Quickbooks Review

Developed as online accounting software specifically for small businesses, can this platform really stop you needing a costly accountant? Our Quickbooks review will aim to find out.

Whether you’re currently managing your books via spreadsheets, Sage50 or something else, we’ll be looking at whether Intuit Quickbooks delivers for UK businesses.

At a Glance

Essentially Quickbooks is a simple to use, yet detailed bookkeeping tool. With it, you can generate and track invoices, keep payroll admin in check, keep all of your cashflow and expenses organised, and even automatically generate your tax returns.

You’ll be able to connect your bank accounts so that transactions are automatically imported, just leaving you to assign an explanation to them and attach receipts or invoices. It’s bookkeeping for the 21st century.

The software has so much to it that for many businesses it will significantly reduce, or even remove the need for an accountant completely.

Should you still wish to benefit from the advice of a qualified accountant, you can easily connect them to your Quickbooks so they can help monitor your books.

With incredibly low monthly fees and everything you need to make bookkeeping simple, it’s easy to see why so many small businesses and startups turn to Quickbooks to simplify their accounting processes.

What Features Do Quickbooks Support?

Our Intuit Quickbooks review has found that the software has a wide range of time-saving and stress-busting features. In fact, there are too many to mention them all here.

However, here are some of the main ones you’ll benefit from no matter which of the accounting packages you choose:

• Track all your income and expenses
• MTD compatibility – track submit VAT returns
• Send and track all your invoices
• Chase late payments
• Connect multiple bank accounts
• Quickly upload photos of receipts
• Run payroll

There is also a mobile app available which makes managing things on the go easier, though the biggest benefit is being able to quickly snap photos of receipts and upload them immediately.

That covers some of the features but there are so many more available that we recommend checking the Quickbooks website for the full lowdown.

Fees

Earlier in our Quickbooks review we eluded to the low-cost nature of the software. To give you an example, if you take the ‘Self-Assessment’ package (which includes many of the features listed above), you’ll be paying less than a tenner a month.

Essentially that package is for sole traders, and small limited companies as you only get basic bookkeeping features and forego other features such as VAT submissions.

For those slightly larger businesses that need a more complete solution, the accounting and VAT packages start from just £12 a month. You can then pay a little more each month if you need more features such as multi-currency support or the ability to track employee time.

All of the packages work on a ‘cancel any time’ basis so you won’t get locked into any long-term contracts.

There is also a 30-day free trial available if you want to check out the features on offer before you commit to spending cash.

Quickbooks Reviews From Customers:

Following a recent move over to QuickBooks, I have found their customer support to be outstanding. Would highly recommend this online accounting option to anyone who is fed up with the ’email support only’ option offered elsewhere!

5-Star review from Lucy via Trustpilot

I have used quickbooks since starting my business in 2005 and found it easy to use and with great support.

Whenever I have had an issue they have helped me get back on track quickly and with little fuss or bother

Highly recommend

5-Star review from Mrs Paula Buffham via Trustpilot

Quickbooks TV Advert

The Advantages

So, let’s just take a moment to summarise the key benefits our Quickbooks UK review has found so far.

Firstly, it should be noted that this is a software with a long track record. The parent company, Intuit has been developing tax and accounting software since 1983.

They are a US company but adapted Quickbooks for the UK market and tax system in 2014. In short, it means this isn’t a new product and therefore many of the bugs and problems you may find on newer software has been ironed out already.

Quickbooks is also one of the leading accounting software solutions with over 624,000 subscribers in 2014 (a figure likely to have risen). Again, that just adds to the whole trust and security element.

But let’s not forget that the biggest advantage of using Quickbooks is the time and stress it will save you. Once you’re up and running you’ll see how easily you can keep all of your accounting records up to date. It really does become a breeze.

And of course, what the really means is that you don’t get bogged down in paperwork, freeing up your time to grow your business. All of that for just a few pounds a month means it really is a no-brainer and probably counts as one of the best decisions you’ll make when running a business.

The Disadvantages

No product or company is ever perfect and to ensure a balanced Quickbooks review it’s important we look at some of the disadvantages too.

Firstly, like any software, it’s not perfect. There are reports on some of their Trustpilot reviews of people experiencing technical difficulties. Whether that’s with linking bank accounts or people just doing something wrong it’s clearly frustrating when such problems occur.

What we would say to mitigate that somewhat is that Quickbooks do appear to have a very helpful and responsive support team. There are countless reviews that talk about the helpfulness and patience of the Quickbooks support team. That reassures us that if you do experience a problem, they’ll help you solve it quickly.

The other negative worth mentioning is that with any software there is a learning curve. You’ll need to spend some time learning how to use it, that’s unavoidable. Thankfully though, Quickbooks make it relative painless with intuitive design and layout and plenty of tutorials and help material.

Quickbooks Review – Summary

So, we come to the end of our Quickbooks review and overall we have found the software to be an extremely attractive choice both for sole traders and limited companies.

The range of features will cover virtually every need while the prices mean that even businesses on the tightest of budgets shouldn’t be put off.

This is especially true when you consider it as an investment in something that will undoubtedly save you time, and may even reduce or cut your accountant fees completely.

With that in mind, we have no hesitation in recommending Quickbooks, though we do suggest you start with the 30-day trial to fully assess whether or not it meets your individual needs.