Paygration, Inc.
Transitioning from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online Plus presents a series of considerations that can significantly impact your business’s financial management. The decision to switch or upgrade to an online accounting solution is fraught with concerns over selecting the right version, understanding the functionalities gained or potentially lost, and the apprehension surrounding the commitment to a new platform.
This guide explores QuickBooks Online Plus, detailing the benefits and features of this powerful tool to ensure you make the right decision.
The Top 16 Features of QuickBooks Online Plus
QuickBooks Online Plus offers a suite of features tailored to meet the needs of small to medium-sized businesses looking to streamline their financial operations. Here’s a detailed look at the top 16 features:
1. Invoice and Payments: QuickBooks Online Plus simplifies the invoicing process, allowing businesses to create custom, professional invoices that can be sent directly to clients. Payments are seamlessly integrated, enabling quick payment processing and automating the reconciliation of transactions.
QuickBooks Online Plus invoicing and payments dashboard
Real-world use case: A web design agency sends a branded invoice the moment a project milestone is signed off, then lets the client pay by card or ACH straight from the email. The payment posts and reconciles itself, so no one re-keys the deposit.
Why it matters for growing businesses: Faster invoicing and built-in payments shorten the time between finishing work and getting paid, which keeps cash flowing as your client list grows. These QuickBooks Online Plus features cut the manual matching that usually slows down a busy accounts-receivable team.
3. Tax Deductions: Maximize your tax deductions with ease. QuickBooks Online Plus categorizes expenses and tracks them against your income, ensuring you’re leveraging every possible deduction come tax time.
QuickBooks Online Plus expense and tax deduction tracking
Real-world use case: A solo consultant tags home office, software, and travel costs to deduction categories all year, so the year-end export to a CPA takes minutes instead of a shoebox of receipts.
Practical workflow: Bank feeds pull in transactions, rules auto-categorize recurring expenses, and a Schedule C style summary shows deductible totals before filing. That removes the scramble most owners face in March.
3. Comprehensive Reports: Gain deep insights into your business’s financial health with a range of customizable reports. From profit and loss statements to balance sheets, you have the data you need to make informed decisions.
QuickBooks Online Plus reporting and profit and loss view
Real-world use case: A growing restaurant group runs a class-based profit and loss each Monday to compare food cost across three locations and spot the one that is over budget.
Business benefit: The reporting depth in Plus, including budget vs. actual and class tracking, gives owners numbers they can act on rather than a year-end surprise. As headcount and locations grow, these QuickBooks Plus features replace guesswork with weekly visibility.
4. Receipt Capture: Eliminate paper clutter and manual data entry. Snap photos of your receipts and QuickBooks Online Plus will automatically match and categorize them, simplifying expense tracking and reporting.
QuickBooks Online Plus receipt capture on mobile
Real-world use case: A field service technician snaps a photo of a fuel receipt at the pump; by the time they’re back in the truck, QuickBooks has read the vendor and amount and attached it to the right expense.
Why it matters for growing businesses: When more people are spending on the company’s behalf, capturing receipts at the source keeps your books audit-ready and saves your bookkeeper hours of chasing paper every month.
5. Mileage Tracking: For businesses that require travel, mileage tracking is automated, capturing every trip and calculating distances to ensure accurate expense reporting and reimbursements.
QuickBooks Online Plus automatic mileage log
Real-world use case: A real estate agent drives between showings all week; the app logs each trip automatically, and they swipe to mark business vs. personal at the end of the day.
Business benefit: Automatic mileage capture turns a frequently missed deduction into recorded dollars, and reimbursable trips for staff get documented without a spreadsheet. For service businesses that live on the road, this is one of the quieter but useful QuickBooks Online Plus tools.
6. Cash Flow Management: Stay on top of your cash flow with real-time tracking of incoming and outgoing funds. Visual dashboards and projections help you manage liquidity and plan for the future.
QuickBooks Online Plus cash flow planner
Real-world use case: A general contractor checks the 90-day cash flow projection before committing to a large materials order, confirming there’s room once two client deposits clear.
Why it matters for growing businesses: Growth eats cash, so seeing money-in and money-out on one timeline helps owners time hires, equipment, and tax payments without dipping into a line of credit unexpectedly.
7. Sales and Sales Tax: Automate the calculation, collection, and remittance of sales tax. QuickBooks Online Plus keeps sales tax rates updated, ensuring compliance and accuracy in all transactions.
QuickBooks Online Plus automated sales tax center
Real-world use case: An online retailer shipping to several states lets QuickBooks apply the correct rate by customer address, then files from the sales tax center when each return is due.
Business benefit: Automated rate lookups and a running liability total reduce the risk of under-collecting as you sell into new jurisdictions, which is exactly where multi-state sellers tend to get tripped up.
8. Estimates: Create and customize estimates for your clients. Once approved, these estimates can be easily converted into invoices, simplifying the sales process.
QuickBooks Online Plus estimate to invoice workflow
Real-world use case: A landscaping company emails a detailed estimate for a patio install; once the homeowner accepts, the same document becomes the invoice with one click, with no retyping of line items.
Practical workflow: Build the estimate, track its status (pending, accepted, closed), then progress-invoice as phases finish. For project-based trades, that keeps quoting and billing tied to the same record.
9. Contractors: Managing contractors is simplified, with features for tracking payments, issuing 1099 forms, and ensuring compliance with tax requirements.
QuickBooks Online Plus contractor and 1099 management
Real-world use case: A creative studio that hires freelance editors collects each contractor’s W-9 in QuickBooks, tracks payments through the year, and e-files 1099s in January without a separate service.
Why it matters for growing businesses: As you lean on more 1099 talent to scale, having payments and tax forms in one place avoids penalties and the year-end reconciliation headache that catches a lot of professional services firms.
10. Connect All Sales Channels: Integrate all your sales channels into one platform, ensuring cohesive tracking of sales, inventory, and customer information across online and offline points of sale.
QuickBooks Online Plus connected sales channels
Real-world use case: A boutique sells in-store, on its Shopify site, and at weekend markets; orders from every channel flow into one ledger so the owner sees true daily revenue, not three disconnected reports.
Business benefit: Connecting channels keeps inventory and income in sync, which matters most for retail and inventory-based companies juggling several storefronts at once.
11. Multiple Currencies: Conduct business globally with support for multiple currencies. QuickBooks Online Plus automatically updates exchange rates, making international transactions straightforward and accurate.
QuickBooks Online Plus multicurrency invoicing
Real-world use case: An exporter invoices a customer in euros, receives payment weeks later, and QuickBooks records the exchange gain or loss automatically so the books reflect what actually hit the bank.
Why it matters for growing businesses: Once you take on overseas clients or suppliers, multicurrency support keeps reporting accurate in your home currency without manual conversion math on every transaction.
12. Bill Management: Keep your payables in check with comprehensive bill management. Schedule payments, track due dates, and manage your expenses efficiently to avoid late fees.
QuickBooks Online Plus bill and payables management
Real-world use case: A dental practice enters supplier bills as they arrive, sees what’s due this week on one screen, and schedules payments to protect early-pay discounts.
Practical workflow: Enter the bill, attach the PDF, set the due date, then batch-pay vendors. As payables volume climbs with growth, this keeps an owner from missing dates or double-paying an invoice.
13. Includes 5 Users: QuickBooks Online Plus includes access for up to 5 users, enabling collaboration and role-specific access to financial data, enhancing team productivity and data security.
QuickBooks Online Plus user roles and permissions
Real-world use case: A 12-person agency gives the office manager full access, two project leads time-and-expense access, and the outside accountant their own login, so everyone sees only what they need.
Why it matters for growing businesses: The QuickBooks Online Plus user limit of five built-in users plus accountant access lets a multi-user team collaborate in real time without sharing one password, which is a real control upgrade for an expanding office.
14. Enter Time: Track time spent on projects or by employees directly within the platform. This feature aids in labor costing, invoicing for time-based services, and payroll processing.
QuickBooks Online Plus time entry by customer and project
Real-world use case: A law firm logs billable hours against each client matter; those entries roll straight onto the invoice, so nothing billable slips through unrecorded.
Business benefit: Tying time to customers and projects gives professional services firms accurate labor cost and clean billing, and the same hours feed payroll instead of being re-entered.
15. Inventory: Advanced inventory management tools allow for real-time tracking of stock levels, orders, and sales, ensuring you can efficiently manage your supply chain and meet customer demand.
QuickBooks Online Plus inventory management dashboard
Real-world use case: A specialty coffee roaster tracks green bean stock by SKU, gets a low-stock reminder before a popular blend runs out, and sees cost of goods update as orders ship.
Why it matters for growing businesses: Inventory management in QuickBooks Online Plus tracks quantity on hand, reorder points, and COGS automatically, which is essential for inventory-based companies once a spreadsheet can no longer keep up. For a deeper walkthrough, see our guide to inventory management in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced.
16. Project Profitability: Monitor the profitability of each project with detailed reporting on costs, labor, and expenses against revenue, enabling more strategic decisions and resource allocation.
QuickBooks Online Plus project profitability tracking
Real-world use case: A custom cabinet maker assigns labor, materials, and subcontractor costs to each job and watches the margin in real time, catching an underpriced project before the next one is quoted.
Business benefit: Project tracking in QuickBooks Online Plus pulls income, time, and expenses into a single profitability view per job, so contractors and agencies learn which work actually pays. This is one of the QuickBooks Online Plus capabilities that owners cite most when they outgrow Essentials.
Check out how Plus differs from the lower plan, Essentials, in our Plus vs Essentials comparison guide.
Need More Than QuickBooks Online Plus?
Plus fits most small and mid-sized businesses, but some teams eventually push past its limits. The most common signs are needing more than five users, wanting deeper custom reporting, or running workflows that beg for automation and approvals.
That’s usually the point where QuickBooks Online Advanced makes sense. Advanced raises the user count to 25, adds a custom report builder with Spreadsheet Sync, workflow automation, batch invoicing, and dedicated account support, none of which are part of the Plus tier. If your books are getting busier and the QuickBooks Online Plus user limits feel tight, it’s worth a look.
For a side-by-side breakdown, read our guide on QuickBooks Online Plus vs Advanced to see exactly where each plan fits and which one matches where your business is headed. You can also read the Essentials vs Plus comparison if you’re weighing a step up rather than down.
Making the Decision with Confidence
The apprehension about transitioning to a new accounting system is understandable, but QuickBooks Online Plus is designed to make this process as seamless and beneficial as possible. The concerns about feature compatibility, adaptation, and potential reversibility are addressed through comprehensive support and resources.
Our Commitment to Your Smooth Transition
To facilitate an informed decision, we offer free, no-obligation consulting, focusing on the critical aspects that need consideration when choosing QuickBooks Online Plus. This is complemented by a free 30-day live demo, access to over 100 training videos, and free lifetime consultation, including data conversion support from QuickBooks Desktop. Our offerings ensure you have all the tools and knowledge at your disposal to make QuickBooks Online Plus a perfect fit for your business.
Discover QuickBooks Online Plus for Your Business
Transitioning to or choosing QuickBooks Online Plus for your accounting needs signifies a strategic step towards enhanced financial management and operational efficiency. To explore how QuickBooks Online Plus can transform your business and to take advantage of our exclusive resources, contact our experts at 866-949-7267.
Ready to get started? You can buy QuickBooks Online Plus through Paygration, including the discounted QuickBooks Online Plus annual subscription, and have our team help with setup and data conversion.
QuickBooks Online Plus Features FAQ
What does QuickBooks Online Plus include?
QuickBooks Online Plus includes everything in Essentials plus inventory tracking, project profitability, budgeting, class and location tracking, and access for up to five users. In short, the plan covers invoicing and payments, bill management, comprehensive reporting, sales tax automation, time tracking, and 1099 contractor management, making it the most complete QuickBooks Online plan below Advanced.
What are the most important QuickBooks Online Plus features?
The standout QuickBooks Online Plus features are inventory management, project profitability tracking, custom reporting, support for five users, and automated sales tax. These are the tools most businesses upgrade for, since they handle stock, job costing, and multi-user collaboration that lower plans like Simple Start and Essentials don’t offer.
How many users can use QuickBooks Online Plus?
QuickBooks Online Plus supports up to five billable users, plus additional access for your accountant and limited time-tracking or reports-only users. If your team needs more than five users, QuickBooks Online Advanced raises the limit to 25.
Does QuickBooks Online Plus include inventory management?
Yes. Inventory management in QuickBooks Online Plus tracks quantity on hand, sets reorder reminders, and updates cost of goods sold automatically as you sell. It’s one of the key reasons inventory-based and retail companies choose Plus over Essentials.
Is QuickBooks Online Plus worth it for growing businesses?
For most growing small and mid-sized businesses, QuickBooks Online Plus is worth it because it adds inventory, project tracking, budgeting, and multi-user access in one plan. It’s a strong fit until you need more than five users or advanced automation and custom reporting, at which point QuickBooks Online Advanced becomes the better option.
What is the difference between QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced?
QuickBooks Online Plus supports five users and covers inventory and project tracking, while QuickBooks Online Advanced supports 25 users and adds workflow automation, a custom report builder with Spreadsheet Sync, batch invoicing, and dedicated support. Plus suits established small businesses; Advanced suits larger teams with more complex reporting needs. See our compare Plus and Advanced guide for full detail.
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