QuickBooks for Small Business: Which Online Plan Fits

Quick Answer: QuickBooks Online for small business comes in a limited Free plan and four paid tiers: Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced. On October 27, 2026, Intuit listed monthly prices of $38, $85, $140 and $340, with a promotion of 50% off for the first three months. Most owner-run businesses fit Simple Start or Essentials; Plus is the first tier with inventory and project tracking. Prices change often, so confirm on Intuit's page before you buy.

Choosing a QuickBooks plan comes down to four questions: how many people need their own login, whether you pay bills through the software, whether you track inventory or job profitability, and whether you need the heavier automation only Advanced has. Answer those and the tier picks itself; everything else is the same ledger, bank feeds and reports on every plan.

QuickBooks Online small business pricing, tier by tier

These figures were read from Intuit's QuickBooks pricing page on October 27, 2026, for the US. Intuit changes list prices and promotions regularly; treat this as a snapshot.

The page also advertised a 30-day free trial for paid plans. Read the checkout terms to see whether the trial and the discount can be combined or whether you choose one; that detail is easy to miss.

Is there a free version of QuickBooks for small business?

Yes, now there is, and it is narrow by design. Intuit's Free plan includes one user, two invoices a month, a profit and loss report and a connection to one bank. It shows "No accountant access", with a note that you must move to a paid plan to invite your accountant.

That makes it useful in two cases: a side business with a handful of customers and one bank account, or someone who wants to learn the QuickBooks interface before committing. It is not a fit if you send a few invoices a week, hold accounts at more than one bank, or want your bookkeeper working in the file.

The other free routes are temporary: the 30-day trial of a paid plan, and the discounted first three months. Accountants and bookkeepers also get their own professional tools at no charge, which is a different product; see QuickBooks Online Accountant and its replacement.

What is the best QuickBooks plan for a small business?

Match your situation to the lowest tier that covers it:

• Freelancer or sole proprietor, one bank account, a few invoices a month: Free, or Simple Start once invoices or bank accounts grow. Simple Start is also the first tier your accountant can log into.
• Owner plus a part-time admin or partner: Essentials, for the extra users. Its time-to-invoice feature suits service businesses that bill hours.
• Retailer or e-commerce seller who needs stock counts in the books: Plus, the first tier that tracks inventory.
• Contractor, agency or studio that quotes by job: Plus, for project profitability and classes to split results by location or department.
• Company with a finance team, many users or construction-specific reporting: Advanced.

User count is the most common reason to upgrade. Every person who needs their own login counts, and the accountant seats are separate from that total on paid plans.

If you are still deciding whether QuickBooks is the right package at all, compare it with Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, Wave and Sage in our small-business accounting software comparison.

Solopreneur and QuickBooks Desktop

Intuit also has a QuickBooks Solopreneur product for one-person businesses. On the day we checked it appeared on the pricing page only as a sign-in option, not as a plan in the grid, so check with Intuit for its current availability and price.

QuickBooks Desktop still exists, but its support timeline matters. Intuit's Desktop discontinuation policy says that after May 31, 2026, QuickBooks Desktop 2023 users lost live support, security updates, online banking and payroll calculations, and it points those users toward newer versions or Desktop Enterprise. If you are starting a new small business today, the online product is the default path; Desktop mostly serves existing users and companies with needs only Enterprise meets.

How bank data gets into QuickBooks on any plan

Every tier, including Free, supports a bank connection, with the Free plan limited to one. Where a feed is missing or does not reach back far enough, Intuit's manual upload help article describes three kinds of file you can upload instead:

• Transaction downloads from the bank: .csv, .txt, .qbo or .ofx. Intuit suggests the QBO file where your bank offers it, and also accepts QFX and CSV. Each file can be up to 350 KB and 1,000 lines; for more, split the date range.
• Statement PDFs or images: the article says a statement "can be from any bank, as long as it's in English," as a PDF or a JPG, PNG or HEIC image, and that QuickBooks' AI extracts the information and imports it.
• The path: All apps, then Accounting, then Bank transactions; open the Link account dropdown and choose Upload from file, then map the columns and pick the QuickBooks account.

So for many users, QuickBooks' own PDF upload is the first thing to try. A separate converter earns its place when you want to see and edit the rows in a spreadsheet before they reach the ledger, or when the same history also has to go to another tool. In those cases QuickBankConvert turns the PDF into CSV (free account) or a QBO file (Plus plan and above) that you then upload through the same screen. The QuickBooks integration page compares the file types, and importing bank transactions into QuickBooks Online covers the upload in detail.

Using QuickBooks for small business: your first month

1. Set the company basics. Legal name, tax form, fiscal year start and the date you want the books to begin.
2. Review the chart of accounts. Trim accounts you will never use and add the few your business needs. Your accountant's input here saves cleanup later.
3. Connect each bank and card account, or upload files for any that do not connect.
4. Bring in the history from your start date. Fill any gap between the start date and the first transaction the feed delivered.
5. Categorize the first batch by hand, then create bank rules for recurring payees. The guide on categorizing bank transactions in QuickBooks Online explains rules and matching.
6. Reconcile the first full month against the statement. A clean first reconciliation makes every later one shorter.
7. Invite your accountant (paid plans) so they can check the setup before tax season.

QuickBooks bookkeeping after that is a weekly habit: review new feed transactions, match payments to invoices and bills, and reconcile at month end. For the broader routine, see bookkeeping for small business.

Related guides

• Accounting packages for small business compared
• QuickBooks Live and Intuit's bookkeeping services
• Reconcile in QuickBooks Online