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I used waves for about 5 years for my business (it was free and what I needed to get started). I tried Freshbooks, which is similar to waves, but has some more and less features.
I upgraded to Quickbooks last year and won't be going back. QB has more features and doesn't cost robustly more than both mentioned. Yet, Waves and Freshbooks lack many features I needed for my business. Also, niether wave nor Fresbooks has a checking account earning $$$. This alone pays for my Quickbooks subscription and then some.
Smaller, newer businesses will use those accounting software mentioned, but Quickbooks is the Gold standard.

Because their AI is supplementary to the data in QB, it doesn't increase the use cases or capabilities.
For example, QB can't perform multi-inventory channel/costing on an expansive level well; frankly, it sucks for inventory overall, can't build out datasets well, or customize. Can't integrate with merchant service data. Sucks at sales leads/sales rep detail/leads. Production scheduling/project based schedule....non-existent. I can go on....

Why don't you think QB could replicate what an erp does with AI?

Try thinking about not comparing it to other software, but comparing it to what QB itself once offered for a lower price. A high margin business with no moat is high risk. You really think what they are offering with 80% margins is safe?
What's to stop MSFT from suddenly providing a bookkeeping app for free if you sign up for paid co-pilot? What's to stop an open source competitor from providing the same functionality? At its core, QB is bookkeeping software. The critical functions are not going to have any proprietary barriers from being duplicated.
The product may be essential to businesses, but in the way that contract translation services would be essential. Just because they are needed, doesn't mean they can't be sourced elsewhere, and competitors with AI could arguably do it for a lot cheaper. All these AI companies need a reason to exist. A very rules-oriented SaaS space seems ripe for their intrusion.

That's the best version of the switching argument in here. QB's real edge was that every accountant knew it and every answer was a search away. If AI answers the same questions for Xero, that edge is gone. It just isn't in the numbers yet, QuickBooks Online grew 23% last year.

Good to hear from someone who's in it every day. Most of the bears in here are talking about TurboTax. What would it actually take for you to move your books off QB?

Idk I have a lot of other software that I also use that is significantly higher cost for me every month.
I would change that many times before my QB which costs me like $120 or so a month

I used waves for about 5 years for my business (it was free and what I needed to get started). I tried Freshbooks, which is similar to waves, but has some more and less features.
I upgraded to Quickbooks last year and won't be going back. QB has more features and doesn't cost robustly more than both mentioned. Yet, Waves and Freshbooks lack many features I needed for my business. Also, niether wave nor Fresbooks has a checking account earning $$$. This alone pays for my Quickbooks subscription and then some.
Smaller, newer businesses will use those accounting software mentioned, but Quickbooks is the Gold standard.

Because their AI is supplementary to the data in QB, it doesn't increase the use cases or capabilities.
For example, QB can't perform multi-inventory channel/costing on an expansive level well; frankly, it sucks for inventory overall, can't build out datasets well, or customize. Can't integrate with merchant service data. Sucks at sales leads/sales rep detail/leads. Production scheduling/project based schedule....non-existent. I can go on....

Why don't you think QB could replicate what an erp does with AI?

Try thinking about not comparing it to other software, but comparing it to what QB itself once offered for a lower price. A high margin business with no moat is high risk. You really think what they are offering with 80% margins is safe?
What's to stop MSFT from suddenly providing a bookkeeping app for free if you sign up for paid co-pilot? What's to stop an open source competitor from providing the same functionality? At its core, QB is bookkeeping software. The critical functions are not going to have any proprietary barriers from being duplicated.
The product may be essential to businesses, but in the way that contract translation services would be essential. Just because they are needed, doesn't mean they can't be sourced elsewhere, and competitors with AI could arguably do it for a lot cheaper. All these AI companies need a reason to exist. A very rules-oriented SaaS space seems ripe for their intrusion.

That's the best version of the switching argument in here. QB's real edge was that every accountant knew it and every answer was a search away. If AI answers the same questions for Xero, that edge is gone. It just isn't in the numbers yet, QuickBooks Online grew 23% last year.

Good to hear from someone who's in it every day. Most of the bears in here are talking about TurboTax. What would it actually take for you to move your books off QB?

Idk I have a lot of other software that I also use that is significantly higher cost for me every month.
I would change that many times before my QB which costs me like $120 or so a month

If this was 2024....is agree. We have QB still...but no for long. The biggest sticking point for us for QB was that every accountant understood it and searching for answers to my QB questions had plentiful sources. Switching meant I would get stuck a lot and struggle to learn how to do things in the new system that took a while to learn in QB.
Welllllll.....ai solved that pain point. Its so easy and mostly free to just ask soooo many different AI systems how do / enter X entry in Y platform and reference what you used to do in quickbooks.
Xero....wave....book keepers that vibe code ai agent for specific industries.....and QB over charged for so long they have very little brand equity with their customers.
I actively dislike Intuit. More customer of QB dislike them than like them.
They are a RIPE candidate for disruption and don't seem to be making any effort on the price front....they will ride it to their own death.
Best case....they create a cheap ai competition to compete with themselves.
Worst case ...they draft their heels adjusting prices down to better met the value proposition and stock drops like a lead balloon

Do you know of any other services that offer that currently?
I am not aware of any with as much functionality (and ubiquity) as QB that most if not all small business accountants and their teams can use easily. If a business makes a lot then they pay a lot for those people to do their books and taxes.
I don't know a single business that would switch over their entire accounting and finance platform to save hundreds of dollars. Especially not when they're spending many thousands on the labor for its operation anyway.
They would however move TO quickbooks and save thousands monthly, if the tools enable the team to be more productive and it costs far less for the labor end of it.
You've gotta spend money to make money.

QB online is about the slowest piece of SAAS software I've ever used. They're discontinuing desktop which is really a problem for high transaction organizations. You can't import iif files, for example, into QB online.

Yes. That’s why use QB. It’s not a bot but it gives you trades that a quant model predicts. Then I can make my own trades.

QB was once a product you could buy an indefinite license off the shelf for cheaply and now it is an expensive subscription. Higher and recurring revenue is great in one sense but I don't know how much more growth and price increases there can be. Switching costs are what keep customers locked in, but how long will it be until an AI-Agent can convincingly suggest and port their client base over to a cheaper product?
For a subscription service like NFLX, they are selling you access the unique content. You can't switch away. When your subscription is a process service, that is danger zone. I would keep away from telecom and SAAS companies for that reason. I don't see them having a sufficiently unique and proprietary product that can safeguard against, "Agent - please source a similar service at a better price and switch me over."

If QB is anything like TurboTax, then that’s dangerous for businesses. They’ve fucked up my taxes multiple times because they can’t handle anything more complex than basic forms, and their plugins with certain financial institutions are completely broken and you end up having to do a lot manually. ChatGPT and Claude are quickly surpassing them in efficiency. Just redact sensitive information before using AI, and it will spit out 99% completed forms in minutes.