QuickBooks Essentials vs. QuickBooks Plus Comparison
Below, we compare the QuickBooks Online Essentials and Plus plans. The table shows that Essentials has basic accounting features for businesses in any industry. As you go up to the Plus plan, you get inventory management, unlimited sales channels and other features tailored to e-commerce businesses.
| QuickBooks Essentials | QuickBooks Plus | |
| Price | $60 per month | $90 per month |
| Number of Users | 3 | 5 |
| Number of Sales Channels | 3 | Unlimited |
| Expense Management | ✅ | ✅ |
| Inventory Management | ✖️ | ✅ |
| Project Profitability and Reporting | ✖️ | ✅ |
| Income and Expense Tracking | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom Invoices/Quotes | ✅ | ✅ |
| Receipt Capture and Organization | ✅ | ✅ |
| Time Tracking | ✅ | ✅ |
| Payroll Included | ✖️ | ✖️ |
What Is QuickBooks Essentials?
The Essentials plan is a good middle ground between a basic beginner plan and an advanced enterprise plan. It can track bills, capture receipts, send invoices and accept payments. You also get three users and three sales channels — an upgrade from one each in the base plan.
Another unique capability of this plan is time tracking. With other providers, this feature usually comes in a higher plan or as an add-on. But with QuickBooks’ Essentials plan, you can track how much time employees spend by client or project. This syncs with the payment side of the platform to pay them accordingly.
Pros:
- Access for up to three users
- Ability to track time on client and project work
- Support for multiple currencies
- Tracking and organization for bills
Cons:
- No inventory tracking
- Extra cost for payroll
- Additional fee for automatic employee hourly time tracking
- Limited to three sales channels
What Is QuickBooks Plus?
The Plus plan comes with everything in the Essentials plan plus inventory management, project profitability and financial planning. The inventory management feature is for e-commerce businesses or other product-selling businesses, as it tracks stock levels, creates purchase orders and manages vendors.
In terms of the project profitability feature, you can track labor costs and other expenses for each project you’re running. Meanwhile, the financial planning feature is where you create and track budgets.
Coupled with the additional features is more users and sales channels. You go from three to five users and three to unlimited sales channels. The unlimited sales channels, in particular, add to this plan being for e-commerce businesses.
Pros:
- Inventory feature for sales teams
- Ability to connect to as many sales channels as needed
- Access for up to five users
- Budgeting feature to track spending
Cons:
- More expensive than the Essentials plan
- Extra cost for payroll
- Additional fee for automatic employee hourly time tracking
Choosing the Right QuickBooks Online Plan
The right QuickBooks Online plan for you depends on several factors. Consider your:
- Budget: The Plus plan is several hundred dollars more per year. If you’re on a limited budget, you may need to save that funding for other areas of your business.
- Business type: The Essentials plan offers basic accounting features that any business might need. However, the Plus plan gets more specific with its features, with inventory management and unlimited sales channels for e-commerce businesses.
- Business size: If you have several team members who need access to your business’ accounting, you may be better off with the Plus plan because it gives you access to more users.
- Projected growth: Though your business may be small now, you might be expecting rapid growth within the year. If that’s the case, you can plan for it in advance by purchasing the Plus plan, which has more features and users.
The Essentials and Plus plans aren’t the only QuickBooks Online plans, though. Maybe you find that neither suits your needs. If so, consider the Simple Start and Advanced plans. Simple Start is for small businesses and start-up companies, starting at $30 per month. The Advanced plan is more expensive at $200 per month, but it comes with additional features that large businesses may need.
Alternatives to QuickBooks
While QuickBooks Online is one of the most notable accounting solutions on the market, it may not work for every business. Here are three alternatives that are also well-known in the business accounting industry
The Bottom Line
QuickBooks Online Essentials and QuickBooks Online Plus offer distinct features tailored to different business needs. The Essentials plan suits businesses in any industry that have just surpassed the start-up phase, needing a few more accounting features than a base plan offers.
The Plus plan, on the other hand, caters to larger teams that need more advanced features, such as inventory management and financial planning. Inventory management, in particular, suits businesses in the e-commerce industry.
Understanding the difference between these two plans can help you choose which one is right for your business goals and accounting needs. Remember that as your business grows, you can always upgrade to a higher QuickBooks Online plan.
Frequently Asked Questions About QuickBooks
The main difference between QuickBooks Essentials and QuickBooks Plus — besides price — is that Essentials offers basic features for small businesses in any industry, while Plus caters to mid-sized commerce businesses that need advanced, industry-specific features.
The features that are available in QuickBooks Plus but not QuickBooks Essentials include inventory management, project profitability and financial planning. You also get more users and sales channels, going from three of each to five users and unlimited channels.
QuickBooks offers four Online plans. In order of most affordable to most expensive, those plans are Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced.
QuickBooks Essentials costs $60 per month.
Yes, QuickBooks Online is designed to be a comprehensive accounting solution for small businesses as well as mid-sized ones.
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