QuickBooks Online Advanced is Intuit’s most powerful cloud-based accounting solution, built specifically for growing and mid-sized businesses that need greater control, customization, and efficiency in managing their finances. As part of the trusted QuickBooks Online product family, Advanced goes beyond basic bookkeeping by offering robust tools for automation, reporting, team collaboration, and scalability.
Designed to support up to 25 users with customized access permissions, QuickBooks Online Advanced empowers businesses to streamline workflows, increase visibility, and make smarter financial decisions in real time. It seamlessly connects with hundreds of third-party apps and offers enterprise-grade capabilities without the complexity or cost of traditional ERP systems.
With features such as customizable dashboards, automated workflows, advanced reporting powered by Fathom, batch invoicing, and role-based user access, QuickBooks Online Advanced is ideal for companies experiencing rapid growth or managing multiple departments, projects, or locations.
Key highlights include:
- Advanced reporting and analytics for deeper business insights
- Custom roles and permissions for secure team collaboration
- Automation tools that reduce manual entry and repetitive tasks
- Dedicated account manager and priority support
- Smart reporting powered by Fathom for visual, KPI-based insights
- Excel export/import capabilities for flexible data handling
As your business scales, QuickBooks Online Advanced evolves with you—helping you manage complexity without losing simplicity. All of this is accessible anytime, anywhere via the cloud, giving you real-time access to your financial data from any device.
At Intuit, our mission is to power prosperity for businesses of every size. With QuickBooks Online Advanced, we’re delivering a modern financial platform that helps ambitious companies simplify operations, improve performance, and unlock growth.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes features like enhanced reporting and customization, workflow automation, batch invoicing and transactions, higher user limits, dedicated account support, and better controls for managing larger or more complex businesses.
QuickBooks Online Advanced is worth it if you run a growing or mid-sized business that needs strong reporting, workflow automation, multiple users, and better controls; but for small businesses with simple bookkeeping, lower-tier plans are usually enough and more cost-effective.
The ideal users of QuickBooks Online Advanced are growing or mid-sized businesses with multiple employees or departments, companies needing advanced reporting and automation, firms managing high transaction volumes, and businesses that want stronger controls, permissions, and workflow customization.
The biggest competitor to QuickBooks Online is Xero, especially in the cloud accounting space for small and mid-sized businesses, while other notable competitors include FreshBooks and Zoho Books depending on business needs.
Some disadvantages of QuickBooks Online include subscription costs that increase with higher plans, limited customization for complex accounting, occasional slow performance with large datasets, dependence on internet connectivity, and some advanced features only being available in premium tiers.
Intuit does not publicly share exact user numbers for the Advanced plan of QuickBooks Online, but it is used by a relatively small segment of overall QuickBooks customers since it is designed for larger, more complex businesses compared to the lower-tier plans.
QuickBooks Online is usually not too difficult for beginners for basic tasks like invoicing and expense tracking, but it can feel challenging at first because you also need to understand basic accounting concepts, so it becomes easier with regular practice.
QuickBooks Online Advanced costs about $275 per month at list price, though it can sometimes be discounted during promotions or trials.
In QuickBooks Online Advanced, there is no limit on the number of classes you can create or use; unlike lower plans, Advanced allows unlimited classes and locations for tracking departments, projects, or segments of your business.
No, QuickBooks Online Advanced does not automatically include payroll; payroll is an optional add-on that you have to subscribe to separately, regardless of your plan.
To upgrade to QuickBooks Online Advanced, sign in to your account, go to Settings (⚙️) → Subscriptions & billing, choose Upgrade plan, select Advanced, and confirm payment details; your data will stay the same and your features will unlock immediately after upgrading.
QuickBooks Online Advanced typically costs about $275 per month at list price, though discounts or promotions may sometimes lower the initial monthly cost for a limited period.
In QuickBooks Online Advanced, there is no limit on the number of classes, so you can create and use as many classes as needed for tracking departments, locations, or projects.
The four main subscription levels of QuickBooks Online are Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced, with each higher tier adding more features like users, reporting, inventory tracking, and automation tools.
Intuit does not publish exact user numbers for the Advanced plan of QuickBooks Online, but it represents a small portion of total QuickBooks users because it is designed for larger or more complex businesses compared to the lower-tier plans.
In QuickBooks Online, there’s no specific limit on “accountants” alone—accountants are just users—so how many you can invite depends on your plan’s total user limit (for example, Advanced allows up to 25 users), and you can assign accountant-level access to multiple users within that limit.
Yes, but each company needs its own separate subscription in QuickBooks Online because one account is tied to one business file, so you would manage two companies by logging into two separate subscriptions.
On a resume, you can describe your QuickBooks Online skills by stating your proficiency level (basic/intermediate/advanced) and listing specific tasks you’ve performed, such as invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, payroll processing, accounts payable/receivable, and generating financial reports.
To upgrade to QuickBooks Online Advanced, log in as the admin, go to Settings (⚙️) → Subscriptions & billing → Upgrade your plan, select Advanced, review the features and price, confirm payment details, and complete the upgrade—your existing company data stays unchanged and the new features activate immediately.
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes features like advanced reporting and customization, workflow automation, batch invoicing and transactions, higher user limits with role-based permissions, faster performance for large data sets, custom fields, and priority customer support for growing businesses.
QuickBooks Online Advanced is a cloud-based, browser-access accounting system for growing businesses, while QuickBooks Enterprise is a much more powerful, desktop/hosted system built for large companies with complex needs like advanced inventory, industry-specific editions, deeper customization, and higher transaction handling capacity, making Enterprise more scalable but also more complex and expensive.
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes advanced reporting and customization, workflow automation, batch invoicing and transactions, higher user limits (up to 25 users), custom fields, faster performance for large data sets, and priority customer support for larger or growing businesses.
In QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can create up to 48 custom fields to capture extra information on invoices, sales forms, purchase orders, and other transactions.
The highest tier of QuickBooks Online is Advanced, which is designed for larger or fast-growing businesses and includes the most users, automation, reporting, and customization features compared to the lower plans.
QuickBooks Online Advanced typically costs about $275 per month at standard pricing, though discounts or promotional offers can temporarily reduce the monthly rate for new users.
To upgrade to QuickBooks Online Advanced, sign in as admin, go to Settings (⚙️) → Subscriptions & billing → Upgrade plan, select Advanced, confirm the pricing and payment details, and complete the upgrade, after which your existing data stays intact and Advanced features are activated immediately.
The best way to learn QuickBooks Online is through hands-on practice using a sample company, combined with structured tutorials (like Intuit’s official training and YouTube courses) and consistent real-world use such as creating invoices, recording expenses, and reconciling bank accounts so you learn both the software and basic accounting together.
No, payroll is not included in QuickBooks Online Advanced; it is a separate add-on service that you need to subscribe to if you want to run payroll and pay employees through the system.
QuickBooks Online Advanced is the highest-tier plan of QuickBooks Online, designed for larger or fast-growing businesses, offering advanced reporting, workflow automation, batch transactions, custom fields, up to 25 users with permissions, and better performance for complex accounting needs.
The main purpose of QuickBooks Online is to help businesses manage their finances in one place by tracking income and expenses, handling invoicing and bills, reconciling bank accounts, and generating real-time financial reports.
No, payroll is not included in QuickBooks Online Advanced; it is an optional add-on that must be purchased separately if you want to run payroll and manage employee payments.
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes advanced reporting and customization, workflow automation, batch invoicing and transactions, up to 25 users with role-based permissions, custom fields, faster performance for large data sets, and priority customer support for larger or growing businesses.
QuickBooks Online Advanced usually costs about $200–$235 per month (sometimes discounted for the first few months), depending on current promotions and billing terms.
Some accountants are critical of QuickBooks Online because it can feel limiting for complex accounting work, has less customizable reporting than desktop systems, occasionally changes features or workflows with updates, and can become slower or harder to manage with large or highly detailed financial data sets.
In QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can create up to 40 classes, which are used to track income and expenses by department, location, or project for more detailed reporting.
You can learn basic features of QuickBooks Online in about 7–14 days, become comfortable with regular bookkeeping in 1–3 months, and reach advanced proficiency in a few months with consistent real-world practice.
QuickBooks Online is not shutting down; what’s happening is that some older versions of QuickBooks Desktop are being phased out or losing support, while Intuit is actively focusing on and upgrading the online version rather than discontinuing the product entirely.
QuickBooks Online Advanced offers benefits like powerful customizable reporting, workflow automation, higher user limits with role-based permissions, faster batch processing for invoices and transactions, and priority customer support, making it suitable for larger or fast-growing businesses.
I can’t see your account, so I can’t tell what plan you have, but you can check in QuickBooks Online by going to Settings (⚙️) → Account and settings → Billing & subscription, where it will clearly show whether you’re on Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, or Advanced.
Some CPAs are critical of QuickBooks Online because it can feel limiting for complex accounting workflows, offers less flexible reporting and customization than some desktop or enterprise systems, occasionally changes features through updates that disrupt established processes, and may struggle with high-volume or multi-entity accounting setups, though many CPAs still use it widely for small and mid-sized clients.
Some limitations of QuickBooks Online include fewer advanced customization options compared to desktop or enterprise systems, performance slowdowns with very large or complex data files, dependence on a stable internet connection, certain features only available in higher-priced plans, and occasional workflow changes due to frequent updates.
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes advanced reporting and customization, workflow automation, higher user limits with role-based permissions, batch invoicing and transactions, faster performance for larger data sets, and priority customer support designed for growing or complex businesses.
QuickBooks Online Advanced allows up to 25 users with customizable roles and permissions so different team members can access only the features they need.
Some accountants are critical of QuickBooks Online because it can be less flexible for complex accounting workflows, offers limited customization compared to desktop or enterprise systems, may change features or interfaces with updates that disrupt established processes, and can struggle with very large or multi-entity datasets, even though it’s still widely used for small and mid-sized businesses.
You can check your plan in QuickBooks Online by clicking the ⚙️ Settings icon → Account and settings → Billing & subscription, where it will clearly show whether you are on Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, or Advanced.
Yes, in QuickBooks Online multiple users can work at the same time with separate logins and permissions, so two or more people can simultaneously enter transactions, manage invoices, or review reports without interfering with each other.
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes key features like customizable and advanced reporting, workflow automation, batch invoicing and transactions, higher user limits with role-based permissions, faster performance for larger data sets, and priority customer support for growing businesses.
Yes, in QuickBooks Online employees can enter their own time if you enable time tracking and give them access, allowing them to log hours via the web or mobile app, which can then be reviewed for payroll or billing.
In QuickBooks Online Advanced, you can create up to 48 custom fields, which can be used across forms like invoices, sales receipts, and purchase orders for more detailed tracking.
No, payroll is not included by default in QuickBooks Online Advanced; it is an optional add-on that you have to purchase separately, even if you’re on the highest plan.
The four main levels of QuickBooks Online are Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced, with each level adding more features like additional users, bill management, inventory tracking, automation, and advanced reporting for larger or more complex businesses.
QuickBooks Online Plus is designed for small to mid-sized businesses and includes features like project tracking, inventory, and up to 5 users, while Advanced is built for larger or more complex businesses with up to 25 users, more powerful reporting, workflow automation, batch transactions, custom fields, and better performance for high-volume accounting.
To check if you have QuickBooks Online Advanced, sign in and go to Settings (⚙️) → Account and settings → Billing & subscription, where your current plan name will be clearly listed as Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, or Advanced.
QuickBooks Online Advanced allows up to 25 users, with customizable roles and permissions so different team members (including accountants) can access only what they need.
QuickBooks Online Plus is built for small to mid-sized businesses and includes features like project tracking, inventory, and up to 5 users, while Advanced is designed for larger or more complex businesses with up to 25 users, stronger reporting and customization, workflow automation, batch processing, custom fields, and better performance for high-volume data.
Some accounting software cheaper than QuickBooks Online include Wave Accounting (free for basic bookkeeping), Zoho Books (low-cost plans for small businesses), and FreshBooks (often more affordable for freelancers and service-based businesses).
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes advanced reporting and customization, workflow automation, batch invoicing and transactions, up to 25 users with role-based permissions, custom fields, faster performance for large data sets, and priority customer support for growing businesses.
In QuickBooks Online, a standard field is a built-in data field like customer name, invoice date, or amount that comes pre-set in forms, while a custom field is one you create yourself to track extra information specific to your business, such as project codes, salesperson names, or internal notes.
Training for QuickBooks Online can be free through YouTube, blogs, and Intuit’s own learning resources, while paid courses typically range from about $20–$200 depending on depth, certification, and whether it includes live instructor-led training or practice exercises.
QuickBooks Online Advanced typically costs about $275 per month at full price, though promotions or introductory discounts may temporarily reduce the monthly cost for new customers.
In QuickBooks Online Advanced, there is no separate “accountant-only” limit—accountants are included as part of the total user limit, and since Advanced allows up to 25 total users, you can invite multiple accountants as long as you stay within that overall user cap.
In QuickBooks Online Advanced, data is automatically backed up in the cloud, but if you want a manual backup, go to Settings (⚙️) → Export Data, or use the Backup Company option via Intuit Data Services, which lets you download a full copy of your company data for extra protection.
It depends on your needs: QuickBooks Online is better for cloud access, remote work, and easy collaboration, while QuickBooks Desktop is often better for advanced inventory, deeper reporting, and offline use, so neither is universally “better”—it’s about business size and complexity.