QuickBooks Self-Employed is accounting software created exclusively for freelancers, independent contractors, and sole proprietors. It enables customers to manage their company’s finances, track costs, and plan for tax season.

What Types of Businesses Use QuickBooks Self-Employed?

QuickBooks Self-Employed is ideal for freelancers, solopreneurs, and consultants who wish to manage their business finances. It can be handy for:

  1. Freelancers

QuickBooks Self-Employed can assist freelancers who require additional tax assistance or help tracking their revenue.

  1. Solopreneur

QuickBooks Self-Employed is intended for one-person enterprises and contains features to assist with the company, taxes, and expansion.

  1. Consultants

QuickBooks Self-Employed can assist consultants in managing their company’s finances.

QuickBooks Self-Employed can also be handy for users who wish to track their mileage or ask about a CPA accounting issue in real time.

How Does QuickBooks Self-Employed Work?

QuickBooks Self-Employed helps freelancers, independent contractors, and small company owners handle their finances more easily. This is how it operates:

  • Setting up your account

Users begin by creating an account and connecting it to their bank accounts, credit cards, and PayPal. This allows QuickBooks Self-Employed to import transactions automatically.

  • Income and Expense Categories

Once the transactions have been imported, the user can label them as business or personal costs. QuickBooks Self-Employed automatically proposes business spending categories, including travel, meals, and supplies. It enables users to classify recurring spending as business-related for consistency.

  • Tax deductions and quarterly estimates

The program estimates prospective tax deductions based on the cost categories. It also records business-related travel and home office expenditures. 

  • Mileage Tracking

QuickBooks Self-Employed provides a mileage tracker that records work journeys using GPS. Users may designate journeys as business or personal, and the app will compute the tax deduction depending on the IRS mileage rate.

  • Invoicing.

Users may generate and send invoices to clients straight from the platform. QuickBooks Self-Employed also tracks invoice status, indicating when clients have viewed, paid, or are late.

  • Profit & Loss Reporting

The platform provides profit and loss (P&L) reports, which provide an overview of the user’s income, costs, and net profit for a certain period. This allows customers to evaluate their financial situation better and plan for taxes.

  • Integration with TurboTax.

QuickBooks Self-Employed works smoothly with TurboTax, simplifying tax filing. It transmits all necessary tax data and deductions directly to TurboTax for quick filing.

  • Mobile App 

QuickBooks Self-Employed offers a mobile app for tracking revenue, spending, and miles. Users can also take images of receipts and connect them to specific transactions for record keeping.

By automating many of these activities, QuickBooks Self-Employed saves time and decreases the chance of errors for self-employed persons, making it an effective tool for managing business finances.

Features of QuickBooks Self-Employed

A number of tools are available in QuickBooks Self-Employed to assist small company owners, independent contractors, and freelancers in efficiently managing their money.

Below is a summary of its salient attributes:

  1. Monitoring income and expenses
  • Imports and classifies transactions from linked credit cards and bank accounts automatically.
  • Users may manage both personal and corporate costs in one location and quickly separate them.
  1. Tracking mileage
  • It has an integrated GPS mileage tracker that automatically logs business trips.
  • The software determines the tax-deductible miles based on IRS rates and allows users to classify their travels as either personal or commercial.
  1. Creating invoices
  • Using the app, create and send expert invoices straight to clients.
  • Monitor the state of your bills (sent, seen, paid, etc.) and notify people when their payments are due.
  1. Tax Estimates and Deductions
  • compute possible tax deductions automatically from a variety of classified company costs, such as home office and transportation.
  • It helps consumers keep on top of their tax responsibilities by providing quarterly tax estimations.
  1. Statements of Profit and Loss
  • create thorough profit and loss (P&L) reports that enable customers to assess the profitability of their organization quickly.
  • The reports include information on earnings, costs, and net profit for a given time frame.
  1. Documentation
  • For simple record-keeping, users may use their mobile devices to snap photos of receipts and connect them to the appropriate transactions.
  1. TurboTax integration
  • Integrates seamlessly with TurboTax, enabling customers to export all pertinent tax data for quick and precise tax filing.
  • It helps self-employed people optimize their tax deductions and submit their taxes with less hassle.
  1. Reminders for Quarterly Tax Payments
  • ensure consumers meet IRS deadlines and avoid fines by automatically reminding them to pay estimated taxes on a quarterly basis.
  1. Access to Mobile Apps
  • Accessible as a mobile application, providing users with the adaptability to monitor bank accounts, classify spending, and transmit bills while on the move.
  1. Several Devices synchronizing
  • synchronizes data across several devices, giving customers real-time access to their financial information on desktop and mobile platforms.
  1. Basic Dashboard and Reporting
  • offers the customer access to clear reports and a dashboard with a real-time view of their financial situation, including their spending, income, and future tax obligations.
  1. Estimated Tax Deductions
  • This tool helps customers understand how their company spending will impact their tax bill by keeping track of possible deductions.

How to Enter Business Transactions into QuickBooks Self-Employed

Entering business transactions in QuickBooks Self-Employed is easy and useful to ensure that the records are well-updated.

Here’s how to do it:

Connect Bank Accounts

  • The first step to take is to connect your bank accounts, credit cards, and PayPal to QuickBooks Self-Employed. This enables the system to import and categorize such transactions, hence minimizing music entry directly. To do this:
  • Navigate to the “Transactions” tab at the top of the screen and then click the “Add Account” button on the right.
  • Just stick with the instructions on the screen to link all your financial accounts.

Manually Add Transactions

  • If a transaction does not enter the system on its own, then the user can manually input it. Here’s how:
  • A simple way to access this lies in the “Transactions” tab.
  • It will appear with a green link stating ‘Add Transaction.’
  • Please punch in details such as the amount, date, and description of the transaction.
  • Decide whether the entry is revenue or a cost and then identify the subcategory it falls under, such as meals, stationery, advertisements, and so on.
  • Enter all details of the transaction and then click on save.

Categorize Transactions

  • When it comes to the transactions that were entered automatically, QuickBooks Self-Employed attempts to categorize them. However, you can change or verify categories to ensure accuracy: However, you can change or verify categories to ensure accuracy:
  • To review the imported transactions, go to the “Transactions” tab.
  • To each transaction, one has to choose the appropriate code (e.g., “T: Travel,” “O: Office Supplies,” “M&E: Meals and Entertainment”).
  • Label each transaction according to whether it is business-related or personal.
  • In split costs (i.e., those with both business and personal components), the transaction can be split into two line items so you can categorize it correctly.

Attach Receipts

  • QuickBooks Self-Employed allows you to attach receipts to each transaction for documentation: QuickBooks Self-Employed allows you to attach receipts to each transaction for documentation:
  • Under “Transactions,” go to Select a particular transaction.
  • Press the “Attach Receipt” button, and then it is possible to add the photo or scan the receipt.
  • As for the records, the option is beneficial in maintaining the correct records, such as the tax records.

Mileage as a Transaction

  • Mileage: QuickBooks Self-Employed tracks your trips automatically if you have the mobile application. If you need to add a trip manually: If you need to add a trip manually:
  • Click the “Mileage” tab.
  • Select ‘New Trip,’ and you will be directed to a page where you will input details, including the date, distance, and type of trip.
  • Keep the entry, and QuickBooks Self-Employed will calculate the mileage deduction for you.

Review and Save Transactions

  • When your transactions are sorted, analyzed and then saved, they are good for reporting and tax calculation. 
  • Ensure you review the books from time to time, looking for any transaction that might have fallen under the wrong category or any wrong calculation.

Reconcile Transactions

  • Occasionally, check your business transactions and compare them with that of the QuickBooks Self-Employed banking account. It enables you to monitor your account and discover any irregularities in the course of planning.

Benefits of Using QuickBooks Self-Employed

QuickBooks Self-Employed has many features and advantages that help freelancers, independent contractors, and small business owners with their financial management and facilitate the easy completion of their taxes.

Here are the key benefits: 

  • Time-Saving Automation

Integrated with bank accounts, PayPal, and credit cards, QuickBooks Self-Employed assigns the received transactions into different categories so that they do not need to be typed manually. This, in turn, makes bookkeeping much easier and saves users a lot of time.

  • Accurate Tax Estimation

Among the advantages, it is necessary to consider the possibility of calculating quarterly tax estimates without additional effort. Federal and state taxes owed are also estimated accurately depending on the user’s income, expenses, and deductions, which means that users will not be caught off guard by underpayment penalties.

  • Maximized Tax Deductions

It even has a feature that recognizes probable tax deductions, including the miles traveled, home office use, and business expenses in general. This will enable users to maximize possible allowances and minimize their tax obligations.

  • Easy Invoicing and Payment Tracking

Documentation and payments are considerable expenses in any business, but invoicing and payment tracking are simple with an NVO.

With QuickBooks Self-Employed, users can create professional invoices and send them to customers, thus ensuring timely payment. It also keeps track of the status of the invoices dispatched, viewed, or even paid, making payment tracking easy for the business.

  • Separation and Categorization of Business and Personal Purchases

This eliminates any worries of having the expenses mixed up with a user’s expenses, thus offering clear records. It saves time, thus freeing up a lot of time, especially when filing tax returns, and it also helps minimize matters that may go wrong while categorizing expenses.

  • Integrated Mileage Tracking

The in-built GPS mileage tracker helps record travel journeys related to business, compute tax-allowable mileage, and even retain such records with a view to tabling them before the tax office. This reduces the time wasted in tracking and estimating mileage since users file accurate records for deductions.

  • Seamless Integration with TurboTax

The software is compatible with TurboTax, enabling users to export their financial details and possible deductions to the tax filing program. This minimizes the chances of making wrong computations and makes filing an income tax return easy, especially for individuals filing as self-employed.

  • Mobile Accessibility

QuickBooks Self-Employed has a mobile version that makes it convenient for users to manage their cash flow from their mobile devices. The app lets users track expenses, record mileage, and send invoices without the need to be in the office.

  • Real-Time Financial Insights

It generates real-time reports, including income statements, expenditure accounts, balance sheets, and message centers, which display all the information related to the taxes to be paid. The population also benefits from easy management of all financial information, tracking Profit and loss, and making enhanced business decisions using real-time data.

  • Receipt Organization

Receipts can be photographed and easily incorporated into different transactions so that they are always easy to find. This makes it easier to keep records, and in cases of audits for tax reliefs, the receipts and expenditures can be easily supported.

  • Quarterly Tax Payment Reminders

Self-employed people can use QuickBooks Self-Employed to help them remember to pay estimated taxes every quarter. They can set reminders to be notified accordingly.

  • Affordable Pricing

QuickBooks Self-Employed costs less than many professional accounting software programs, and so it is quite cheap, depending on the capacity and needs of the freelancer or the business owner.

What is the Difference Between QuickBooks Solopreneur and QuickBooks Self-Employed? 

QuickBooks Solopreneur and QuickBooks Self-Employed are basically two names of the same software. Still, at the moment, QuickBooks mainly sells QuickBooks Self-Employed as software for freelancers, contractors, and self-employed people. Differences appear between QuickBooks services, which may be confusing to the client. Here’s a clarification:

QuickBooks Self-Employed

QuickBooks is the most promoted tool for freelancers, self-employed individuals, and business owners with fewer employees. It has specialized features to monitor freelancers’ income expenditure and taxes. Here are its key characteristics: Here are its key characteristics:

Target Users: Individuals who work independently and meet the thresholds set by the IRS. They include freelancers, independent contractors, and business owners who file taxes using schedule C, self-employment income.

Primary Features:

  • Expense tracking is done by integrating bank accounts for easier and faster recording of all transactions.
  • Mileage tracking for tax deductions.
  • A facility for formulating estimates of taxes to be paid on a quarterly basis and sending regular tax reminders.
  • Simple invoicing to clients.
  • Integration with TurboTax for seamless tax filing

Pricing: Currently, QuickBooks Self-Employed provides subscription plans that are basic and border on pro and premium offerings such as TurboTax.

QuickBooks Solopreneur

It is a term used to imply how QuickBooks products can be used by what is referred to as solopreneurs, who are people who run businesses single-handedly or with the help of a few employees.

QuickBooks has different products based on users’ requirements, such as QuickBooks Self-Employed or QuickBooks Online Simple Start. Here’s how QuickBooks products can cater to solopreneurs: 

Target Users: Individuals with side businesses or small businesses in their infant stage who do not hire employees and thus will not require payroll or inventory integration but need more than what is offered in QuickBooks Self-Employed.

Options:

  • QuickBooks Self-Employed for simple means of keeping track of income and expenses as well as for tax purposes.
  • QuickBooks Online Simple Start or QuickBooks Online Essentials are for anyone who wants basic and additional features, including sales tax, employees, contractors, and other detailed reports.

Pricing Plan of QuickBooks Self-Employed

QuickBooks Self-Employed has a few different price options depending on the needs of freelancers, independent contractors, and small business owners. Here’s a breakdown of the typical pricing options: Here’s a breakdown of the typical pricing options:

Self-Employed Plan

Cost

Some of its basic services cost about $15 every month.

Features

  • Keep an eye on the incoming and outgoing money by linking a bank account.
  • Categorize the expenses made to both business and personal accounts without having to be prompted.
  • Capture and organize receipts.
  • Automatic mileage tracking can also be done using the mobile application.
  • Estimate quarterly taxes.
  • It is advised to run only simple profit and loss analyses.

Self-Employed Tax Bundle Plan

Cost

TCOB Mobile is presumably the world’s cheapest mobile offering. Two G internet access costs roughly $25 per month.

Features

  • All of the provisions of this Self Employed Plan.
  • Contains ‘TurboTax Self Employed’ for federal and state tax returns.
  • Automatically import your tax data into your TurboTax and make tax filing easier.
  • E-file Federal and state income tax through TurboTax.
  • Various Taxes, for instance, pay quarterly estimated Taxes online directly through Quick Books.

Self-Employed Live Tax Bundle Plan

Cost 

That is, around $35 per month.

Features

  • All the aspects of the Self Employed Tax bundle plan.
  • Live support from a certified CPA for real-time advice as one does the taxes.
  • Tax experts are available all year round to help the individual with his or her particular case.
  • The process of reviewing the tax return form one more time by a CPA before the filing of the taxes.

These are the normal monthly charges that carriers levy on users, although they may go high when there are promotions or when the user is in a different region. All the plans have their first three months capped at a cheaper rate when the user is subscribing.