QuickBooks alternatives for owners of several businesses and LLCs
QuickBooks Online needs a separate paid subscription for every company file. Here's how Zoho Books, Xero, FreshBooks and Wave handle several businesses under one login, what each extra entity costs, and when one set of books is enough, using each vendor's official pages. Checked .
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The short version
- QuickBooks Online charges per company. Intuit's help center says "Each company you create requires its own separate paid subscription." You can keep them under one sign-in and switch between them, but users and bank connections have to be set up again in each company.
- Every cloud alternative here also charges per business, so switching doesn't make the per-company cost go away. What changes is the price of each one.
- Cheapest: Wave. Its Starter plan is $0 per business, and one Wave account holds up to 15 business profiles. Pro is $19/mo per business.
- Cheapest full accounting: Zoho Books is priced "per org": Standard $20/mo ($15 billed annually), Professional $50/mo ($40). Its Free plan works while revenue stays under $50K a year. By default, one email address can create up to five organizations.
- Xero lets you add "as many organizations as you like", with a plan for each one, and gives an automatic multi-organization discount when they share a subscriber email. Xero doesn't publish the discount amount, and its current 90%-off offer is only for your first organization.
- FreshBooks keeps each business separate, including its subscription, under one login.
- Prices are from each vendor's official US pages, checked .
First question: one set of books or several?
Before you price anything, ask your accountant whether each business needs its own books. That decides whether you need one subscription or several.
- Separate legal entities that file separately (for example, multiple LLCs taxed as partnerships or corporations) usually get their own books, with their own bank accounts, balance sheet and profit and loss. In every tool below, that means one subscription per entity.
- Several brands or locations under one legal entity can often share one set of books, tagged by class, location or branch. In QuickBooks Online, classes are only on Plus ($140/mo) and Advanced ($340/mo). Intuit's help center says class tracking "isn't available in Simple Start or Essentials."
Owners keep running into this. One Reddit user who manages several LLCs says "the biggest issue with QuickBooks and Xero is that they make you pay a separate subscription for each company" (r/Bookkeeping). A land developer with a separate LLC for each project was told in r/Accounting that "QBO only supports one company per subscription." In r/QuickBooks, commenters said classes in one file can work for sole proprietorships or single-member LLCs with the same owner, but corporations and partnerships need separate books, and that with separate files there's "no real consolidated view, so you end up in excel a lot."
How QuickBooks Online handles several companies
- One subscription per company file. Companies can share one sign-in, and you switch between them with Settings → Switch company.
- Nothing is shared except the sign-in. Intuit says users "do not automatically have access to others" (you invite them to each company), bank and card connections must be set up "separately for each file", and lists you copy over don't stay in sync.
- Copying a company to start a new one is an Advanced feature, per the same help article.
- Consolidated reports: an answer in Intuit's community forum says QuickBooks Online has "no multi-company plan" and no native consolidated report across company files, so owners export to Excel or add a reporting app. Intuit also mentions its separate Intuit Enterprise Suite for linked "child accounts and files". We haven't verified its pricing.
- List prices on Intuit's discount page: Simple Start $38/mo (1 billable user), Essentials $85 (3 users), Plus $140 (5 users), Advanced $340 (25 users). New customers who buy get 50% off for 3 months. That discount applies to each new subscription, but the list price is what you'll pay per company afterward.
The alternatives
Wave: up to 15 businesses on one account, free on Starter
- Limit: Wave's help center says you can keep "up to 15 business profiles within one Wave account". When you add a business, you choose Starter or Pro for it. Wave is only for businesses in the US and Canada.
- Price per business: Starter is $0 and includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. Pro is $19/mo or $190/yr, with a $9.50/mo promo for the first 3 months. Wave's pricing FAQ says Pro is "per business, not per owner": three businesses on Pro means paying $19 three times.
- What Pro adds: bank transaction auto-import, auto-merge and categorization, unlimited receipt capture, and automatic late-payment reminders. On Starter, you bring bank activity in yourself.
- Fit: side businesses and small single-member LLCs with simple books.
Zoho Books: per-organization pricing, five organizations per email by default
- How it works: Zoho's pricing FAQ says you can run multiple businesses "set up as different organizations associated with your Zoho Books account." Each new organization gets a 14-day Premium trial, and then "you will have to subscribe to a plan ... separately." Zoho's subscription FAQ says that by default, one email address can create up to five organizations, and that after the trial you "can either upgrade to a paid plan or switch to the free plan."
- Price per organization (monthly / billed annually): Free $0 (1 user + 1 accountant; free while revenue for the financial year stays under $50K), Standard $20 / $15 (3 users), Professional $50 / $40 (5 users), Premium $70 / $60 (10 users), Elite $150 / $120 (10 users), Ultimate $275 / $240. Features differ by plan, so check Zoho's comparison table.
- Fit: owners who want real double-entry books for each LLC for the lowest paid price, especially if some entities are small enough for the Free plan.
Xero: unlimited organizations and a multi-organization discount
- How it works: Xero's US FAQ says you "can add as many organizations as you like" and choose a pricing plan for each one. Xero Central says one billing account can pay for several organizations, or each can have its own.
- Multi-organization discount: Xero says it "offers a discount if you have subscriptions for more than one organization", applied automatically when the organizations share a subscriber email address. The FAQ doesn't say how big the discount is, so don't count on a specific figure.
- Price per organization: Early $27/mo (20 invoices, 5 bills), Growing $59, Established $97 (adds multiple currencies and project tracking). Xero's pricing page says "No per-user license fees".
- The intro offer only covers one company. Xero's 90%-off-for-6-months offer is "only available to customers in the United States purchasing their first organization on xero.com" and ends 11:59pm UTC on November 2, 2026.
- Fit: owners whose accountant works in Xero, and groups that need many users in each entity.
FreshBooks: separate businesses under one login
- How it works: FreshBooks' help center says you can "add more businesses or companies under the same login." Each one runs independently, and "information in each business is kept separate, including your FreshBooks subscription, online payments, and reports." Each new business gets a 30-day trial, but only two trial businesses can be active at a time.
- Price per business: Lite $23/mo (5 billable clients), Plus $43 (50 clients), Premium $70 (unlimited clients). Select is priced by quote. Team members are $11/mo each. The pricing page shows 80% off for the first 4 months.
- About consolidated reports: FreshBooks' multiple-businesses marketing page mentions "consolidated financial reports", but its help article says no financial information is shared between businesses. Ask FreshBooks how combined reporting works before you rely on it.
- Fit: owners of several service businesses that mostly need invoicing and expenses.
Side by side
| QuickBooks Online | Zoho Books | Xero | FreshBooks | Wave | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billing | One subscription per company | One plan per organization | One plan per organization | One subscription per business | Pro is per business; Starter free |
| How many under one login | No limit stated in the help article we read | Up to 5 organizations per email (default) | "As many organizations as you like" | No limit stated; 2 active trials at a time | Up to 15 business profiles |
| Lowest price per entity | Simple Start $38 | Free $0 (under $50K revenue); Standard $20 ($15 annually) | Early $27 | Lite $23 | Starter $0 |
| Multi-entity discount | None listed | None listed | Yes, automatic (amount not published) | None listed | None listed |
| Classes / one-entity split | Classes on Plus $140 and Advanced only | Not covered here | Not covered here | Not covered here | Not covered here |
Rough monthly cost for three LLCs
List prices after any intro offer, three separate entities, one plan each:
- QuickBooks Online: Essentials 3 × $85 = $255/mo. Plus 3 × $140 = $420/mo. Simple Start 3 × $38 = $114/mo.
- Zoho Books: Standard 3 × $20 = $60/mo ($45 billed annually). Professional 3 × $50 = $150/mo ($120 billed annually). $0 for any entity that qualifies for the Free plan.
- Xero: Growing 3 × $59 = $177/mo before the multi-organization discount. Established 3 × $97 = $291/mo.
- FreshBooks: Plus 3 × $43 = $129/mo. Lite 3 × $23 = $69/mo.
- Wave: Starter $0. Pro 3 × $19 = $57/mo.
Our arithmetic from the published prices. It leaves out payments fees, payroll, extra users and add-ons. Plans aren't feature-equivalent, so compare features too, and confirm on each vendor's page.
Moving several companies off QuickBooks
- Start with one entity, ideally the simplest one, and close a full month in the new tool before you move the rest.
- Export each company file separately. Each QuickBooks Online company has its own data, so repeat the export for every file. See our QuickBooks Online export guide.
- Record intercompany balances (loans between your LLCs, shared expenses) as of the cutover date in each new set of books. Ask your accountant how they want this done.
- Reconnect bank feeds per entity. As in QuickBooks, each bank account connects to one entity's books.
- Cancel each QuickBooks subscription separately once its entity is moved.
Step-by-step guides: QuickBooks Online to Zoho Books, QuickBooks Online to Xero, QuickBooks Online to FreshBooks and QuickBooks Online to Wave.
How to choose (our suggestions)
- Small side businesses with simple books? Wave Starter, at $0 each, for up to 15 businesses.
- Several real LLCs that each need proper books, for the least money? Zoho Books Standard or Professional, and Free for any entity under $50K in revenue.
- Your accountant works in Xero, or each entity has many users? Xero, with the automatic multi-organization discount and no per-user fees.
- Mostly invoicing clients from a few service businesses? FreshBooks, one subscription per business.
- Brands under one legal entity? You may only need one subscription. Ask your accountant before buying several.
Compare every tool we track in QuickBooks alternatives by business type, or see the pages for freelancers, agencies and multi-currency businesses.
Sources
Prices and plan features come only from each vendor's official pages. Plans change, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy.
- Intuit QuickBooks Help: Create or add another company file (checked )
- QuickBooks: Discount page (plan prices and billable users) (checked )
- Intuit QuickBooks Help: Create and manage classes in QuickBooks Online (checked )
- QuickBooks Community: pricing for multiple companies and consolidated reporting (forum answer) (checked )
- Zoho Books (US): Pricing and FAQ (checked )
- Zoho Books FAQ: Manage multiple organizations (checked )
- Zoho Books FAQ: Multiple organizations in my Zoho account (checked )
- Xero (US): Pricing plans (checked )
- Xero (US): Frequently asked questions (checked )
- Xero Central: Purchase a Xero subscription (checked )
- FreshBooks: Pricing (checked )
- FreshBooks Support: How do I add and manage businesses in my account? (checked )
- FreshBooks: Accounting software for multiple businesses (checked )
- Wave: Pricing (checked )
- Wave Help Center: Add a new business to your Wave account (checked )
Last checked: . Not tax, legal or accounting advice.
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