A capable small-business ledger whose firm workflows usually live in separate tools.
Before the feature detail, the choice is architectural: keep QuickBooks at the centre and add the missing pieces around it, or run the firm and its clients on one rebuilt record.
A cloud ledger at the centre, a separate practice manager, AI tools reading a copy of the data, and paid connectors holding the parts together. Every join is another sync to watch, another subscription, and another place the same number can disagree.
COUNT rebuilt the ledger and the practice engine together. Practice Manager and COUNT Workspace are two experiences on one system, with the intelligence reading live data — a single source of financial truth for the firm and its clients.
In the US, QuickBooks Online is the default. The widest bookkeeper familiarity, the deepest payroll and payments tie-ins, and AI now bundled in as Intuit Intelligence. The trade-offs are tier gating (users, classes, locations and inventory all sit behind higher plans), multi-entity work that pushes you up to Intuit Enterprise Suite, and an accountant platform in transition as QuickBooks Online Accountant is retired at the end of 2026 in favour of Intuit Accountant Suite. COUNT gives firms the workflow, close and workpapers layer natively, and prices the practice side at zero.
Firms that want practice and client work on one modern platform, and businesses that want the full system rather than features rationed by tier. No add-on stack, no accountant platform in transition.
US small businesses already inside the Intuit ecosystem for payroll, payments and tax.
How the two products differ on the things firms and businesses tell us matter most.
| Capability | COUNT | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Practice management included | Included; clients on COUNT are free | Client console only; QBOA retires 31 Dec 2026 |
| Transaction coding | Cruise Control: five matching passes before AI is asked | Bank rules and remembered categorisations |
| Multi-entity consolidation | Free on all tiers | Intuit Enterprise Suite, a separate product |
| Included users | Unlimited, role-based | 1 to 25 depending on plan |
| Migration between the two | Two-way QuickBooks sync, not a one-off export | Export tools |
Expand any area for a line-by-line view of how COUNT and QuickBooks differ.
| Capability | COUNT | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Double-entry general ledger | Every plan | Every plan |
| Included users | Unlimited team members with twelve system roles and custom roles | 1 on Simple Start, 3 on Essentials, 5 on Plus, 25 on Advanced |
| Bill management and approvals | Every plan, with an approval gate before payment | Essentials and above |
| Usage limits | None on accounts, tags or users | Chart of accounts, classes and users capped below Advanced |
| Sales tax | Firm-owned tax templates applied across workspaces | Automated sales tax |
| 1099 filing | Vendor tracking, box mapping and e-filing through Tax1099 | Via Contractor Payments or QuickBooks Payroll |
| Multi-entity consolidation | Free on all tiers, with automatic intercompany eliminations | Intuit Enterprise Suite |
| Capability | COUNT | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction coding | Five deterministic passes, then AI, tuned per client | Bank rules and remembered categorisations |
| AI assistant | Client Workspace chat plus scheduled agents with an autonomy dial and a person on every write | Intuit Intelligence and agents, bundled |
| Receipt and document capture | Receipts, emailed bills, bank and loan statement extraction | Receipt capture included |
| Workflow automation | Visual builder on every plan | Advanced tier |
| MCP server | OAuth 2.1 MCP server for ledger and practice tools | Public developer API; no published MCP server |
| Capability | COUNT | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs, deadlines and workflow | Tasks, recurring tasks and projects | Client work management in the accountant console |
| Workpapers and period close | Thirteen close modules with evidence and review pipeline | Third-party |
| Time, WIP and billing | Included | Third-party practice tools |
| Firm-wide client dashboard | Same record as the ledger | Accountant console, separate from client files |
| Platform stability | One product | QuickBooks Online Accountant is being replaced by Intuit Accountant Suite |
QuickBooks is strongest here in the US; COUNT runs payroll natively in the US and integrates elsewhere.
| Capability | COUNT | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll | Native US payroll with pay schedules, benefits, employee portal and state registration tracking | QuickBooks Payroll tiers, priced separately |
| Firm-wide payroll oversight | One row per client with run-by dates and status | Not offered |
| Payments | Stripe card, ACH and Terminal, with optional fee passthrough | QuickBooks Payments, per-transaction pricing |
| Existing payroll provider | Gusto sync, or manual payroll entry | Migration to QuickBooks Payroll |
| Capability | COUNT | QuickBooks |
|---|---|---|
| Business entry price | US$15/month | US$38/month, before promotional discounts |
| Practice Manager | No per-user fees; clients on COUNT free | Free console, paid third-party stack around it |
| Price movement | Published NZ and US pricing | Price increases took effect in August 2026 |
| Migration support | Two-way sync, importers and a migration dashboard | Self-serve import tools |
QuickBooks details sourced from public information as at August 2026: QuickBooks Online pricing, QuickBooks Online usage limits, Intuit Enterprise Suite multi-entity, Introducing Intuit Intelligence. Pricing and features change; check the vendor for current details.
A full two-way QuickBooks Online sync brings accounts, contacts, invoices, bills, payments and trial balance across.
Keep QuickBooks in sync while you decide, rather than cutting over blind.
Firms watch every client's import land pass by pass on the migration dashboard.
We'll import a copy so you can compare like for like.
