal for medium-sized businesses with up to five users; best for industry-specific companies; also offers advanced features
- QuickBooks Enterprise: Best for large companies with up to 40 users; even more advanced features than QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Enterprise
- QuickBooks for Mac Plus: Best for SMBs for up to three users; similar to QuickBooks Pro
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