Compare · QuickBooks Live vs a ProAdvisor
QuickBooks Live vs a real ProAdvisor relationship.
Intuit's bookkeeping service is genuinely good for the scope it publishes — and the scope is the whole question. Here it is, accurately, next to what a Certified ProAdvisor practice actually does.
Scope and pricing from Intuit's published terms as of mid-2026 — confirm current rates with Intuit. We hold Intuit's ProAdvisor certification and compare respectfully.
In brief
QuickBooks Live vs a ProAdvisor in four answers.
What is QuickBooks Live?
Intuit's own bookkeeping service, two tiers (mid-2026): Expert Assisted ~$50–59/mo (you do the books, experts answer questions) and Full-Service from ~$300/mo + a one-time cleanup fee + your required QBO subscription (Intuit's team does the core bookkeeping, scheduled hours).
What's the catch?
Not a catch — a scope. Intuit's published exclusions: invoicing, bill pay, AP/AR management, inventory, payroll, 1099s, tax advice/filing, financial advisory. If you need those, they're not in the service at any tier.
What does a ProAdvisor relationship add?
A dedicated senior operator on your file — David-led, the same person every month — with full operational scope: AP/AR, payroll support, the month-end close, reporting, advisory. The ProAdvisor credential is Intuit's own certification, held independently.
How does cost compare, all-in?
Closer than it looks: QB Live Full-Service ~$300+/mo + cleanup fee + QBO subscription vs Westgate from $450/mo fixed, full scope included. Comparable money, different coverage — the math section below shows it plainly.
Defined accurately, first
What QuickBooks Live actually is.
QuickBooks Live is Intuit's bookkeeping service, built directly into QuickBooks Online. As of mid-2026 it's sold in two tiers — and the tier difference matters more than the brand:
Live Expert Assisted (roughly $50–59/month): you do your own bookkeeping; Intuit's experts answer questions, review your work, and guide you. For a DIY owner with simple books, this is honest, useful, inexpensive help.
Live Expert Full-Service (from roughly $300/month, plus a one-time cleanup fee at onboarding, plus the QuickBooks Online subscription the service requires): Intuit's bookkeepers handle the core bookkeeping — categorization and reconciliation — working scheduled hours within a defined scope.
All figures are Intuit's published pricing as of mid-2026 — confirm current rates with Intuit before deciding.
Expert Assisted · ~$50–59/mo
You keep the books; Intuit experts answer questions and review. Genuinely good value for DIY owners.
Full-Service · from ~$300/mo
Intuit's team does core bookkeeping — plus a one-time cleanup fee, plus the required QBO subscription on top.
Scheduled hours
Live bookkeepers work in defined session blocks — help on a schedule, not a dedicated on-call operator.
The published scope
Read the scope before you buy. Here it is.
These aren't criticisms — they're Intuit's own published exclusions for QuickBooks Live, listed so you can check them against what your business actually needs.
Invoicing & bill pay
Sending invoices and paying bills stay on your side of the desk.
AP / AR management
Tracking who owes you and whom you owe is excluded from the service scope.
Inventory
Inventory accounting — a real need for retail and product businesses — is out of scope.
Payroll & 1099s
Payroll runs and 1099 preparation are separate products, not part of Live bookkeeping.
Tax advice or filing
Live bookkeepers don't advise on or file taxes. (Neither do we — that's CPA work, and both services say so.)
Financial advisory
What-do-these-numbers-mean conversations are outside the published scope.
If your needs fit inside that scope, QuickBooks Live is priced attractively for what it covers. If several exclusions made you wince, keep reading.
Credit where due
What QuickBooks Live does well.
Brand trust + guarantee
It's Intuit — the company behind the software itself — with a published accuracy guarantee behind the work.
Tight QBO integration
The service lives inside the product. No third party, no handoffs — everything in one Intuit account.
Low entry price
Expert Assisted at ~$50–59/month is one of the cheapest ways to get real expert eyes on DIY books.
Simple-books fit
For uncomplicated books that fit the published scope, Full-Service covers the core competently.
The other side
What a ProAdvisor relationship is.
First, the credential, accurately: Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor is Intuit's own certification for independent professionals who work in its software — a real credential, not a state license, and not a CPA equivalent. David Westgate holds it, on top of 40 years on real books, and Westgate is a David-led ProAdvisor practice: a dedicated senior operator owns your file, reviewed to David's standard, never a rotating queue.
The structural difference from QuickBooks Live isn't the software — we work in your QuickBooks file too. It's the relationship and the scope: one named person who knows your business and is on the file all month, doing the operational work Intuit's published scope excludes.
Scope honesty cuts both ways: like QuickBooks Live, we don't give tax advice or file returns — Westgate is an operational accounting firm, not a CPA firm. The difference is everything operational up to that line.
AP / AR managed
Who owes you and whom you owe — tracked, current, reconciled. Operational accounting →
A real month-end close + payroll support
Reconciled to source, closed on a fixed cadence — by the 10th, as the standard — with payroll and sales-tax support in scope. Monthly bookkeeping →
Advisory in the relationship
The numbers come with the conversation about what they mean — included, not excluded. (Operational advisory; tax stays with your CPA.)
Side by side
The comparison at a glance.
QuickBooks Live details from Intuit's published terms as of mid-2026 — confirm current pricing and scope with Intuit.
| Dimension | QuickBooks Live | Westgate (ProAdvisor practice) |
|---|---|---|
| The model | Intuit service tier; bookkeepers on scheduled hours | A dedicated senior operator on your file, David-led, all month |
| Pricing (mid-2026) | Assisted ~$50–59/mo · Full-Service from ~$300/mo + one-time cleanup fee + required QBO subscription | From $450/mo (typical $450–$1,500) — one fixed fee, in writing, after a free review |
| Bookkeeping core | Categorization & reconciliation (Full-Service) | Same core — reconciled to source, closed by the 10th as the standard we run |
| AP/AR · inventory · payroll · 1099s | Excluded per Intuit's published scope | In scope — AP/AR management, inventory bookkeeping, payroll & sales-tax support |
| Advisory | Excluded per published scope | Included in the relationship — operational advisory from 40 years on real books |
| Tax advice / filing | Excluded — Intuit says so plainly | Also excluded — we're non-CPA and say so plainly; we make books CPA-ready |
| Availability | Scheduled sessions | Your operator answers — a person you know, on your schedule |
The math, plainly
All-in cost vs all-in scope.
Sticker prices mislead in both directions, so here's the honest arithmetic. QuickBooks Live Full-Service all-in: from ~$300/month for the service, plus a one-time cleanup fee at onboarding, plus the QuickBooks Online subscription the service requires on top. Real money — for the core bookkeeping defined in Intuit's published scope, with invoicing, AP/AR, inventory, payroll, 1099s, and advisory excluded.
Westgate all-in: from $450/month, typical range $450–$1,500 depending on volume and complexity, as one fixed fee set in writing after a free review — covering reconciliations, the month-end close, AP/AR and payroll support, reporting, and the advisory conversation, with a dedicated senior operator on the file. (You keep your own QBO subscription either way — we work in your file.)
The comparison isn't "cheap vs expensive." It's comparable money for materially different scope — which is why the published exclusion list above, not the sticker price, should drive the decision. Full details on our pricing page.
The decision framework
Choose by scope, not by logo.
Choose QuickBooks Live if…
You're a DIY owner who wants backup
Expert Assisted at ~$50–59/mo is genuinely good value for guidance on books you keep yourself.
Your needs fit the published scope
Simple books, no AP/AR or inventory or payroll needs — the exclusion list doesn't touch you.
One-umbrella simplicity appeals
Software, service, and guarantee all from Intuit, inside one account.
Choose a ProAdvisor relationship if…
You need what the scope excludes
AP/AR, inventory, payroll support, 1099s, advisory — the operational work a business actually runs on.
You want one person who knows the file
A named operator all month, not sessions on a calendar — continuity is the product.
Your books need real attention first
Messy or behind? A scoped cleanup beats a standard onboarding fee — and ends with a person who stays. Switching →
More comparisons: operator-led vs software-only · Westgate vs Bench · Westgate vs Pilot · or see everything we do in QuickBooks, including real-person QuickBooks support.
I carry Intuit's certification and I respect what they've built — QuickBooks Live is honest about its scope, and that honesty deserves the same in return. My advice to any owner is simple: read the scope, list what your business actually needs, and buy the model that covers the list. Sometimes that's them. When it's the whole operational picture, that's us.
Twenty years with a national nonprofit. Six years at a resort hotel — spa, restaurants, and golf course. Five years with a church. He has seen these books from the inside.
QuickBooks Live vs ProAdvisor FAQ
The questions QBO owners ask.
QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Live, and ProAdvisor are trademarks of Intuit Inc. Westgate Financial Services holds Intuit's ProAdvisor certification but is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or speaking for Intuit; pricing and scope cited reflect Intuit's published terms as of mid-2026 — confirm current details with Intuit.
Want the whole operational picture covered?
Talk to David — the credential, plus 40 years.
Bring your scope list. David will tell you straight whether QuickBooks Live covers it — and if it doesn't, exactly what a dedicated operator would do differently, with a fixed fee in writing.