Content
Another great feature is way to enter expense receipts into QuickBooks Self-Employed. If the QB assistant cannot answer your question, then you can get help via chat, email, a callback, or Intuit’s online community of users. Additionally, you can also enable GPS through the app to track trips automatically. You can transfer all of your Schedule C information automatically into TurboTax to complete your tax return.
Is QuickBooks Self-Employed live tax bundle worth it?
The Self-Employed Live Tax Bundle is the best option if you want live tax support. For an additional $11 per month, you'll have unlimited access to a CPA to answer tax questions throughout the year. You'll also be able to have your final tax return reviewed by a professional.
Users looking for a more robust, full-featured accounting software may find what they’re looking for with QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop Pro. Reviews for QuickBooks products are always a mixed bag, but the overall consensus is generally pretty positive. QBSE receives 4.7/5 stars on the Apple App Store (based on 78,000+ reviews) and 3.7/5 stars on the Google Play Store (based on 31,000+ reviews). Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only.
I opted for the tax bundle for the convenience
Luckily that part is easy enough to take care of — but I do wish this didn’t happen in the first place. Even if you don’t recognize the name offhand, there’s a good chance you’ve at least heard of an Intuit product. The company is behind the TurboTax software you’ve likely seen on Costco displays each spring as well as their Quickbooks suite meant to aid small businesses with accounting. In that same vein, Quickbooks Self-Employed is a pared-down version of Quickbooks Online specifically aimed at sole proprietors like myself. With QuickBooks , you can flag incoming or outgoing payments as either business or personal.
If you need to file a Schedule C document with Form 1040 during tax season, this is your accounting solution. It caters to business owners with simple business structures. This means no employees and/or contractors, and very few customers that need to be invoiced. QuickBooks Online allows you many of the same features as Self-Employed but allows you to upgrade packages as your business grows. That means you can create more extensive reports, connect with more business apps, and save time since you don’t have to move data as you upgrade plans manually.
How Much Does QuickBooks Cost?
It is generally the top preference for freelance professionals and small businesses. Therefore, if you are looking for a good Quickbooks Self Employed alternative, Xero can be quite the help. Tons of independent contractors have declared Keeper Tax as the best app to track receipts for taxes. If I had made a business purchase with cash or on a personal card, QuickBooks made it easy for me to account for it.
- There’s no confusing accounting jargon or unnecessary features crowding your dashboard, and setting up your account takes very little time.
- When I quit my full-time job to go freelance, I was excited — but nervous about having to handle my own taxes.
- The only tax support QuickBooks Online offers is 1099s and Sales Tax Returns.
- For $25 per month ($12 per month for the first three months), you get the Self-Employed Tax Bundle.
Gain confidence in your business future with our weekly simple solutions newsletter. To learn more about filing your self-employment taxes, read this article. QuickBooks Self-Employed is a good quickbooks self employed tax bundle review entry point for new freelancers, but it won’t easily grow with your business. Sign up to receive more well-researched small business articles and topics in your inbox, personalized for you.
Features that fit your business
The tax bundle plans allow you to file your state and local tax returns and also your quarterly estimated taxes. The service provides a user experience rivaled only by that of FreshBooks, and its automatic mileage tracking may appeal to frequent business travelers. QuickBooks Self-Employed is QuickBooks’ freelance-specific bookkeeping software. It starts at $15 a month and offers features like mileage tracking, basic invoicing, and receipt scanning.
Honestly, it doesn’t sync with much—but most crucially, it doesn’t sync with any of the typical ecommerce integrations, such as Shopify. In other words, if you’re selling products rather than services, we don’t recommend QuickBooks Self-Employed. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. One advantage of using an Intuit solution, though, is that you can upgrade to an application that’s more sophisticated while staying in the same product family. The next step up from Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed is Intuit QuickBooks Online, which is our Editors’ Choice winner for small business accounting again this year.
Disappointed, lacking key features
No need to manually calculate mileage deductions for every work-related trip. QuickBooks Self-Employed will automatically do the math for you using the current IRS mileage rate. Just opt into mileage tracking via the app to automatically log all of your car travel. QuickBooks keeps a running tally of business miles and the corresponding deduction.
Additionally, the software is known for its easy to set up and use interface. Quickbooks self-employed users save an average of $3,756 on their taxes each year. Furthermore, you can avoid sending invoices late or sending second reminders for invoices that have already been paid. For example, handling all of your own bookkeeping and accounting.
It offers much more in every possible way, while maintaining the same exceptional user experience found in its more junior version. When you click on Quarterly, you see your quarterly tax schedule for the current year, with figures for both recommended payments and what you have already paid. If you have used Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed in previous years, then you can view your historical data on this same page. The site also projects your annual profit based on your actual income and deductions to date. And, you can click a link to fill in your 1040-ES payment voucher that you can submit with your payment.
While QuickBooks serves two completely different markets with these two software suites, both are excellent overall. If you decide to take the plunge, be sure to pay close attention to pricing, as Intuit currently has limited-time pricing that should increase in the near future. Choosing the first version of QuickBooks generally depends on the type of business you run. For instance, those who provide contract services directly to clients will be best suited to QuickBooks Self-Employed.
What are the limitations of QuickBooks Self-Employed?
One of the main limitations of QuickBooks Self-Employed is that it is not designed for businesses with employees or inventory. Additionally, QuickBooks Self-Employed lacks some of the advanced features that are available in QuickBooks Online, such as inventory management and project tracking.
