QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping Review: A Comprehensive Overview

Effective bookkeeping is crucial for the financial health of any business. But keeping on top of finances can be a challenge for any busy small business owner. Poor financial management is a significant reason why small businesses fail – around 20% of small businesses fail within the first two years, and of those, 44% do so because they run out of cash, statistics show.¹

This article provides a comprehensive QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping review, exploring its features, benefits, and how it can help your small business maintain accurate financial records.

If you have international bills, you can pay them at the mid-market rate with Wise. You can also sync Wise with QuickBooks to save time on reconciliation.
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What Is QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping?

QuickBooks Live is a real-time online bookkeeping service offered by Intuit, the company that owns QuickBooks. It connects small businesses using QuickBooks Online with QuickBooks-certified bookkeepers (known as QuickBooks ProAdvisors) to provide them with personalized real-time assistance in managing their financial records.

As a small business owner, you can choose the Live Expert Assisted service for real-time QuickBooks support to ask for guidance and learn how to use QuickBooks tools more efficiently. Or you can sign up for Expert Cleanup to have ProAdvisors ensure your accounts are accurate for filing taxes. Alternatively, you can select Live Expert Full-Service Bookkeeping to have a dedicated bookkeeper update and manage your bookkeeping for you.²

The service can save you time and provide support without having to hire a bookkeeper in-house. Keep in mind, though, that there are certain tasks not included in the service, and you’ll still need to file your business taxes yourself.

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Features and Benefits of QuickBooks Live

The primary features of QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping revolve around making it as easy as possible for small businesses to keep their financial records up to date.

Personalized Support and Expert Guidance

QuickBooks-certified bookkeepers assist with tasks including categorizing transactions and reconciling accounts to ensure financial statements are accurate. They have the expertise to provide guidance or take over bookkeeping depending on the subscription level.

Real-Time Collaboration

QuickBooks Live enables businesses to connect with bookkeepers in real time through video calls and messaging, helping to resolve issues promptly.

Updated Financials

The service ensures that the business’s financials stay up to date and provides cloud-based dashboards that offer performance insights and customized reports at any time. This enables users to track the business’s financial health, to gain a clear understanding of its revenue, expenses and cash flow.

Scalable Service

QuickBooks Live offers a choice of subscriptions based on the needs of your business and the volume of transactions. This can make it a cost-effective alternative to hiring an in-house bookkeeper or accounting firm, and you can upgrade the subscription as your business grows.

A Live Expert Assisted subscription costs $59 per month, Live Expert Cleanup starts at a one-time fee of $800, and Live Expert Full-Service Bookkeeping starts at $300 per month after the cleanup fee. There are no long-term contracts, so you can cancel or switch services without a termination fee.

QuickBooks also provides an “Accurate Books Guarantee” so that any errors your bookkeeper makes are corrected at no extra charge.

Seamless Integrations

As QuickBooks Live is part of QuickBooks Online, the service works smoothly with your existing QuickBooks account and features – so you don’t have to worry about compatibility.

Moreover, QuickBooks features a range of integrations with third-party apps, so the service will have visibility into your ecommerce, customer relationship management (CRM) and other platforms.

Enhanced Security

Intuit prioritizes the security and privacy of its customers’ data with robust security measures. The cloud-based version of QuickBooks provides regular security updates, data encryption and multi-factor authentication.

Time and Cost Savings

Outsourcing bookkeeping to QuickBooks frees up business owners and their teams to focus on running the business. And it saves on the cost of hiring a bookkeeper or accountant.

In addition, using the cloud-based QuickBooks Online service removes the need to spend time managing and upgrading a software application on company computers.

How QB Live Helps Small Businesses

QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping supports small businesses by taking over the responsibility of keeping their financial records up to date, simplifying their operations.

Instead of manually entering transactions and reconciling accounts, business owners can save time by having an external bookkeeper handle their financial records for them. The expert bookkeeping service also reduces the risk of errors in tax filings and ensures businesses comply with IRS regulations to avoid penalties.

The reporting of business revenue, expenses and cash flow provides clear metrics that help small business owners make informed decisions about budgeting, cash flow and growth strategies.

Pros and Cons of QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping

There are several advantages to small businesses using QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, although it’s important to also be aware of its shortcomings.

Key Strengths:

• Real-time access to a professional bookkeeper
• Preparation of financial records ready for tax filing
• Time savings
• Scalable features and pricing
• Ease of use
• Accurate books guarantee

Limitations to Consider

• May be costly for startups or very small businesses
• Limited scope – lack of tax filing, invoicing, payroll management
• Virtual service rather than in-person consultations

Alternatives to QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping

While QuickBooks Live offers an ideal financial reporting option for many small businesses, it may not be the best fit for your business. Whether you prefer to keep control over your bookkeeping or need additional services features, below are some alternative small business bookkeeping solutions to consider.

Bench

Bench provides a similar service to QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, combining its software with access to a human bookkeeper. Like QuickBooks, you are connected with a bookkeeper who can manage your financial statements to ensure they are tax ready.

But Bench also offers more extensive services, including historical bookkeeping, tax filing and advisory services. You can also pay extra for accounts receivable or accounts payable management.

A Bench subscription is more expensive than QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, costing $299 per month for bookkeeping and $599 per month for full-service bookkeeping with tax filing and advice, but includes access to the software.³ However, unlike QuickBooks’ service, you cannot use the Bench software without a bookkeeping subscription.

Wave Advisors

If you need a lower-cost solution, Wave Accounting provides free software and you can subscribe to its Wave Advisor service as an add-on. Wave offers a Bookkeeping support package starting at $149 per month billed annually and Accounting and coaching for a one-time fee of $229, with other package options available.⁴

Self-Managed QuickBooks Online

For businesses that prefer to manage their own finances, QuickBooks Online is a popular choice that still provides powerful accounting tools without the additional cost of subscribing to the Live Bookkeeping service.

The cloud-based software includes automated invoicing, expense tracking and tax preparation features, and includes access to the general QuickBooks support team.

Choosing the Right Solution for Your Business

Selecting the right bookkeeping option will depend on the size and complexity of your business, as well as your budget.

QuickBooks Live provides a solution for small businesses that need active bookkeeping support or want advice to supplement their use of the QuickBooks software. But if you need more support, a solution like Bench or Wave Accounting’s advisory services could be a more suitable alternative.

Evaluating the specific needs of your business will help you determine the best fit.

Connect Wise Business and QuickBooks for Seamless Account Reconciliation

Did you know that if you do use QuickBooks for accounting, you can connect it to your Wise Business account to automatically sync and reconcile transactions, saving time on bookkeeping admin?

Track your bills automatically with QuickBooks and Wise

If you have international bills to pay, not only can you pay them at the mid-market rate with Wise, but you can also sync Wise with QuickBooks.

Simply select the Wise account balances you want to connect. You can see your unpaid bills in real time and pay them seamlessly from your ‘Bills’ page on Wise. Your bill payments and any other Wise transactions will be synced, matched and categorized in QuickBooks for simple reconciliation.

Connect QuickBooks and Wise:
Save time on reconciliation

Once connected, all bills you create in QuickBooks Online will automatically sync in real time to Wise, where you can choose which ones to pay.

All bill payments you make with Wise will be matched to the original bill in QuickBooks. They'll also be categorized into the right accounts. If no bill is found, each payment will simply be added as an expense.

See for yourself how much time and hassle you can save.

Sources:
¹Top Reasons Startups Failed in 2022
²Bookkeeping Online: Virtual Services for Your Finances | QuickBooks
³Bookkeeping Pricing Packages & Plans - Bench Accounting
⁴Personalized Bookkeeping Help with Wave Advisors - Wave Financial
All sources checked March 2025

	Editor & Business Expert:
	Panna is an expert in US business finance, covering topics from invoicing to international expansion. She creates guides and reviews to help businesses save time and make informed decisions. You can read more useful business articles on her author profile.

	Author:
	Nicole is a professional journalist with two decades of experience in writing and editing, she has also run her own freelance business for the past five years. Her expertise spans the financial and technology industries, including payment processing and small business banking.