LivePlan vs. QuickBooks Online

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
LivePlan
Score 8.8 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
LivePlan is business plan software for entrepreneurs. Features include the pitch creation, sample plans, financial assessments, and performance dashboards.
$15
Monthly & Annual billing options available
QuickBooks Online
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.
$38
per month
Pricing
LivePlanQuickBooks Online
Editions & Modules
LivePlan Premium
Starting at $30/month
Monthly & Annual billing options available
LivePlan Standard
Starting at $15/month
Monthly & Annual billing options available
Simple Start
$38
per month
Essentials
$75
per month
Plus
$115
per month
Advanced
$275
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
LivePlanQuickBooks Online
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsLivePlan Standard Includes: - Step-By-Step Instructions - Automatic Financial Statements - Full Financial Forecast - One-Page Pitch Builder - 500+ Sample Plans LivePlan Premium includes everything in Standard, plus: - Industry Benchmark Data - Financial Forecast Scenarios - Performance Dashboards - Milestone Planner - LiveForecast - Syncs with Xero & QuickBooks All subscriptions come with a 60-day money-back guarantee and access to expert customer support.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
LivePlanQuickBooks Online
Considered Both Products
LivePlan
Chose LivePlan
When it comes to its overall functionality in terms of planning, budgeting and forecasting, there is no product that can beat LivePlan in that. The usability is also a differentiator of LivePlan from other products. Its User Interface is well organized, easy to learn and …
Chose LivePlan
I've tested Fathom. Though the UX & visualization tools are far superior, it(Fathom) ultimately did not consider the end-user / real-world application. It looks good but isn't useful, where LivePlan is the converse.
Chose LivePlan
We did not really find a similar solution. All other solutions are focused on project management, [there's] nothing on generating a business plan. There is nothing on this level that helps people without any business experience write the plan. They have samples, instructions …
QuickBooks Online
Chose QuickBooks Online
I think of the two products this has less hassle as it is pretty straight forward and streamlined. Unfortunately, as much as we use the payroll version I cannot give that product the same raving reviews as QuickBooks Online. I really wish Payroll was not as complicated as it …
Chose QuickBooks Online
We use QuickBooks Online since it is user friendly and it has the ability to accommodate small businesses with more complex accounting needs. Price is not that expensive although the users that you can add are limited, if we need to add a user we need to remove the other users.
Chose QuickBooks Online
QBO works much better for our needs and our business. Netsuite had a few too many layers for our business, it was a little harder to use. QBO makes everything simple you don't need to be an accountant to use it. We are happy with the product and will most likely continue to …
Chose QuickBooks Online
None. The only other accounting software I used was a proprietary MSDOS system 20 years ago; this is much better.
Chose QuickBooks Online
We did not look at any other products as QB online is typically considered best in class.
Chose QuickBooks Online
Desktop is way cheaper, but QuickBooks Online stays more upto date and is way better at integrating with other software.
Chose QuickBooks Online
We went with Quickbooks because it was recommended to us by our accountant, as they too use Quickbooks.
Chose QuickBooks Online
Melio was a little easier to use, but could be clunky while syncing to QB, and also got expensive as they added charges for every transaction as well as syncing.
Chose QuickBooks Online
As an accountant, QuickBooks Online uses the language I learned in school and throughout my career. Xero tries to simplify it, while actually making it more difficult to understand.
Chose QuickBooks Online
I truly hated Sage as a bookkeeper. I know that accountants don't have the same experience, but from a day to day perspective, it was not user friendly.
Chose QuickBooks Online
Easier to use and setup. More accountants are familiar with it so that also made the selection easier. Other software was also more expensive and had features that we weren't going to utilize at our current growth stage.
Chose QuickBooks Online
I have to use SAP for billing with some clients, and I think Ariba is much less intuitive, and the interface/GUI is much less modern and appealing. The fact that the client needs to send a PDF "user guide" says a lot to me about how counter-intuitive a lot of the features in …
Chose QuickBooks Online
Sage Timeslips and Avaza
Chose QuickBooks Online
Reporting is more diverse and ability to add multiple dimensions
Chose QuickBooks Online
I think QuickBooks Online is better than Xero. However I think is is lower then NetSuite and Sage Intacct. The system isself is great because it's cloud based so it can be accessed readily. However, in my opinion, it's not built for companies that are growing or expect to grow. …
Chose QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online has better options for sending invoices and receiving electronic payments.
Chose QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is by far the easiest and fastest accounting management platform that I have used, especially compared to any industry specific tools like Sage, Foundation, Northstar, etc. I like how user friendly it is, the visual is great, and it can fit for a wise array of …
Chose QuickBooks Online
They are expensive and always have freezing issues and duplicating entries and no one available to address issues. To change the way you use the sites it takes time to update and its too jumpy and makes annoying issues. These effect the whole company and can take a lot of time …
Chose QuickBooks Online
User friendly for smaller communities.
The cost seems to be reasonable for smaller communities.
Support is helpful, and trainings provided online are helpful.
Chose QuickBooks Online
Unfortunately, in my opinion, QuickBooks Online is not anywhere cloase to coupa or Blackline in terms of functionality. Both platforms are head and shoulders above where i understand QuickBooks Online to be currently. Specifically in relation to task automation and more …
Chose QuickBooks Online
As I've mentioned, there aren't a lot of similar products, and certainly not with all the capability of QuickBooks Online. In my opinion, they nickel and dime for everything but they also do work pretty well across the board. I think the reconciliation process is also by far …
Features
LivePlanQuickBooks Online
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
LivePlan
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.4
Ratings
8% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
LivePlan
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.3
Ratings
8% above category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
LivePlan
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
9.7
Ratings
15% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.60 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
LivePlan
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.1
Ratings
3% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
LivePlan
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.6
Ratings
10% above category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
LivePlan
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
7.5
Ratings
2% above category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
LivePlan
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Online
8.4
Ratings
8% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
LivePlanQuickBooks Online
Small Businesses
MIP Fund Accounting
MIP Fund Accounting
Score 8.7 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Centage
Centage
Score 9.4 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
OneStream
OneStream
Score 8.8 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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User Ratings
LivePlanQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
9.6
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
1.9
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
2.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
1.1
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
1.3
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
LivePlanQuickBooks Online
Likelihood to Recommend
All businesses require solutions and tools for organization and control of expenses, spreadsheets were always the first option, but since the arrival of LivePlan, all work is easier and more automated. With LivePlan we have charts and graphs that are automatically created based on our data, this is a great time and money saver. LivePlan is a tool that has worked from day one and has met our expectations in creating the total budget.
Read full review
I appreciate the ability to auto-generate invoices for recurring transactions, which saves time, as well as the option to set up auto-generated transactions. The report option is super helpful when reviewing information, as you can click to view the details in the report without having to go back and forth.
Read full review
Pros
  • Great for startups that are still working on their idea.
  • Preparing for pitching and presenting.
  • People don't need business knowledge in order to write a professional business plan, everything is explained in details.
  • Simplicity.
Read full review
  • It enables me to do a P&L for each specific program as requested by the county for the grant money that they give us.
  • It enables me to do [an] organizational budget as well as a budget for each specific program
  • It enables the accountant and the auditor access at any time for transparency
Read full review
Cons
  • UX: It's beyond time for an overhaul, especially on mobile. It can make the app seem dated.
  • The accounting software integration has been prone to break and need to be re-setup, though that seems to have improved.
Read full review
  • Purchase Orders cannot be linked to multiple bill payments which makes tracking purchase orders in QuickBooks Online obsolete. Without the function we have to track this within a different more manual spreadsheet.
  • Would be helpful if you could "split" bank transactions directly from the "review" downloads from the bank. Currently, to split transactions to multiple accounts we need to first categorize, then review after assigning to 1 account.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
QBO needs better integration with non-Intuit products and developers need to use Intuit's open API to develop better add-ons. Clients are having a great deal of problems with their data importing from the bank and this takes time away from better revenue producing activities. Although the efficiencies are there, they are outweighted by the shortcomings of the product. When we ran a parallel of QBO versus other cloud accounting products, we had more issues with the QBO product than any other
Read full review
Usability
No answers on this topic
I had very little trouble setting up the program and migrating from our old accounting system. The daily usage is also very intuitive and easy. Anytime we run into minor trouble with the program, there are always tons of help available on YouTube, so we don't even look up the online manual anymore.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
We have rarely had outages in the last 10 years. I can only recall 2 times in the last 10 years where we were not able to access our client files.
Read full review
Performance
No answers on this topic
Everything process has its bugs lately with the new interface. Nothing has worked smoothly since this all began last month.
Read full review
Support Rating
No answers on this topic
In my experience, most representatives keep me on the phone for hours, literally, for a single issue and then usually cannot resolve it satisfactorily. I have 10 open cases that need resolution and, in my experience, there has been NO follow-up communication on any of them.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
The person in charge of QB needs to be very accurate with record keeping and is recommended to stay on top of tasks. The biggest issue we have is reconciliation, and those issues occur only when too much time has occurred between reconciliations
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Alternatives Considered
When it comes to its overall functionality in terms of planning, budgeting and forecasting, there is no product that can beat LivePlan in that. The usability is also a differentiator of LivePlan from other products. Its User Interface is well organized, easy to learn and understand and more user-friendly making it easy to navigate through the entire system, access and use the various features it comes with.
Read full review
QuickBooks Online is an accounting software package that allows companies to use a cost-effective and efficient software package. QuickBooks Online allows companies to prepare their balance sheets and income statements. It connects with a variety of other applications, which allows you to be efficient. We are very pleased with QuickBooks Online, and we would highly recommend it.
Read full review
Scalability
No answers on this topic
As we have grown along our professional path, we have also expanded our use of QB. The scalability is easy and features seem to be waiting for you until you need them. We have increased profits by over 10x from our first year in business to the current and have yet to find a reason to look elsewhere
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • For the price, it's worth it for 2 main reasons. Knowing what's going on throughout the year (relative to goals/prior periods), and seeing precisely where financial issues are off track.
Read full review
  • I think the help function is cumbersome and hard to use. When I go to refresh myself on a function, say quarterly, I feel like I have to cast about just looking for it.
  • The account reconciliation works, but in this place that could benefit from messaging, there are no easy helping functions flagging things like amounts that fit the discrepancy.
  • Even styling invoices and documents is more cumbersome than it should be.
Read full review
ScreenShots

LivePlan Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of

QuickBooks Online Screenshots

Screenshot of the accounting and bank transactions interfaceScreenshot of an overview of the accounting inventoryScreenshot of book marksScreenshot of the business tax overviewScreenshot of the customer hubScreenshot of the dashboard