We are not utilizing Quickbooks for anything other than printing checks. Is the Simple Start edition capable of doing that as well?

It's great to have you here in the Community @Michael, and I'm here to give you more information about it.

QuickBooks Simple Start is a user-friendly tool that enables freelancers, gig workers and solo entrepreneurs to manage all of their income and expenses in one place. With QuickBooks Online Simple Start edition, you can also print checks.

When deciding which QuickBooks Online product to use, there are two important factors to consider: the number of users you have and the features your business requires. To help you compare, I recommend visiting our Plans & Pricing  page.

If you encounter any issues while printing checks using QuickBooks Online, don't worry. I have included some helpful articles to guide you through the process:

• Configure your print settings for printing checks in QuickBooks Online
• Create and record checks in QuickBooks Online
   

Furthermore, if you have any other QuickBooks-related queries apart from printing checks, please feel free to reach out to me. I'm always available to answer any questions you may have.

The plan and pricing page is a little scary. There is a table showing the only difference between "Essentials" and "QB Plus" is the QB Plus keeps the feature that allows "tracking billable hours by customer". But when you select "Essentials" version, a larger list is presented showing a host of features that will not be available if you go forward with the downgrade. The trouble is there is no way of telling exactly what data might be lost if you would no longer be able to use the data without having the features that created it, such as billable hours by customer. I'm guessing that I don't really have the option to down grade unless I want to stop billing customers...eek. Which is why that single feature is only available for the additional cost of $720 /year. Fortunately both versions do allow checking accounts. Is there a detailed description of how all of the lost features are implemented in an older QB database? Or is the best practice simply to maintain the "Plus" version to avoid potential data loss, etc.? Not sure how to work through a decision process on this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the Community space, @Jmamp1. I can provide details about the different features of the QuickBooks Online (QBO) versions.

Are you referring to the Simple Start or Essentials version of QBO? QBO Essentials does everything that Simple Start will do and adds the ability to manage bills and track time. QBO Plus gives you the functionality of Simple Start and Essentials with the added ability to track inventory and track profitability by the project.

If you want the easiest and quickest way for single users to manage income and expenses in one tool, QBO Simple Start is the best option. It's a good place to start if you're a consultant or contractor who has to keep track of expenses as they occur, send invoices and receive payment, monitor mileage, and run basic reports.

However, QBO Essentials offers advanced invoicing options. It's best for small businesses required to track payments due, assign hours worked to customers, and provide access to up to three users.

Next, you can assign locations and classes to your transactions in QBO Plus. It's ideal for small businesses that require job costing, budgeting, and inventory tracking. 

Lastly, QBO Advanced is the best option for expanding organizations with complex processes. It automates repetitive tasks and allocates work to more users who can only view what they need to. 

You can visit this page to see the features available on each QuickBooks version: QuickBooks Comparison Chart.

To know more about the features of the QBO version, check out this link: Find a plan that’s right for you.

I've added some links below, so you'll get to know more about what each version offers:

• Pricing and subscription levels for QuickBooks Online
• Compare QuickBooks Online Plans
• Upgrade or downgrade your QuickBooks Online subscription.

Feel free to leave a reply if you have additional questions about choosing the best QBO version for you. We'd be more than glad to assist you further. I'll be around to help you all the way. Wishing you continued success.