If you’ve recently started or are running a new business, or have been ramping up with freelance work, you know that those endeavors come with a ton of administrative tasks that need to happen behind the scenes. On top of trying to offer quality products and services, keep clients happy, and market your business, you have to manage expenses, monitor financials, and keep your tax items organized.

Staying on top of money matters, especially if you’re not a financial person to begin with, can take up a good portion of your time and even feel tedious or overwhelming. If you’re tired of messing around with spreadsheets and manually keeping your books in order, making the switch to accounting software could help.

But before you plunk down money toward yet another paid service for your business, you might be wondering if you can get away with using QuickBooks Free. This $0 version of the popular online accounting software is bare bones when compared to its paid tiers, but for some business owners it might still be enough.

Here, we break down the features offered with QuickBooks Free to help you determine if it has everything you need to streamline your accounting tasks, or if you should go straight to a paid plan.

What is QuickBooks Free?

QuickBooks Free is the basic, no-cost version of the popular online accounting software. It is designed for solo business owners, freelancers, or anyone just starting up their business who is looking to move away from manual spreadsheets and simplify their bookkeeping.  

This $0 account tier offers basic functionality to help users track income and expenses, run simple reports, and send up to two invoices per month.  

What is included in the QuickBooks Free plan?

The QuickBook Free plan includes access for one user and allows you to connect to one bank account. 

These are key functions and tools that you can use to manage your finances:

• Track transactions: Automatically imports and categorize transactions from your selected bank account
• Accept payments: Includes payments via PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, cards, and ACH (processing fees apply)
• Expense tracking: Track business and personal expenses to keep them separate
• Reports: Generate the profit & loss, balance sheet, and account summary reports
• Invoices: Two per month are included on this plan
• Contractor management: Manage and assign payments to one 1099 contractor
• Receipt capture: Two per month are included on this plan
• Mileage: Track up to five trips per month
• Manual sales & sales tax: Collect sales tax by adding amount to your invoices

What’s not included with QuickBooks Free

• Multiple user access
• Unlimited bank connections
• Unlimited invoicing
• Unlimited mileage or receipt tracking
• Employee bill pay
• Access for your accountant
• Customized/advanced reporting features
• Mobile app access

How to decide if QuickBooks Free can work for your business

QuickBooks Free can be a good fit for your business if you have simple accounting needs. See which of these situations best describes your needs:

Try QuickBooks Free if:	Consider upgrading QuickBooks to a paid subscription level if:
You’re a solo practitioner, new business owner, or freelancer	You want your accountants or other users to have account access
You plan to send out two or less invoices per month	You freelance for several clients and need to send out multiple invoices per month
You don’t have any paid employees or work with just one 1099 contractor	You want software to generate employee payments
You don’t have the need for customized reporting	You want to leverage customized reporting tools
You perform all of your accounting tasks on a computer	Want to access and use your account via a mobile app

You’re a solo practitioner, new business owner, or freelancer
Consider upgrading QuickBooks to a paid subscription level if:	You want your accountants or other users to have account access
You plan to send out two or less invoices per month
Consider upgrading QuickBooks to a paid subscription level if:	You freelance for several clients and need to send out multiple invoices per month
You don’t have any paid employees or work with just one 1099 contractor
Consider upgrading QuickBooks to a paid subscription level if:	You want software to generate employee payments
You don’t have the need for customized reporting
Consider upgrading QuickBooks to a paid subscription level if:	You want to leverage customized reporting tools
You perform all of your accounting tasks on a computer
Consider upgrading QuickBooks to a paid subscription level if:	Want to access and use your account via a mobile app

What happens if I outgrow QuickBooks Free?

One of the advantages of using QuickBooks Free is that you can upgrade your account at any time. If your business scales to the point that you need to hire employees or additional contractors, expand your invoiceable client roster, want multiple users to access the software, or can benefit from more advanced reporting, there are other plan levels that can accommodate.

All your financial data should transfer seamlessly to your new paid subscription, and you will be able to invite/assign new users (such as a bookkeeper) to the account.

Plan options include:

	Lite	Simple Start	Essentials	Plus
Price per month*	$20	$38	$85	$140
Key features	-Unlimited invoices -Unlimited receipts and mileage -Manage 3 contractors	-Automated bookkeeping -Automated bill pay -Invoice and get paid	-Enhanced reports -Employee time to invoices -Integrate third-party data into KPIs and dashboards -Lead collection	-Plan budgets -Track project profitability -Track and manage inventory
Users	1 user, plus 1 accountant	1 user, plus access for 2 accountants	3 users, plus access for 2 accountants	5 users, plus access for 2 accountants

Price per month*
Lite	$20
Simple Start	$38
Essentials	$85
Plus	$140
Key features
Lite	-Unlimited invoices -Unlimited receipts and mileage -Manage 3 contractors
Simple Start	-Automated bookkeeping -Automated bill pay -Invoice and get paid
Essentials	-Enhanced reports -Employee time to invoices -Integrate third-party data into KPIs and dashboards -Lead collection
Plus	-Plan budgets -Track project profitability -Track and manage inventory
Users
Lite	1 user, plus 1 accountant
Simple Start	1 user, plus access for 2 accountants
Essentials	3 users, plus access for 2 accountants
Plus	5 users, plus access for 2 accountants

* Note that as of this writing, QuickBooks is offering 50% off of the first three months when you sign up for any of these accounts.

The takeaway

QuickBooks Free is a basic level accounting software plan that doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but for solo business owners who don’t necessarily need advanced tools, it can be enough. 

Especially for those who are going from manual bookkeeping to accounting software for the first time, trying out the $0 plan can make sense since it won’t overwhelm you with a lot of tools and features.

Once you get your financial footing, or if your business needs change, you can always decide to make the jump to a paid version without having to start from scratch.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need accounting software if I’m a solo business owner?

As a solo business owner, having accounting software can help save you precious time on bookkeeping and accounting tasks so you can focus on your core business. Accounting software helps you track expenses, accept payments, and run basic reports.

Can I upgrade my QuickBooks Free account if needed?

You can upgrade your QuickBooks Free account at any time. Your financial data will transfer over and you can add new users and begin using the advanced tools and additional account features right away.

Is there a free trial for QuickBooks paid versions?

QuickBooks does offer a 30-day free trial of its Lite, Simple Start, or Online Plus account levels, which are regularly priced from $20 to $140 per month, after the trial period. As an alternative to the free trial, you can also sign up for either level with 50% off the first three months.

Is the paid version of QuickBooks Online worth it for a sole proprietor or freelancer?

QuickBooks Online does come with some advanced features that can make the monthly cost worthwhile for sole proprietors or freelancers. It really depends on the nature of your business, your accounting needs, and if you will maximize the higher-level tools and features. If you’re undecided, you could always start out with QuickBooks Free to see if it meets your needs, and then upgrade to a paid account version (starting at $20 per month) as needed.