Bookkeeper360 vs. QuickBooks Live: Which one should you use?

In our comparison guide, looking at Bookkeeper360 vs. QuickBooks Live, we’ll compare the two directly to help you decide which bookkeeping solution is right for you.

If you’re anything like me, keeping your business’ books is something you like to put off as long as possible, which means they end up a mess… which makes you want to put them off even longer.

It’s a vicious cycle, which is why you might want to consider investing in a full-service bookkeeping solution as your business grows to take your hands out of the equation altogether.

Bookkeeper360 and QuickBooks Live are two popular options with similar functionalities.

In this guide, we’ll compare these softwares, provide an overview of each, and then dive into their feature sets so you can decide which is the better software for your business.

Bookkeeper360 vs. QuickBooks Live at a Glance

Feature	Bookkeeper360	QuickBooks Live	Winner
SMB Guide’s Rating	8/10	9/10	QuickBooks Live
General Ledger and Chart of Accounts	✅	✅	Tie
Bank Integration and Reconciliation	Yes, integrates with 5000+ institutions	Yes, integrates via Plaid	Tie
Financial Reporting	Standard reports available plus additional metrics via the dashboard	Reports available depending on which plan you’re subscribed to	Bookkeeper360
Payroll Processing	Yes, starting at $45/month	Yes, but requires you to subscribe to an additional plan	Bookkeeper360
Tax Management	✅	✅	Tie
UX and UI	✅	✅	Tie
Integrations & API Capabilities	Integrates with well-known apps like Xero, QuickBooks, and Gusto	Integrates with 750+ third-party applications	QuickBooks Live
Supported Platforms	❌	✅	QuickBooks Live
Customer Support	Monday – Friday, 6am-6pm PT and Saturday, 6am-3pm PT	Phone number listed on website but unclear what support hours are	QuickBooks Live
Pricing	$19 – $549 per month	$200 – $400 per month	Bookkeeper360

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.

Bookkeeper360: Key Features, Pros, Cons, & Pricing

Bookkeeper360 is an accounting software that claims to be the best overall bookkeeping solution for small businesses.

Along with bookkeeping, the company also offers personalized tax and advisory solutions for business owners.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

Bookkeeper360 offers four different plan options depending on your needs.

Price is primarily based on your monthly expenses, and they have a handy slider on their pricing page so you can get a solid idea of what the software will cost you:

Something that’s unique about them is that their smallest subscription plan is a pay-as-you-go option.

You’ll still have to pay a small monthly subscription fee, but other than that, the cost you’ll incur depends on how many hours of support you need from your dedicated accountant.

The other two plans are monthly subscriptions. It’s important to note that the cost of these plans differs depending on whether your business uses cash or accrual accounting.

Here’s a quick breakdown of all three plans:

• Bookkeeper360 App: $19/month
• Pay-As-You-Go: $49/month plus $125/hour for support
• Monthly: $399/month for businesses using cash accounting, $549/month for businesses using accrual accounting.
• Weekly: $549/month for businesses using cash accounting, $749/month for businesses using accrual accounting.

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

QuickBooks Live is an additional service that you can add onto your existing QuickBooks subscription.

You’ll be partnered up with a live bookkeeper who can bring your existing books up to date and then manage your finances from there.

Pros & Cons

Pricing

QuickBooks Live pricing starts at $200 per month, plus a cleanup fee that you’re required to pay in the first month.

The cost is based on your revenue. That being said, here’s an estimate of how much you can expect to pay for the service:

• For businesses earning less than $10k/month: $200
• For businesses earning $10k to $50k/month: $300
• For businesses earning more than $50k/month: $400

General Ledger and Chart of Accounts

You can customize your general ledger and chart of accounts in Bookkeeper360 to suit your company’s specific financial model.

You have the ability to create groupings, categories, and subcategories for your income and expenses.

If you’re unsure of the best way to set up your chart of accounts, your bookkeeper can assist you (even if you’re on the pay-as-you-go plan).

QuickBooks makes it easy to import and categorize your transactions.

Your dedicated bookkeeper will review the information you input for accuracy and recategorize your transactions for cleaner reports.

Both services allow you to create custom categories for transactions and provide expert support to keep your books as accurate as possible.

✅ Winner: Tie

Bank Integration and Reconciliation

Bookkeeper360 integrates with 5000+ financial institutions. This allows you to import transactions across multiple bank accounts, making reconciliation that much easier.

QuickBooks uses Plaid to connect with your financial institution, which is generally a well-trusted platform.

All you need to do is provide your login information and then verify with your bank.

While importing transactions is pretty seamless, you’ll still likely need to spend time categorizing them, as QuickBooks tends to lump a lot of things up “Other” rather than its correct category.

Both softwares have the ability to integrate with your bank accounts and import transactions.

✅ Winner: Tie

Financial Reporting

Bookkeeper360 provides standard financial reports like profit and loss and balance sheet.

You also have the option of filtering and customizing these reports based on your business needs.

One cool thing about Bookkeeper360 is that a lot of cool financial metrics like your cash flow, debt-to-equity ratio, and more are displayed front and center on the dashboard.

QuickBooks also provides financial reports, but only the very basics are provided are the cheapest plan.

If you want to take advantage of all the available report options, you’ll need to sign up for the QuickBooks Advanced plan.

Bookkeeper360 provides standard financial reports plus additional financial metrics that are accessible to you via the main dashboard.

You don’t need to subscribe to any specific plan to gain access to them.

✅ Winner: Bookkeeper360

Payroll Processing

Bookkeeper360 can handle your payroll, keep you in compliance, plus handle benefits for your employees.

That said, this feature appears to be a separate paid service, starting at $45 per month.

QuickBooks also offers payroll features, but their pricing is separate from regular bookkeeping or Live subscriptions.

That said, you can save a bit of money by purchasing a bundle bookkeeping and payroll subscription.

Both softwares offer add-on payroll features for an additional cost, but QuickBooks’ pricing and plan structure is complex and a bit difficult to understand.

✅ Winner: Bookkeeper360

Tax Management

With Bookkeeper360, you can generate tax forms, file corporate tax, and calculate sales tax in some states.

If you use integrations like Xero TaxTouch, the process is made even simpler.

While regular QuickBooks plans do have some tax management features, a QuickBooks Live Full-Service Tax subscription will provide you with access to an expert who fully prepares your taxes for you.

Unfortunately, this service is only available to a limited number of customers at this time, and it’s not clear if this service is an additional charge and how much it will cost.

QuickBooks Live offers a full-service tax feature to make filing your business taxes a breeze.

✅ Winner: QuickBooks Live

User Experience and User Interface

Bookkeeper360 has an interface that’s clean, simple, and well-organized. It’s easy to find what you need within the software.

Their dashboard layout is nice and something that stood out to me within the software.

We’ll be evaluating regular QuickBooks’ overall user experience in our comparison (since QuickBooks Live is just an add-on service).

The interface is clean and everything you need is accessible from the left menu. The dashboard is laid out a bit differently than Bookkeeper360.

Both softwares have clean and simple UIs, so at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference.

✅ Winner: Tie

Integrations & API Capabilities

Bookkeeper360 integrates with some widely-used third-party apps like Xero, QuickBooks, and Gusto.

However, it’s unclear exactly how many integrations they support – there was no “integrations” or “partners” page available on their website.

QuickBooks Live, on the other hand, supports 750+ apps and integrations. For a full list of supported integrations, you can visit the QuickBooks App Store.

QuickBooks Live has over 750 supported third-party apps, while there wasn’t much information available about Bookkeeper360’s integration options.

✅ Winner: QuickBooks Live

Supported Platforms

Bookkeeper360 and QuickBooks Live are both web-based softwares, meaning you can access them from your internet browser anywhere you have wifi.

However, most people nowadays prefer the ease-of-use that a mobile app brings.

Unfortunately, Bookkeeper360 doesn’t offer a mobile app at this time. QuickBooks has a mobile app, which works for both the basic subscription and QB Live.

It’s rated 4.7 stars on the App Store and 4.4 stars on the Google Play Store.

Bookkeeper360 doesn’t have a mobile app yet, so QuickBooks comes in first here.

✅ Winner: QuickBooks Live

Customer Support

Honestly, I found it difficult to locate any information about Bookkeeper360’s support hours on their website.

They also don’t have a knowledge base of any kind that I could find like some accounting softwares have.

That said, they do provide a phone number on their website – 800-478-5082 – and I imagine that if you needed help with something, you could get assistance there.

QuickBooks support is available for all plans except the Advanced plan Monday through Friday, 6am-6pm PT and Saturday, 6am-3pm PT.

On the Advanced plan, support is available 24/7. To get help, you’ll need to sign into your account and start a live chat or request that the next available representative call you to assist with your issue.

If you’re not logged in, you can call QuickBooks directly at 800-446-8848.

QuickBooks has clear hours with a few different options for getting assistance, while I struggled to find any information about Bookkeeper360’s support.

✅ Winner: QuickBooks Live

Pricing

Bookkeeper360 offers four different plans, with the lowest starting at just $19/month if you just want access to the app itself (and no dedicated bookkeeping support).

Interestingly, they offer a pay-as-you-go option that costs $49 per month plus an additional hourly charge for support.

This is a great option for new businesses or those who don’t anticipate needing extensive support.

QuickBooks Live plans start at $200/month, with most subscriptions ranging from $200-$400.

It’s important to reiterate that since this is an add-on service, you’ll also need to purchase a regular QuickBooks subscription, which starts out at $30/month.

Bookkeeper360 has plans that work for all different budgets, while QuickBooks Live starts out around the same price point regardless of how many hours of bookkeeping support you think you’ll need.

✅ Winner: Bookkeeper360

Standout Features of Bookkeeper360

Virtual CFO

Bookkeeper360 offers a separate, premium service that allows you to hire a fractional CFO for your business for as little as $700 per month.

You can think of a fractional CFO as a virtual business advisor. They work closely alongside you, learn the ins and outs of your business, and help you navigate tough decisions.

For example, they can offer insights on things like your business plan, growth strategy, key performance indicators (KPIs), and more.

Standout Features of QuickBooks Live

One-time cleanup

To use QuickBooks Live, there’s a one-time cleanup fee to get your books in working order before your service actually begins.

Now, if you’re someone who hasn’t done a great job of keeping up and your books are a mess as a result, paying a small one-time fee to clean everything up might sound like a steal.

This is why I mention this as a standout feature. However, it’s important to note that for businesses that are just starting out, or for those who have meticulously kept up with their bookkeeping, this might feel like a complete waste of money.

Unfortunately, it’s not something you can get out of, either. It’s mandatory before moving forward with QuickBooks Live.

Bookkeeper360 vs. QuickBooks Live: SMB Guide’s Verdict

If you’re looking for a full-service bookkeeping solution, both Bookkeeper360 and QuickBooks Live as an add-on to your existing QB plan are solid choices.

With its clean interface, the option to have a dedicated account management team, and a pay-as-you-go plan, Bookkeeper360 is a great solution for companies still in their growth stage.

QuickBooks Live, on the other hand, is best suited to larger companies who are already using QuickBooks.

After looking at the pros, cons, and feature sets of both softwares, I personally think that Bookkeeper360 is the better way to go, especially if you go with the pay-as-you-go option.

To get started, schedule a call with their team today.

If you’d rather use QuickBooks, I’d recommend starting out with one of their basic subscriptions and only adding the Live service later once you determine you need it.