One of the most common questions we get from investors is:
“Which level of QuickBooks do I actually need?”
It’s a fair question. Intuit does not make it easy for the average small business owner to figure this out.
Before we dive into QuickBooks Online (QBO), we need to briefly talk about QuickBooks Desktop.
What Happened to QuickBooks Desktop?
For many investors, QuickBooks Desktop is all they’ve ever known.
The legacy Desktop Pro and Premier versions were excellent for landlords because you could maintain multiple company files under one subscription. That made it easy to keep each rental entity separate without paying for multiple subscriptions. And historically, you could purchase an annual license for around $350–$550 per year.
Unfortunately, Intuit stopped selling Desktop Pro and Premier to new customers in September 2024.
Desktop Enterprise is still available, but it comes at a significantly higher price point. Intuit’s long-term strategy is clearly to phase out Desktop products and move users to QuickBooks Online. At this point, I rarely encounter new investors using Desktop unless they’ve been on it for years.
Here is a screenshot of Enterprise pricing as of February 2026.
So Which QuickBooks Online Version Should You Use?
The right answer depends entirely on the type of investing you’re doing.
1. Long-Term Landlords (Buy and Hold Investors)
If you own and hold multiple rental properties, you need to be able to run an Income Statement by property.
Most tax preparers require this detail to properly prepare Schedule E. The cleanest way to generate this report in QBO is by using Class Tracking, which requires a QuickBooks Online Plus subscription.
For landlords managing multiple properties or entities, QBO Plus is typically the correct choice.
2. Active Investors (Flippers, Wholesalers, Realtors)
If you are primarily flipping properties, wholesaling, or earning commissions, your bookkeeping needs are simpler.
If you are purchasing QBO directly from Intuit as a retail customer, the appropriate starting point is:
- QuickBooks Online Simple Start
However, if you are working with an accountant, there is a much better option.
QuickBooks Ledger (Accountant-Only Subscription)
QuickBooks Ledger is only available through accountants and costs $10 per month.
It does not include the advanced features found in the retail subscriptions, but it includes everything necessary to properly track income and expenses for a flipping or wholesaling business.
For active investors who hire an accountant, Ledger is my default recommendation.
If you plan to manage your own books without professional support, then Simple Start is usually the right fit for active investors
3. QuickBooks Online Advanced
I rarely recommend QBO Advanced for real estate investors.
Advanced is typically best suited for larger, more complex businesses – often robust construction companies with significant operational depth and reporting needs. We don’t typically work with many of these types of clients, though we do have a few.
In most real estate scenarios, the only time we upgrade a client to Advanced is when they run into the account or class limits in QBO Plus. At that point, the upgrade is simply to increase capacity – not because they need additional features.
That’s often a frustrating move because you’re paying for a lot of bells and whistles that you’re not truly using. Advanced can be powerful, but for most real estate investors, it’s unnecessary.
A Quick Note on Pricing
Over the past five years, I’ve watched QuickBooks Online pricing nearly double. Intuit typically increases pricing annually, often around August.
That said, QuickBooks Ledger has remained at $10 per month for the past several years, making it one of the most cost-effective options available for active investors working with an accountant.
Here is a screenshot of the retail price for QBO as of February 2026.
