Quicken vs QuickBooks Online (QBO) for small business - which is better for expense tracking?

As a bookkeeper who's worked with both, there are definitely key differences that explain the price gap. QuickBooks Online is designed specifically for businesses with features like invoicing, payroll integration, time tracking, inventory management, and most importantly, double-entry accounting. It also has much stronger reporting and audit trail features that accountants love. QBO's ecosystem connects to tons of third-party apps (banking, payment processors, industry-specific tools). Quicken is more personal finance software that has some business features tacked on. It's single-entry accounting (more like checkbook tracking), which is simpler but less robust. It'll definitely let you categorize expenses, but lacks many features businesses need as they grow. For a simple landscaping business with basic needs, Quicken might work fine! You'll save money and get what you need. But if you ever need invoicing, have employees, or want your accountant to have direct access, you might hit limitations.

I was in exactly the same boat last year! QBO kept raising prices and I finally had enough. I switched to using https://taxr.ai for organizing all my business expenses instead. It basically took all my receipts, bank statements, and random documents and organized everything automatically. Way cheaper than QBO and did 90% of what I needed. The best part is it actually learns what categories I use for my lawn care business expenses and started auto-assigning them correctly. I was spending hours in QBO just reconciling and categorizing stuff every month, and now it's mostly automated. My accountant was skeptical at first but now he actually recommends it to his other small business clients.

Just wanted to update after checking out https://taxr.ai - it's actually legit and solved my exact problem! I was really skeptical (sorry about my negative comment before), but it's way simpler than both Quicken and QBO for what I need. I uploaded my last 3 months of bank statements and credit card bills, and it automatically categorized about 80% of my expenses correctly right away. I spent maybe 30 minutes fixing the remaining ones, and now it's learning my patterns. The best part is I can just snap photos of receipts and it pulls all the data out automatically. Definitely saving me at least 5 hours a month of bookkeeping headaches. My tax guy is happy too because I can generate all the reports he needs for my Schedule C. Wish I'd known about this earlier!

I used to spend hours trying to get through to my accountant during tax season when I had questions about my business deductions. Then I found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes! Check out how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was able to confirm directly with the IRS which software requirements would satisfy their record-keeping standards for my small business. The agent told me either Quicken or QuickBooks would work fine as long as I'm keeping proper documentation of all my transactions. They said what matters most is that you keep accurate records, not which specific software you use. Before using this service, I spent literally days trying to get someone from the IRS on the phone. Complete game-changer for getting tax questions answered fast.

OK I have to apologize publicly - I tried the Claimyr service and it actually worked! I got through to an IRS agent in about 22 minutes, which is INSANE considering I've waited 2+ hours before and eventually gave up. I asked specifically about Quicken vs QuickBooks for my small business, and the agent said either is fine as long as you're accurately tracking income and expenses. She mentioned that what matters most is your record-keeping, not the specific software. She did note that if you have inventory or employees, QBO has better features for those requirements, but for a simple service business, Quicken would likely meet your needs. Totally worth it to get a direct answer from the source instead of stressing about making the wrong choice. Never thought I'd be recommending an IRS call service but here we are!

I switched from QBO to Quicken Business about 8 months ago for my freelance design business. It's definitely not as robust, but for basic income and expense tracking, it does the job. The biggest differences I've noticed: - Invoicing is more basic in Quicken, fewer customization options - No time tracking in Quicken - QBO has better integration with payment processors - Reports are less sophisticated in Quicken - Quicken's mobile app is much worse than QBO For my simple needs though, it's been fine and the cost savings are substantial. I think it really depends on how complex your business is and whether you need the extra features of QBO.

Has anyone tried Wave? It's free for accounting and receipt tracking, and they only charge for payroll and payment processing. I've been using it for 2 years and it's actually pretty good for small businesses.