Wall Check
QuickBooks Online
User counts rise with the price tier, and after you cancel the data goes read-only for a year — then it is gone.
Gates 4/5 4 of the five walls fired — the score is a count, not a verdict.
Checked 2026-09-25 · re-check due 2026-11-24.
The five walls
! Price wall
The free tier ends. The limit you hit while everything still looks free.
No free tier (30-day trial). Simple Start ~$38/mo allows 1 user plus 2 accountant seats.
source · checked 2026-09-25
! Permission wall
You can see the setting but not touch it. Licenses and admin roles decide what you control.
User counts, custom fields, class/location tracking, workflow automation and backup/restore all rise with the tier.
source · checked 2026-09-25
✓ Gate wall
A human at the vendor decides your timeline — approvals, reviews, onboarding queues.
Self-serve signup and tier changes; no approval queue on standard tiers.
source · checked 2026-09-25
! Meter wall
Cost scales with your success. Per-unit, per-seat, per-message pricing that grows as you do.
Per-user caps per tier; payroll priced per employee; promotional pricing expires and renews at list (prices rose July/Aug 2025).
source · checked 2026-09-25
! Exit wall
Getting out costs more than getting in. Your data, your domain, your number — who keeps them.
After cancel: read-only access for one year, then data is gone. Export to Excel or QuickBooks Desktop inside that window.
source · checked 2026-09-25
The twelve questions
- Can one real record be exported on day one — and does it open?
- Export to Excel/Desktop available for 1 year post-cancel
Documents read for this check: pricing page, help center.
Where QuickBooks Online shows up in our fixes
- Connect QuickBooks Online to your bank
- Automated invoice & payment reminders
- Make every payout reconcile itself
- Snap the receipt, skip the shoebox
We are not paid by this vendor or any vendor listed here. These are the gates we found — which ones you accept is your call, not ours.
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