Article

From frustration to freedom: Why finance teams are leaving QuickBooks

May 20, 2025

Many small and mid-size businesses are leveraging Intuit QuickBooks as their financial management solution. Although the software is generally able to accommodate their needs in the beginning, it tends to struggle to scale and adapt as their businesses grow. Because of its inability to scale with growth, businesses often face additional challenges that create a ripple effect, causing them to seek “quick” fixes like manual workarounds. Unfortunately, these temporary solutions end up exacerbating the problem in the long run. If your business is outgrowing QuickBooks, read on to learn why many companies are switching from the software.  

1. Tedious manual data entry

A lot of companies choose not to integrate QuickBooks with other business applications when they are smaller and move forward with manual system integration. When the volumes of data aren’t as large, this practice can be manageable at first. However, as the company grows, the amount of manual data entry increases and quickly leads to reduced productivity. Processes like the month-end close and revenue recognition can quickly become burdensome due to the lack of automation and error-prone processes.  

2. Lack of scalability

QuickBooks lacks more advanced features that are important for growing businesses to utilize, making it hard for the software to scale with changing business requirements. This scalability issue can lead to delays and system crashes as the platform struggles to handle increased data volumes or cache issues. These complications are risky, as they may force businesses to shut down QuickBooks just to maintain data. And in the worst-case scenario, critical data could be lost.

3. Overuse of spreadsheets

Since QuickBooks lacks advanced reporting features, businesses must take on more labor-intensive tasks. These tasks include manually exporting data from their system and performing complicated spreadsheet calculations. This heavy reliance on spreadsheets for supporting financial processes and reporting can trigger inaccuracies from error-prone procedures. As a result, businesses miss out on clear and trustworthy insights into their financial operations and reporting.

4. Lack of visibility

As a business continues to add more products, customers and revenue, gaining insights from data becomes more challenging. Data may be scattered across various disconnected systems or spreadsheets and lack real-time updates. These limitations can hold a business back from making timely and accurate decisions since they lack a comprehensive view of their data.

5. Customization constraints

QuickBooks offers limited customization options, which can make it difficult for businesses to tailor it to align with their business requirements. For example, QuickBooks doesn’t allow users to make any modifications or restrictions for those who can approve purchase requests. Additionally, the approval workflow is fixed and can’t be adjusted to fit the needs of different workflows. These constraints can hinder operational efficiency and disrupt the organization's ability to adapt to evolving business needs.’

6. Limited customer support

Some QuickBooks users have reported challenges with customer support due to confined support hours, language gaps and responses that are too generic and don’t address their specific problems. Because of these constraints, QuickBooks customers’ ability to quickly address challenges is impacted.

QuickBooks no longer cutting it? Let's talk about what's next

If these challenges sound familiar, you're not alone—and you're not stuck. Many financial leaders reach a point where QuickBooks no longer supports the complexity and pace of their growing business. The good news? There’s a better way forward.

At Baker Tilly, we’ve helped countless businesses navigate this transition with confidence. Our goal isn’t just to implement software—it’s to understand your unique needs, reduce your frustration and help you build a financial foundation that scales with you.

Let’s start with a conversation. Schedule a free business assessment, and let’s explore what’s possible—together.