As an e-commerce business owner, you’re probably familiar with all the steps necessary to get your business up and running. You may even be starting to think about which tools you need to keep track of your income and expenses, ensuring that you are prepared for taxes at the end of the year. If so, then it’s essential to understand precisely what you should expect when signing up for accounting software, including Square vs. QuickBooks.
Similarities of Square and QuickBooks
When opening an account with either Square or QuickBooks, both platforms offer free trials if you want to try before you buy. A monthly fee is also involved when using their services (most likely if your sales volume is high). But the benefits far outweigh any fees paid when trying to manage a business. Here are similarities that make both quick and SquareBooks the best accounting software.
Free Card Reader and Easy Sign Up
You can quickly sign up for Square or QuickBooks to accept credit cards. Both platforms offer a free card reader that plugs into the headphone jack of your phone or tablet. Enter your email address and password on the app, hold the card reader over the logo, and accept payment by charging it to your preferred method (credit or debit).
You can also choose to use an online invoicing service like PayPal’s invoice tool (for both platforms) if you don’t want to charge directly through Square or Intuit. All in all, this is hands down one of the easiest ways for small businesses to take payments because there are no contracts involved, which makes it simple for business owners to test out the software and take payments before inevitably deciding which platform is best for business.
Mobile Apps
When comparing Square vs QuickBooks, both platforms also offer mobile apps that allow you to view and update your cash flow on the go. This is especially helpful if you’re too busy to sit at a desk and keep up with everything. As far as updating expenses and income, both services make it simple. Simply input the amount of money you made or spent (i.e., $5,000) and select whether it’s an expense or income. Once these transactions show up in your ‘reports,’ they will be stored in your account until you decide to import them into an external program like QuickBooks or another tool.
Advanced Features
In terms of more advanced features like VAT, inventory management, and multi-user capabilities, both tools make almost identical promises. You can easily integrate these features to get the most out of your software. Although, if you have a big business or plan on proliferating, Square might not be the best tool for you. This is because while QuickBooks makes it easy to manage multi-users and track inventory in its multi-user account settings, Square makes multi-user capabilities an additional charge (with rates based on monthly sales volume).
QuickBooks Accounting Software
This is a software program that can be used to keep track of finances within a company. Quickbooks, along with other accounting software, allows users to create templates for different income sources and expenses. These templates offer specific fields to label the information found within the document and allow for easy data management and collection. Below are the pros and cons of QuickBooks
Pros of Quickbooks
One thing that QuickBooks will win in this debate of Square vs QuickBooks, is accounting software. Whether you’re a start-up or a seasoned business owner, QuickBooks is the solution that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Here are the pros of QuickBooks:
- QuickBooks offers a wide variety of products that let you manage your entire business. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you have or how many employees you have. QuickBooks has a solution for you.
- The learning curve is simple and easy to learn, even if you’re new to accounting. If other people in your business know basic bookkeeping, they can quickly pick up the basics of using QuickBooks to track finances.
- Advanced features are available but not required to use the program. You can start using it right away without having to spend time learning complicated functions.
- It integrates seamlessly with other Intuit products, so you don’t have to switch back and forth between different programs.
- The software is affordable, especially when compared with the cost of hiring an accountant or bookkeeper.
- QuickBooks offers technical support via phone 24/7, 365 days per year; there’s no need to take time off work for account issues.
- You can use the desktop version, a mobile app or have it hosted for you by Intuit. The choice is yours, so you work how and where you want.
- QuickBooks offers education to help you learn about the program. A free online training course offers tips and tricks from experts who understand what your business needs most from accounting software.
- Intuit guarantees compliance with all local, federal and international laws because they’re an authorized reseller of H&R Block tax software that comes pre-loaded on QuickBooks products specifically to ensure your books meet all legal requirements.
- It’s a 24/7 money management solution for any business owner who wants to save time and money.
Cons of QuickBooks
When comparing Square vs QuickBooks, there will be downsides to both. Are you looking for an easy solution to keep track of your small business’ finances? Well, you might want to think twice before deciding on QuickBooks. Here are the cons of this popular accounting software program.
- The user must pay the subscription fee every month if they want access to support and updates. This price is very high when compared with other programs like Quicken or Microsoft Money.
- When switching from another app, data transfers can be complex because there isn’t always a direct conversion feature between files. Many users need to re-enter all their financial information, which takes time and effort.
- This software is best suited for small businesses that sell products rather than service-based companies where invoices are the primary source of income.
- Because QuickBooks is not designed to handle service receipts, it can make calculating gross margins difficult if the company provides services in addition to goods.
Square Books
Square vs QuickBooks also comes down to accounting software. SquareHub is cloud-based accounting software that can be used to manage any business. It is ideal for small businesses with one employee, as it needs nothing more than an internet connection and a browser to work anywhere. Here are the pros and cons of SquareBooks.
The Most Notable Advantages of SquareBooks
Here are the advantages of SquareBooks
- With SquareBooks, you can manage multiple companies, invoices, customers, and suppliers from one simple interface.
- Connecting with your bank account means there’s no need to go through an import process or manually enter transactions. This saves time and reduces errors.
- SquareBooks offers excellent business reports making it easier for owners to understand their company performance.
- Easy to keep track of business expenses, cash flow, and employee salaries.
- Easy to track inventory so you’ll never miss out on making a sale because one of your products is out of stock.
- It keeps track of all your income automatically, so no more wondering where that last payment went? Yup, it’s right there in front of you.
- Emailing invoices to customers couldn’t be easier with SquareBooks. Simply type up an email template then send it directly from the software – this saves time and money.
- SquareBooks integrates with leading accounting software like Xero, QuickBooks & SageOne for seamless bookkeeping transfer – which means less manual entry and more accurate reporting (more saving time). It is a user-friendly system, making it accessible to all users, even those using smartphones or tablets.
- Offers unlimited support and training for your business so you can get started with SquareBooks right away without having to worry about finding time in your day to learn the ropes!
The Disadvantages of Square Books Accounting Software
Just like most accounting software, square books have some downsides (Square vs QuickBooks). The disadvantages include:
- Some users find the user interface not very friendly; they want more features in their accounting software; therefore, they expect something dynamic with a better visualization. The application works only with the English language. And other languages like Hindi, Spanish, French, etc., will come soon.
- The invoices print in a very small size which is only suitable for low-quality printers.
- It does not support multi-currency and expense categorization.
- You cannot view completed payments or, if you can, you will find it challenging to get the entire history for all the payments made on the system.
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