QuickBooks Free is built to keep a small, simple operation organized without a monthly subscription. But as your business grows, you may run into some limitations that make the free-to-use tool fall short of what you need.

Here’s what you get with QuickBooks Free, along with seven signs that an upgrade might be a better choice for your business.

What does QuickBooks Free include?

QuickBooks Free costs $0 per month and is primarily designed for one-person businesses that need to track cash coming in and going out. Here’s what’s included:

• Access for one user; does not include accountant access.
• Track income and expenses, with connection to one bank account.
• Send two invoices per month.
• Run profit & loss reports.
• Contractor management for one contractor.
• Smart expense organization.
• Automated bookkeeping.
• Bill pay.
• Receipt capture for up to two receipts monthly.
• Mileage tracking for up to five trips monthly.
• Up to one sales estimate per month.
• Sales and sales tax management.
• Customer management
• Notes and task management.
• Real-time financial health.
• Business planner.

7 signs you might need a higher QuickBooks tier

Here’s when it could make sense to upgrade to Simple Start, Essentials, or any of the other QuickBooks plans.

1. You’re sending more than two invoices a month

Two invoices and one estimate per month works for a consultant on retainer or a business that bills a couple of clients on a predictable schedule. But if you bill per milestone or take on several new clients, you can use up a month’s allowance very quickly. 

One workaround is to bill using your own template, but that requires you to create, send, and track invoices manually, with no automated reminders or status updates—all creating more work for you and more potential delays in getting paid.

All QuickBooks paid plans offer unlimited invoicing.

2. Your receipts are piling up somewhere else

QuickBooks Free allows two receipt uploads per month. Everything else has to live somewhere outside your books, whether that’s a folder on your phone, an email label, or an envelope in a drawer.

That can become a problem come tax season when you have to spend time attaching receipts in different places to the transaction they belong to. And depending on how airtight your system is, it’s always possible for receipts to go missing or for you to forget where you left them. 

With Simple Start and up, you’ll get unlimited receipt capture. 

3. You’ve hired a second contractor

Hiring a contractor allows you to leverage specialized skills, delegate onerous tasks, and free up time for you to focus on what matters most. But doing so creates a new list of tasks, including requesting and managing W-9s, assigning vendor payments, and preparing and e-filing your 1099 tax forms. 

With the free plan, Intuit will handle W-9s digitally, assign payment categories, and take care of 1099 preparing and filing for a single contractor, such as a freelancer or part-time helper. But if you need to hire a second one, all of that compliance work is on your plate for them unless you upgrade.

Keep in mind that if you miss deadlines or don’t handle tax forms properly, you could run afoul of the IRS.

4. Your account needs access to your books

The QuickBooks Free plan includes access for a single user, and that doesn’t include accountant access. In other words, a bookkeeper or CPA can’t log in to review how you’ve categorized your expenses, correct mistakes, or pull what they need at the end of the year to help with your taxes.

This puts the onus on you to export reports and send them to your accountant, then make the required fixes promptly. If you’re already paying someone to manage your books, it could make sense to upgrade to Simple Start or another tier, so they can do their work behind the scenes.

5. You have multiple financial accounts to track

The free plan allows you to link one bank account and get an automated feed for inflows and outflows. But even many smaller businesses have more than that—say, a business checking account, a business credit card, or even multiple business cards for specific expense categories.

For every account that you can’t link, you’ll have to enter transactions manually, which takes time and leaves room for error. With all paid tiers, there’s no limit to the number of banking institutions you can link.

6. Someone else needs access to the account

Both QuickBooks Free and Simple Start support just a single user. But as your business grows, that can become a bottleneck. For example, you may have a spouse handling billing, a part-time bookkeeper maintaining compliance, and an office manager pulling reports. 

If you need more user support, an upgrade to the Essentials plan may be the right move. That said, if the only other person who needs access is your accountant, then a smaller jump to the Simple Start tier may be sufficient.

7. You run your business from your phone

The QuickBooks mobile app allows you to manage your business on the go, which includes everything from reviewing and approving transaction categorization, capturing receipts, and collaborating with your accountant.

You can also use the mobile app to collaborate with Intuit Intelligence to create invoices, run payroll, generate reports, and more. The caveat is that QuickBooks Free doesn’t give you mobile access, significantly limiting your flexibility. 

Again, if you’re a freelancer who strictly works in one place, the mobile app might not be much of a draw. But if your business involves different job sites or client work away from your home or office, the mobile app could save you a lot of time and work.

When QuickBooks Free still makes sense

Plenty of small businesses can benefit from the free plan, and there’s often no point in paying for capacity or features you won’t use. Here are some situations where it could make sense to stick to QuickBooks Free:

• You’re the only person in the books, and you don’t hand anything off to an accountant.
• You bill a small number of clients on a predictable schedule.
• Your money moves through one bank account.
• You don’t have a lot of expenses with receipts to track.
• You don’t currently have need of the QuickBooks mobile app.
• You’re not working with contractors.

QuickBooks Online plans and pricing

QuickBooks Online paid plans cost between $38 and $340 per month as of this writing, depending on the tier you choose. Worth noting as well, QuickBooks is currently taking 50% off the first three months on paid plans, and discounts are also available for paying annually instead of monthly.

Product	Feature highlights	User access	Price
Simple Start	– Expert-guided setup and onboarding  – AI Chat for instant insights (25 questions per month)  – Categorizes expenses  – Maximizes tax deductions  – Run general business reports  – Automated bookkeeping  – Invoice and get paid  – Automate bill pay with free ACH	1 (plus 2 accountants)	$38/mo
Essentials	– Everything in Simple start  – Expert-guided setup and onboarding  – Multiple AI features, such as accounting, payments, and AI Chat for instant insights (50 questions per month)  – Run enhanced reports  – Add employee time to invoices  – Get customer referrals, feedback, and work requests  – Collect leads from a custom form on your website  – Link your calendar and let customers schedule meetings with you directly	3 (plus 2 accountants)	$85/mo
Plus	– Everything in Essentials – Reconciles your books  – Surfaces profit & loss insights  – Finds and fixes anomalies  – Catches discrepancies before filing Multiple AI features, such as sales tax and customer AI (sourcing leads and helping with follow-ups), and AI Chat (100 questions per month) – Run comprehensive reports  – Plan budgets  – Track project profitability  – Track and manage inventory  – Track classes and locations	5 (plus 2 accountants)	$140/mo
Advanced	– Everything in Essentials  – Multiple AI features, such as project management (auto-creates projects and allocates costs) and finance (gives tailored financial insights), and AI Chat (200 questions per month) – Customize dashboards with personalized KPIs and metrics  – Track performance with unlimited classes, locations, and custom KPIs  – Build custom management-ready reports  – Automate workflows  – Sync data with Excel  – Customize user permissions and access  – Forecast cash flow and profit  – Batch invoices and expenses  – Backup and restore your data  – Get priority support and training	25 (plus 3 accountants)	$340/mo

Simple Start
Feature highlights	– Expert-guided setup and onboarding  – AI Chat for instant insights (25 questions per month)  – Categorizes expenses  – Maximizes tax deductions  – Run general business reports  – Automated bookkeeping  – Invoice and get paid  – Automate bill pay with free ACH
User access	1 (plus 2 accountants)
Price	$38/mo
Essentials
Feature highlights	– Everything in Simple start  – Expert-guided setup and onboarding  – Multiple AI features, such as accounting, payments, and AI Chat for instant insights (50 questions per month)  – Run enhanced reports  – Add employee time to invoices  – Get customer referrals, feedback, and work requests  – Collect leads from a custom form on your website  – Link your calendar and let customers schedule meetings with you directly
User access	3 (plus 2 accountants)
Price	$85/mo
Plus
Feature highlights	– Everything in Essentials – Reconciles your books  – Surfaces profit & loss insights  – Finds and fixes anomalies  – Catches discrepancies before filing Multiple AI features, such as sales tax and customer AI (sourcing leads and helping with follow-ups), and AI Chat (100 questions per month) – Run comprehensive reports  – Plan budgets  – Track project profitability  – Track and manage inventory  – Track classes and locations
User access	5 (plus 2 accountants)
Price	$140/mo
Advanced
Feature highlights	– Everything in Essentials  – Multiple AI features, such as project management (auto-creates projects and allocates costs) and finance (gives tailored financial insights), and AI Chat (200 questions per month) – Customize dashboards with personalized KPIs and metrics  – Track performance with unlimited classes, locations, and custom KPIs  – Build custom management-ready reports  – Automate workflows  – Sync data with Excel  – Customize user permissions and access  – Forecast cash flow and profit  – Batch invoices and expenses  – Backup and restore your data  – Get priority support and training
User access	25 (plus 3 accountants)
Price	$340/mo

The takeaway

QuickBooks Free is an excellent starting point for one-person operations with simple finances. But as your business grows and you find yourself doing more manual bookkeeping work than you’d like or want additional features, it could make sense to upgrade.

Before you do, take your time to compare the other tiers, including their costs and what they have to offer, so your business gets the help it needs.

Frequently asked questions

Is QuickBooks Free truly free?

Yes. QuickBooks Free is a $0-per-month plan designed primarily for small businesses with a single operator and simple bookkeeping needs. For larger operations, you may consider a paid plan, which comes with a 30-day free trial.

When does it make sense to hire a bookkeeper?

QuickBooks Free can be a great way to manage your business finances, as long as they’re relatively straightforward. But if you’re having trouble keeping up with your bookkeeping or the complexity is getting to be too much, it could be a good idea to hire an accountant to help.

Do I keep my data when I upgrade to a QuickBooks paid plan?

Yes. All of your data, account history, and settings should stay with you when you upgrade from QuickBooks Free to Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, or Advanced.