QBO user interface improvements: A step in the right direction

I am small business owner. Last year, on the advice of my accountant, I began a subscription to Quickbooks Online. At first I really hated it -- the QBO user interface was confusing and it took a long time to do basic things, such as approving expenses or generating invoices. One of the few positive aspects of QBO was the fact that it was online software, so I didn't have to update it on my desktop -- I just open the browser, log in, and QBO shows all updates automatically.

QBO had a major update earlier this year. I have to give Intuit credit for really improving the user interface at that time -- the navigation is much easier to get around, and the basic reporting options are solid. There some solid visualizations, too:

 

 

I still have trouble figuring out (or remembering) certain key functions, but I can always turn to my accountant if things get too bad. And that's the way the accountants (and Intuit) like it -- very few small business owners do their own bookkeeping and taxes, so it's common to work closely with an accountant through Quicken or Quickbooks.

For what it's worth, I looked into other small business accounting systems last year but there are very few on the market. The reason: Almost every accountant uses Quickbooks, and they won't recommend anything else because they would have to learn how to use a new software package.