QuickBooks Online Plus vs. QuickBooks Online Advanced: Which is Better for Your Business?

QuickBooks Online is one of the mainstream products offered by Intuit. It is a powerful cloud-based accounting software designed to help small and medium-sized businesses streamline their business workflows. QuickBooks Online allows you to track income and expenses, create and send invoices, manage cash flows, track project profitability and inventory, and more. 

QuickBooks Online comes in four plans: Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. The best version depends on the number of users you have, the features you need, and how much you are willing to pay.

In this article, we will focus on the two top-tier versions of QuickBooks Online—Plus and Advanced. We will tackle the key features of both versions to help you weigh their pros and cons and figure out which is better for your business. 

QuickBooks Online Plus Features

QuickBooks Online Plus includes many enhanced features not available in the lower plans, including the ability to track inventory costs and calculate profit and loss by projects. 

Some of the key features of QuickBooks Online Plus include the ability to: 

• Create Custom Invoices
• Manage Contractors Including Preparation of Form 1099
• Manage and Track Unpaid Bills
• Track Income and Expenses by Class & Location
  Track Profit and Loss by Location
• Track Inventory & Calculate the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
• Create Purchase Orders and Send them to Vendors
• Control User Access

If you would like to try the full version of QuickBooks Online Advanced, click here to get a free 30-day no-commitment trial plus access to the full video training library.

When to Use QuickBooks Online

If you are a small or medium-sized business that has five users and needs to track project profitability and inventory, then QuickBooks Online Plus might be enough for you. While QuickBooks Online Plus is a substantial upgrade to the lower plans, it might not suffice your business needs if you want more automation and customization features, such as the ability to send invoices in bulk and customize user access by roles.

QuickBooks Online Advanced Features

QuickBooks Online Advanced includes all the features of QuickBooks Online Plus, in addition to a few more enhanced functionality. As your business grows, you’ll most likely need to upgrade to Advanced. It supports up to 25 users, as opposed to Plus, which only maxes up to 5 users.

QuickBooks Online Advanced has several features not available in QuickBooks Online Plus.

• QuickBooks Online Advanced comes with a smart reporting feature that uses Fathom to track financial records and other key performance indicators (KPI) with enhanced analytics and reporting tools. 
• Advanced users are automatically subscribed to QuickBooks Priority Circle, a premium program with a dedicated Customer Success Manager.
• Advanced eliminates the limitations to the number of accounts, locations, and classes you can set up. Plus imposes limitations on these items. 
• Advanced includes free training to help your team familiarize themselves with QuickBooks Online’s features.
• With Advanced, you can send invoices in batches with a few clicks to simplify financial transactions.
• You can customize workflows by setting up rule-based triggers and reminders.

Learn more about the benefits of QuickBooks Online Advanced.

Smart Tip: If you’re still undecided about which QuickBooks Online plan is right for you, check out our comparison of QuickBooks Online versions.

Which is better for your business? 

If you’re running a small business with a limited budget and do not need access to more than five users, QuickBooks Online Plus is right for you. However, if your business is scaling from five to 25 users, Advanced is a more suitable choice. While it costs a little over twice as much as Plus, the added features like smart reporting, user management, customer support as well as free training for its users are very helpful, especially for growing companies.

Have Questions? Need Help?

If you have any questions about the features of QuickBooks Online Advanced or any QuickBooks Online plan, you can give us a call at 866-949-7267 and one of our experts can walk you through the details. 

Not using QuickBooks Online?  Try it for 30 days FREE!  

Just register for the free trial below and we will send you everything you need to evaluate QuickBooks Online including 30-day access, the full 76-page QuickBooks Online Guide (details everything that you can do in the software) plus the video training library.  In addition, we provide free end-to-end support and assistance to all our customers so if you need any help along the way, just let us know!