Why QuickBooks Online Reviews Suck: Is QBO Really That Bad?

UPDATED for 2026

Have you ever thought about signing up for QuickBooks Online (aka “QBO”) but were reluctant after seeing a ton of 1-star reviews?

If so, you’re not alone. Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about the struggles entrepreneurs and business owners have with QuickBooks online, and it’s not just the people I work with…

A while back, I was researching QBO features and came across a consumer awareness website. Here I discovered a VERY long complaint list from disgruntled QBO users. We’re talking about a list of reviews with over 50% of the ratings being 1-star. Ouch!

So why are QuickBooks Online users so dissatisfied (or so they say)?

For one thing, there has been a huge uptick in poor QBO reviews ever since QuickBooks Desktop basically “forced” their users to move over to QuickBooks Online.

This happened when QuickBooks Desktop stopped updating the 2020 version, as so many of us moved to working remotely. Many QuickBooks desktop users had no choice but to move to the online version. And nobody likes being pushed into changes they didn’t ask for.

Add to that the recent AI updates, which some users REALLY object to, and you’ve got quite the customer satisfaction issue.

Now, you’d think it would be simple to switch between the the desktop and online versions. But that has not necessarily been the case.

I learned this big-time when I assisted a company bookkeeper and their CPA in converting from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. Turns out that making the change was a nightmare for them. This is happening to a LOT of QuickBooks Desktop users who are being forced to make the change.

Even if you were plugging along just fine in QuickBooks Desktop, as soon you move over to QuickBooks online, all the little issues that were smoothed over for the last how ever many years will come out to bite you.

So here’s the real reason why the QBO reviews suck…

QuickBooks is not a solution, it’s a software. QuickBooks is really designed for Accountants.

It’s not really made with non-accountants in mind. But it’s sold as a “user friendly” software for someone who’s attempting to DIY their books. So you can see right away that there’s a pretty big disconnect.

What’s more is that if you have QuickBooks of any version or type, you are a witness to their lack of customer support.

Why is customer support so lacking? A big factor is that most support representatives are NOT Accountants. So when you call customer support, you’re not talking to a financial professional. This means you could be going in circles for months trying to get help.

So, with all that taken into account (no pun intended!), it’s easy to see why people are giving QBO tons of 1-star reviews.

I’ve been a QuickBooks user since 2006. I moved to the Online Version 100% in 2017, and it’s had a lot of ups and downs. Some of the differences between QuickBooks Desktop and QBO are really annoying and hard to work with. But, then again, some of them are a also sigh of relief (like QBO discontinuing the business view vs the accountant review option).

What I know for sure is that QuickBooks success requires someone with an Accounting background and someone who is an expert in the software.

It’s not enough to just have a bookkeeper. Recall that a bookkeeper is someone who has not had official Accounting training. If your bookkeeper doesn’t have Accounting support, it’s easy for your books to get out of control. If that happens, it can often cost thousands of dollars to fix them (and cost even more in potential tax errors).

So ideally, to make the most of QuickBooks, a bookkeeper needs an Accountant to oversee their work and answer questions.

I’m often frustrated with QBO support myself. But at least I know the software and accounting well enough that I know what to ask and where to go, and when to find a work-around if I’m not getting the answers I need. So I can imagine how an untrained person can feel when they try and get help.

But, what if there was a quick and easy way to find out if you need QuickBooks support? I’ve got something that can help you assess where you stand with QuickBooks, and what steps you need to take to get the most out of the software (whether you’re an accountant or not).

Take my QuickBooks Self-Assessment Quiz and find out if you’re using QuickBooks in the most empowering way, or you could use a little (or a lot) of support in making it work for YOU.

Let’s find out if you’re getting all that you can out of your QuickBooks, and where to get support if you need it. Take the quiz HERE!

Until next time,

Love, light, and MONEY, honey…

Kaylee