How QuickBooks financing works

In order to understand QuickBooks financing, you need to break down Intuit Financing Inc. and the programs and services offered by the parent company.

Intuit Financing Inc. is the parent company that offers many QuickBooks services. QuickBooks is commonly known as an accounting and cash flow management software. From there, users can qualify for QuickBooks Capital, one of the many services offered under the greater QuickBooks Financing umbrella of short or long term small business loans and lines of credit.

QuickBooks will use the cash flow software’s data on the business along with a “soft pull” on personal credit so that credit scores are unaffected to determine what rates and programs the business owner can qualify for. Once the business in need of financing qualifies, one of Intuit’s financial partners will be matched with the business to provide funding. QuickBooks capital is a broad marketplace and if a specifically QuickBooks loan does not meet a business owner’s needs for term, rate or amount, Intuit will try and connect the business owner with one of their other lending partners.

Advantages and disadvantages

Like any source of working capital, there are terms and qualifications that may or may not be preferred for your business or industry. Simply put, these are the advantages and disadvantages of using QuickBooks financing to fund your business. They are explained further below.

Advantages

• Easily apply using your QuickBooks Accounting data
• Streamlined application
• Receive the money in 1-2 business days
• Weekly ACH payments (trackable in Quickbooks)
• No early repayment penalties
• No additional fees, just interest
• 6-12 month terms
• $1,500 – $100,000
• Interest rates from 3.13% to 8.49%

Disadvantages

• Invite-only
• QuickBooks Accounting users only
• 6-12 month terms
• $1,500 – $100,000
• Not qualifying for QuickBooks means you probably won’t qualify for other marketplace products
• Personal credit matters
• Business done outside of QuickBooks won’t be factored into your qualification

The direct lending from QuickBooks Capital is a short term loan ranging from $1,500 to $100,000. Term lengths range from six to twelve months with rates from 3.13% to 8.49%, which would translate to APRs from 12% to 32%. Borrowing money from QuickBooks is ideal if you’re looking for small scale financing, but wouldn’t be if you need larger amounts over $100,000. The rates are also favorable depending on what you qualify for, but some business owners may feel a Small Business Administration loan or bank loan spanning five years or so would be better suited for their needs.

While QuickBooks financing can bost no additional fees, just interest on the agreed upon amount, many competitors cannot. Lenders and alternative funders often charge underwriting fees and processing fees. This might be the case if you opt for an Inuit Financing lending partner. While a partner may have better programs for your cash flow needs, they will also have different rates, terms, and possibly even fees. There are many funding options out there, so if QuickBooks isn’t for your business, don’t feel obligated to stick with their marketplace. You can always find independent options.

As mentioned above, QuickBooks Financing is only available to those who use the QuickBooks Accounting software. Your accounting information will show your business’s cash flow, revenue, accounts receivables, accounts payables, existing debts, cash flow forecast, sales trends, profitability over time, and hundreds of other data points, all which QuickBooks Financing will use to analyze your business for a short term loan.

QuickBooks will also look at your business history, personal credit and business credit. The lender prefers to see credit scores above 580 and minimum $50,000 in annual revenue. Additionally, they say that you shouldn’t have had any personal or business bankruptcies in the past two years before applying, as personal finances do matter with them. QuickBooks reviews each application individually and works with businesses with these minimum credentials, and can consider exceptions. They don’t guarantee funding but they do analyze all aspects of performance and potential when underwriting a business.

One factor that may or may not be included, and you may or may not want to be included, is any other businesses or revenues you have outside of the software. Bigger businesses likely will have a more in-depth accounting software, but some will utilize QuickBooks. Complex business set ups that have a DBA or other structure might find it challenging to separate or combine cash flows, given how the system underwrites the account. Other users have reported they have income not included on QuickBooks, which in some rare cases can affect how the business looks on paper. In fact, just looking at a business as it is on paper can bar some healthy business from funding just because their situation needs explaining. There are ways around this to still get a loan with QuickBooks financing, and there are also other sources of business funding.

QuickBooks alternatives

You might have noticed if QuickBooks Capital can’t give you what you want, whether it be because you want something different from them or they want something different from you, they will send you to their marketplace of lending partners. For some business owners, they appreciate having trusted recommendations for a source of additional working capital. Other business owners might choose to seek their own lenders all together.

On their homepage, QuickBooks lets you create a sample loan based on basic information to see what interest rates, terms and amounts you might pre-qualify for. They create this estimate based on the amount of funding you desire and your credit profile. You can determine if what they offer might be something you want before narrowing in on your options.

Through the marketplace, businesses can receive alternatives to short term loans such as invoice financing, short term loans with different rates and terms, business lines of credit, and SBA loans. Some of their direct lender partners you might be familiar with. They include: Fundbox, funding circle and BlueVine.

It’s important to note that if you do not qualify for a QuickBooks loan, you might not fare any better with their lending partners. The partners will have just as strict requirements, if not more so, making it hard to qualify by the former if you were already denied by the latter. If you were denied for bad credit, not enough revenue, not enough time in business, previous defaults, or some other reason, there are funders out there who will provide working capital to your business, you just need to be prepared for higher rates.

If you were denied or just want to explore your options to compare and contrast, these are the most popular alternatives to QuickBooks Financing.

Kabbage

Kabbage is most well known for their lines of credit. They have an app you can easily view your business’s funding status from and can also transfer you the funds in a matter of one day after approval. Kabbage will sync with any accounting software you have, even if it’s not Quickbooks. They also use automated underwriting and ACH pulls, but these automatic debits are monthly, not daily or weekly.

Fundbox

You can partner with Fundbox through the QuickBooks marketplace, or you can seek them on your own. Fundbox also has speed in providing credit, and they pride themselves in allowing no-penalty early repayment options. That way, if you need to free yourself from weekly repayments, you can pay off the entire loan and get back to your normal cash flow, no extra fee.

New York Tribeca Group

New York Tribeca Group is an online lender that provides short term loans to small businesses. If you need a higher amount than the $100,00 QuickBooks offers, we can help with loans up to $1 million for 18 months. We offer close to a dozen programs to help your business meet its financial needs, all through online transfers and debits.

QuarterSpot

QuarterSpot also allows early loan repayment, another reason businesses are ditching amortization-locked bank loans. Repayment terms extend up to 18 months and loan amounts range from $5,000 to $200,000. Just be careful, the lender can be strict when it comes to what states they will work with.

Why use QuickBooks

Businesses need capital to pursue their best ideas. Achieving the next milestone in business growth often requires outside funding to help get there. If you have a project costing between $1,500 and $100,000 that you can repay plus interest in six to twelve months, QuickBooks is a highly rated source to partner with. The streamlined application process and no fee repayment entice many QuickBooks accounting users to utilize these loans. The downside is that you must use the software to qualify, but if you don’t, have no fear, there are many alternatives out there.