1-800Accountant vs. QuickBooks Live: Which service is best?

Using the right bookkeeping and accounting software makes a significant difference in your business operations.

The right service will simplify your processes to save you time and money while also giving you real-time insights into your company’s financial health.

In this 1-800Accountant vs. QuickBooks Live comparison guide, I’ll look closely at the tools head-to-head to help you decide which one is the best for your needs.

Both services are well established within the market, offering unique features and advantages.

Both offer dedicated finance teams with accountants and tax professionals, though tax advice is limited to specific plans.

1-800Accountant provides support for both personal and business taxes, while QuickBooks Live supports your existing QuickBooks Online subscription with professional accounting assistance.

Understanding the differences and limitations of these platforms can help you choose the one you need based on your unique business requirements.

Streamlining your bookkeeping can directly impact your profits, so it’s crucial to make the right choice.

1-800Accountant vs. QuickBooks Live at a glance

Feature	1-800Accountant	QuickBooks Live	Winner
SMB Guide’s Rating	9	9	1-800Accountant
General Ledger and Chart of Accounts	Clear and Easy to Understand	Clear and Easy to Understand	Tie
Bank Integration and Reconciliation	Easy to do in a few clicks	Easy to do in a few clicks	Tie
Financial Reporting	Common reports easy to generate	Based on subscription level	1-800Accountant
AP and AR Management	Available if you use accrual based account	Available if you use accrual based account	Tie
Payroll Processing	Available for an additional fee	Available for an additional fee	Tie
Tax Management	✅	✅	Tie
Customization Options	Limited customization options	Customize reports, and dashboards, and add more users based on plan	QuickBooks Live
UX and UI	Simple, clear, and easy to use	Simple and clear. Still, more options available to work with	QuickBooks Live
Integration & API Capabilities	Limited integrations, no clear API access	Integrates with over 750 apps	QuickBooks Live
Supported Platforms	Web-based, with an iOS app available	Web-based, but has an Android and iOS app available	Tie
Customer Support	Live chat, phone, and messaging in your account	Live chat, phone, and messaging in your account	Tie
Pricing	$139/mo – $399/mo	$200/mo	1-800Accountant
Scalability	✅	✅	1-800Accountant

How we evaluate and test softwares

When testing softwares/apps, SMB Guide employs a dual approach based on free trial availability and demos. For platforms offering free trials, we test their functionalities, usability, navigation, and ease of use. In the case of tools lacking a free version or trial, we rely on in-depth research and user testimonials through software review platforms like G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Software Advice, and GetApp to gauge their performance and capabilities. Learn more about our ratings criteria for bookkeeping software & services here.

1-800Accountant: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

1-800Accountant is a renowned online accounting service offering a broad range of services for small business owners.

It is known mostly for its tax advisory services that handle both business and personal taxes.

In addition, it’s known for bookkeeping and payroll services. The goal is to help small business owners save time and money on bookkeeping and accounting without paying more tax than is due.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Pricing ranges from $139/month to $399/month, billed annually. Payroll services are billed at a separate rate, which is customized to your business needs.

Quickbooks Live: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

QuickBooks Live is an online bookkeeping service designed to assist businesses with their accounting.

It is an additional service to be used with QuickBooks Online. Using it, you get matched with a QuickBooks Certified accountant who reconciles your books for you.

Similar to 1-800 Accountant, the goal is to simplify your bookkeeping. QuickBooks Live will reconcile your accounts, close books, and generate financial reports to make it easier to file your taxes.

Tax services are available for an additional fee.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

You’ll choose your QuickBooks Online subscription and pay a fee for the Live service in addition to that subscription fee, plus the one-time clean-up fee.

The Live fee is based on your business’s monthly expense volume.

• Simple Start:$30/month
• Essentials: $55/month
• Plus: $85/month
• Advanced: $200/month

• Monthly revenue between $0-$10,000: $200/month
• Monthly revenue between $10,001-$50,000: $300/month
• Monthly revenue $50,001+: $400/month

General Ledger and Chart of Accounts

Both QuickBooks Live and 1-800Accountant do a good job of creating a standard general ledger and Chart of Accounts.

You can edit them as needed to better reflect your business operations. If you have questions or concerns, you can reach out to your accountant in your dashboard.

The only real difference between them comes down to user interface and design, so it’s a matter of personal preference rather than functionality.

✅ Winner: Tie

Bank Integration and Reconciliation

QuickBooks Live uses Plaid to securely connect your bank accounts to your dashboard. 1-800Accountant uses a Fincity to accomplish the same thing.

Both tools make it easy to connect your accounts in a few clicks.

Both tools also take a few minutes to import your transactions from your bank, and automatically categorize them.

I found that both tools did a decent job, but there were errors to be sorted out on both, hence the tie.

I found that the lack of a “Select All” feature on 1-800 Accountant made correctly categorizing all of the uncategorized options much more time-consuming.

✅ Winner: Tie

Financial Reporting

The level of financial reporting you get with QuickBooks Live directly correlates to the subscription you have.

Without the Advanced (most expensive) subscription, you will not have access to all the reporting. The Starter plan only includes basic reports like profit and loss.

You get more financial reporting off the bat with your 1-800Accountant account, which is why I declare it the winner here.

✅ Winner: 1-800Accountant

AP and AR Management

If your company doesn’t use accrual based accounting, you won’t need these features. Many online bookkeeping services charge an additional fee for this type of accounting.

Both 1-800Accountant and QuickBooks Online (Live) make it possible to manage accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Both tools make it possible to send invoices and receive payments. You can also add products and services, as well as customers.

✅ Winner: Tie

Payroll Processing

Payroll processing is an optional add-on for both platforms. The service comes at an additional fee.

Pricing isn’t disclosed without an onboarding call from 1-800Accountant, so I can’t speak to which service offers the better pricing.

I gave them a tie here because it is available on both platforms.

✅ Winner: Tie

Tax Management

Taxes are part of both platforms – you’ll pay more on either of them if you want full-service tax filing.

Because of this, it’s a tie here, too. Pricing varies based on the plan you choose.

✅ Winner: Tie

Customization Options

You can customize both platforms to an extent, but I found it easier to customize QuickBooks Live and that QuickBooks had more options overall, so that’s why I declared them the winner here.

✅ Winner: QuickBooks Live

User Experience and User Interface

Because the Live service is an add-on with QuickBooks, I was not able to evaluate it specifically, since I could not demo without making a purchase.

Since I manage everything in QuickBooks Self Employed, which is not compatible with the Live service, I based this decision on the QuickBooks Online demo interface.

I found both platforms easy to use, with everything clearly laid out and intuitive. The reason I did not declare 1-800Accountant the winner comes down to a few things:

• Scheduling meetings with the team times out and I did not get a confirmation, but my onboarding specialist was able to confirm and it eventually showed up in my dashboard.
• The lack of a “Select All” feature on the transactions list made it unnecessarily time-consuming to correctly categorize my transactions.

✅ Winner: QuickBooks Live

Integration & API Capabilities

Quickbooks Live wins again. Why? They have over 750 apps and integrations in their marketplace. API access is available for developers to create more custom integrations.

When I spoke with my account manager at 1800Accountant, she said they did not have any integrations and weren’t clear about API access.

✅ Winner: QuickBooks Live

Supported Platforms

Both QuickBooks Live and 1-800Accountant offer a web-based platform that you can access from any device with an internet connection.

Both tools also offer mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.

✅ Winner: Tie

Customer Support

As a Quickbooks Self Employed customer who decided to go ahead and onboard with 1-800 Accountant for the tax advice, I found the customer support to be responsive, both on live chat and over the phone.

However, there were some points of confusion with both. For example, the Quickbooks agent told me the first month of Live would be $1,000 when that’s not what the website indicates.

My 1-800Accountant account manager, who onboarded me and assigned my tax advisor, indicated that payroll was done with Gusto, and there was no integration.

But, once I got into my dashboard, there’s no mention of Gusto services anywhere, and a requirement to speak to someone for a quote on payroll services.

When I did my tax advisory onboarding call with 1-800Accountant, they alluded to using QuickBooks, rather than their own bookkeeping services, which I found a little confusing.

Maybe it’s because I mentioned that I currently use QuickBooks Self Employed, but it seemed odd.

Because there were points of confusion with both, and they offer the same support channels and were equally responsive, I declare a tie.

✅ Winner: Tie

Pricing

QuickBooks Online charges a basic subscription fee, and then you’ll pay more every month for the Live add-on.

That Live add on is priced based on your monthly expense volume. 1-800Accountant wins here because it is more affordably priced overall and is a flat rate, rather than based on expenses.

✅ Winner: 1-800Accountant

Scalability

Both platforms are designed to grow with your business. You’ll pay more for the QuickBooks Live because it increases as your expenses do, but because the plans are similar and 1-800Accountant offers some customization of your plans, I called them the winner here.

✅ Winner: 1-800Accountant

Standout Features of 1-800Accountant

1-800Accountant, with the right plan selection, will file both your personal and business taxes, rather than sending you to a partner company.

And, unlike others in this space, they also offer a basic business formation plan, which allows you to build your LLC or Corporation for nothing more than the state filing fee.

When I asked what sets them apart from QuickBooks Live, Alison directed me to other channels to speak directly with my tax team to get an answer.

It was a bit frustrating to use my personal portal that’s supposed to be directed for tax and bookkeeping-specific information to try to get a quote when I could do it with ease with QuickBooks Live’s live chat feature.

Standout Features of Quickbooks Live

Comparatively, QuickBooks offers pretty much the same services as 1-800Accountant. The only thing that makes them stand out is the sheer number of potential integrations and the ability to add multiple users to your account. 

When I asked customer support about what sets them apart from 1-800 Accountant, Najee said, “Well with our live bookkeeping service, you can have a certified bookkeeper assigned to your account to help you with setting up your chart of accounts, categorizing your transactions, running monthly reports, etc.

You will always have the bookkeeper available to contact for any questions or concerns. With our guarantee making sure all your books are taken care of with protections for any errors.”

1-800Accountant vs. QuickBooks Live: SMB Guide’s Verdict

Ultimately, both tools are great for managing your business accounting, bookkeeping, and taxes.

The main difference is that QuickBooks charges a fee based on your monthly expense volume, while 1-800Accountant charges a flat fee.

Both services support helping you with tax advice for an additional fee, but 1-800Accountant will file both your personal and business tax returns if you choose the right plan. 

QuickBooks will only file your taxes for you if you pay for the Live-Full Service Tax. Overall, QuickBooks has more integrations, which may make it the better option for you, depending on the other apps you use and your workflow.

From a money standpoint, 1-800Accountant is the cheaper option, but the annual billing may be a dealbreaker for you if you’re just getting started and don’t have much cash flow.

Both tools can scale with you as your business grows.