QuickBooks Online Review — The Accounting Standard for Growing Trade Shops
Visit QuickBooks Online ↗Real Pricing
| Starter | Mid | Full |
|---|---|---|
| $30/mo (Simple Start) | $60/mo (Essentials) | $90/mo (Plus) |
⚠ Payroll: $45/mo + $6/employee. Payment processing: 2.9% + $0.25 per transaction (instant deposit 1.75% extra). Time tracking is an add-on at $10/mo + $8/employee. Frequent 'discounts' for the first 3 months — pricing settles higher.
What It Actually Does
QuickBooks Online (QBO) is the industry-standard small business accounting platform. It does double-entry accounting, invoicing, expense tracking, inventory management, payroll, job costing, and financial reporting — all in one platform that your CPA already knows how to use. It’s not pretty, but it’s powerful.
The key pieces:
- Full Double-Entry Accounting — Real accounting with chart of accounts, journal entries, trial balance, balance sheet
- Invoicing — Customizable invoices, recurring billing, progress invoicing, online payments
- Expense Tracking — Bank feeds, receipt capture, auto-categorization, bill management
- Inventory Tracking — Track parts, materials, and equipment with cost and quantity
- Job Costing / Project Accounting — Track income and expenses per job/project, see profitability by job
- Payroll — Full payroll with direct deposit, tax filing, W-2s (add-on)
- Financial Reporting — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, A/R aging, custom reports
- Integrations — Connects with Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, and hundreds of other tools
- Accountant Access — Give your CPA direct access — they’ll thank you
Pros for Trade Contractors
- Your accountant knows it — this is the single biggest reason to use QuickBooks
- Job costing actually works — you can see which types of jobs are profitable and which aren’t
- Progress invoicing is built in — perfect for pool contractors billing in milestones
- Inventory tracking for parts and materials — essential for HVAC and electrical shops with truck stock
- 1099 contractor management — track and pay subcontractors properly
- Tax time is dramatically easier — export reports, hand to CPA, done
- Massive integration ecosystem — connects to everything in the trade software world
Cons for Trade Contractors
− The interface is overwhelming — QuickBooks has 20+ years of features packed into a UI designed by committee − Steep learning curve — expect frustration in the first month. YouTube tutorials are your friend. − Pricing adds up — $90/mo for Plus + $45 for payroll + $10 for time tracking = $145/month minimum − The mobile app is significantly worse than the desktop experience — invoicing on your phone is clunky − Intuit’s constant upsells — expect in-app prompts for payroll, payments, capital, and insurance − Bank feeds occasionally break — reconciliation gets messy when transactions don’t match − Customer support quality varies wildly — sometimes great, sometimes infuriating
Setup Difficulty
The initial setup is the hard part: setting up your Chart of Accounts correctly, importing historical data, connecting bank feeds, and configuring sales tax. If you have an accountant or bookkeeper, involve them from day one. A badly set up QuickBooks file is worse than no QuickBooks at all. Budget 1-2 days for setup with professional help, or a full week of evenings if you’re doing it yourself.
Best For Which Trades?
| Trade | Fit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electricians | ✓ Strong | Parts inventory, job costing, 1099s for subs — QBO handles the complexity |
| HVAC | ✓ Strong | Equipment inventory, warranty tracking via custom fields, job profitability |
| Plumbers | ✓ Strong | Parts tracking, progress invoicing for remodels, sub payments |
| Pool Contractors | ✓ Excellent | Progress billing by construction milestone is exactly what pool builders need |
| Pool Service Techs | ○ Overkill | You need FreshBooks, not QuickBooks. Recurring billing doesn’t need this much software. |
| Landscapers | ✓ Strong | Seasonal project accounting, material cost tracking, crew labor allocation |
From the Trenches
QuickBooks is the software you don’t want but eventually need. No contractor wakes up excited to learn double-entry accounting. You want to build pools, wire houses, landscape yards — not reconcile bank feeds. But at some point — usually when your accountant threatens to fire you, or when you can’t tell which jobs are making money — you need real accounting.
Here’s the honest take: if you’re a solo operator or a 2-3 person shop doing mostly service work, you probably don’t need QuickBooks. FreshBooks or even Wave will cover your needs with less headache. The tipping point is when you start asking questions FreshBooks can’t answer: “Which job types have the best margins?” “How much inventory am I carrying?” “What’s my actual profit after all expenses?” That’s when you graduate.
For pool contractors specifically: QuickBooks Plus at $90/month with progress invoicing is the right tool. You can bill 30% at excavation, 30% at shell, 25% at decking, and 15% at completion — and track costs against each phase. FreshBooks can’t do that natively. This one feature justifies QuickBooks for any contractor doing multi-stage projects.
One final word: hire a QuickBooks pro to set it up. The $500-1,000 for professional setup pays for itself immediately in avoided headaches. A clean QuickBooks file at tax time saves you thousands in CPA fees. A messy one costs you.
Alternatives
- Cheaper: FreshBooks ($19-60/mo, simpler, better invoicing, weaker accounting)
- Simpler: Wave (free, but limited — good for micro-businesses)
- More powerful (and more expensive): Sage or Xero (competing accounting platforms, similar features, regional preferences)