QuickBooks

What Is QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is accounting software developed by Intuit, designed primarily for small to medium-sized businesses. It’s the most widely used small business accounting software in the United States, with over 7 million customers.

QuickBooks comes in several versions:

• QuickBooks Online (QBO): Cloud-based, subscription model
• QuickBooks Desktop: Traditional installed software (Pro, Premier, Enterprise)
• QuickBooks Self-Employed: For freelancers and sole proprietors

QuickBooks Core Features

Accounting: Chart of accounts, journal entries, bank reconciliation, and general ledger.

Invoicing & Payments: Create and send invoices, accept payments, track receivables.

Expense Tracking: Connect bank accounts, categorize expenses, track bills.

Reporting: Profit & loss, balance sheet, cash flow, and custom reports.

Payroll: Process payroll, tax calculations, direct deposit (add-on).

Inventory: Basic inventory tracking (limited in lower tiers).

QuickBooks Strengths

• Ease of use: Designed for non-accountants
• Affordable entry point: Low starting cost for small businesses
• Bank connectivity: Automatic bank feed imports
• Ecosystem: Thousands of third-party app integrations
• Accountant access: Easy collaboration with external accountants

When Businesses Outgrow QuickBooks

Companies typically hit QuickBooks limitations when they experience:

Complexity growth:

• Multiple entities or locations
• Complex revenue recognition
• Multi-currency transactions
• Advanced inventory needs
• Departmental reporting requirements

Scale issues:

• Transaction volume limits
• User count restrictions
• Slow performance with large datasets
• Limited approval workflows

Reporting gaps:

• Inadequate custom reporting
• No consolidation across entities
• Limited dimensional analysis
• Manual data exports for analysis

QuickBooks Integration with Go Fig

Go Fig connects to QuickBooks Online to extract and enhance your financial data:

What Go Fig pulls from QuickBooks:

• Chart of accounts and account balances
• Profit & loss and balance sheet data
• Transaction details (invoices, bills, payments)
• Customer and vendor information
• Product and service items
• Class and location tracking data

How it helps:

• Automatically sync QuickBooks data to Excel reports
• Combine QuickBooks with CRM, e-commerce, and other data sources
• Build reports QuickBooks can’t generate natively
• Consolidate multiple QuickBooks files
• Enable AI-powered financial analysis

QuickBooks Reporting Limitations

Native QuickBooks reporting often falls short for growing businesses:

• No multi-entity consolidation: Each QuickBooks file is separate
• Limited customization: Report builder has constraints
• Export hassles: Manual CSV exports lose formatting
• No real-time dashboards: Static reports only
• Historical comparisons: Difficult to build trending reports

Go Fig addresses these gaps by extracting QuickBooks data into a centralized layer where you can build any report in Excel or dashboards.

QuickBooks vs. Upgrading to NetSuite

Many QuickBooks users consider migrating to NetSuite as they grow. The decision involves tradeoffs:

Migrate to NetSuite if:

• You need built-in multi-subsidiary support
• Complex inventory/manufacturing requirements
• You have budget for $50K+ annual software cost

Extend QuickBooks with Go Fig if:

• Primary need is better reporting and data access
• You want to preserve existing workflows
• Budget is constrained
• You’re not ready for full ERP migration

Go Fig can serve as a bridge—delivering enterprise-grade reporting while you continue using QuickBooks for day-to-day accounting.

QuickBooks Data Access Options

Native options:

• Built-in reports (limited customization)
• Excel export (manual, loses formatting)
• QuickBooks API (requires development)

With Go Fig:

• Scheduled automatic extraction
• Data delivered directly to Excel templates
• Combine with other data sources
• No technical skills required