✨ AI is Here—And QuickBooks (Surprisingly) Did It Right
Artificial Intelligence has officially arrived in QuickBooks Online—and this time, it’s actually smart. The new QBO AI Assist isn't trying to take over your books overnight. Instead, it's quietly rolling out as a helpful assistant that enhances existing workflows. In fact, some of you may already have it enabled without realizing it.
At Zccounting, we’re fully embracing this shift. Many of the tools our team has already been using—like rules-based automation and image capture—are now evolving into AI-powered features. The difference? These new tools attempt to learn patterns rather than just follow them.
But let’s be clear: AI isn’t a silver bullet.
When I ran my own books through QBO's AI tools, they tagged my rent expenses as contractor, office supplies, and even meals—all in addition to rent. Over six months, AI correctly labeled rent only three times. By contrast, our old-school rule—“if vendor = RENT, then category = rent”—worked every single time.
So what’s our approach? Simple: thoughtful integration. Our team is carefully evaluating when AI makes sense and when our tuned, rules-based systems are more reliable. It’s not about jumping on the latest trend—it’s about making sure we’re offering the best results for our clients.
Take Tam Do, one of our team leads and resident AI whisperer. When a vendor suggested rolling out an AI tool across 10 clients, Tam paused and said, “Let’s start with 3.” Why? Because she knows there will be mistakes—and she wants us to fully understand how to identify and correct them before scaling.
QBO is also introducing new features like AI-generated reminders, templates, and more. These may speed up workflows for some—but our client base isn’t made up of cookie-cutter nail salons with five vendors on repeat. We work with fast-growing, ever-evolving tech companies, and AI still has a ways to go when it comes to that level of complexity.
💸 Heads-Up: QBO Pricing Changes
With all these new features, Intuit has also rolled out another price increase. Remember when QBO Essentials was $12.50/month with the accountant discount? Well, that’s long gone. Here's where pricing stands now:
Essentials – $75/month
Plus – $115/month
Advanced – $275/month
You'll see this cost reflected as a pass-through item on your invoice. If you'd prefer to pay QuickBooks directly to potentially reduce sales tax (especially if you're in a state with lower rates than WA), just let us know—we’re happy to help you make the switch.
🚀 A Word on Zccounting’s Pricing
We haven’t raised our bookkeeping fees in quite a while. In fact, many clients are still on grandfathered rates. We’ve been able to do that because:
We leverage technology smartly
We have amazing clients who refer us
If you’ve had a good experience working with us, please share the love. Forward this post or tell a friend to book an intro call at:
👉 www.zccounting.com/meet
And if you’re into daily tips, tools, and a few laughs—follow us on Instagram for my new 60-second series:
👉 instagram.com/zccounting — I call it Daily ZZZ, and it's a quick burst of insight (or a dad joke, let’s be honest) every day.
Thanks for being part of our journey as we embrace AI—not blindly, but brilliantly.
