A QuickBooks alternative for service businesses that bill their work.
PayPolka keeps client time, expenses, purchases, and invoices in one account, and hands your accountant a year-end package. Bring your QuickBooks Online customers, products, and open invoices with you.
Try every feature free for 30 days. No card needed.
Start with what you use QuickBooks for.
QuickBooks Online is accounting software built around your books. If you mostly use it to send invoices, get paid, and track spending for tax time, PayPolka covers those jobs and adds the time tracking and project costs that connect the work to the bill.
If you run payroll through QuickBooks, reconcile your bank accounts in it, or need a balance sheet, keep an accounting tool for that work. PayPolka doesn't do it.
How QuickBooks Online and PayPolka compare
QuickBooks figures come from the QuickBooks Online pricing page, reviewed October 28, 2026, at regular prices before promotions.
| Feature | QuickBooks Online | PayPolka |
|---|---|---|
| Price for a team of five | Plus, $140 per month for up to 5 users | $45 per month ($9 per person), every feature included |
| Project profitability | Listed on Plus and Advanced | Included: labor cost, expenses, purchases, and overhead against billed work |
| Time on invoices | "Add employee time to invoices" listed from Essentials up | Weekly timesheets by project and labor category; the invoice pulls in unbilled hours |
| Books | Full accounting software | Cash-basis income and spending, plus a year-end package for your accountant |
Moving over
Import your customers first, then products and services, then open invoices. Each file gets checked before anything is added, and running the same file twice adds nothing new. Keep QuickBooks access for the paid invoice history you want to look back on. Read the import guide or see how purchases and overhead work.
How PayPolka helps after QuickBooks
Bring your QuickBooks records over
Export three reports from QuickBooks Online: customers, products and services, and open invoices. PayPolka checks each file and shows what it will add before anything is imported, and nobody is emailed.
Record what the business spends
Add bills, subscriptions, materials, and subcontractors on Purchases. Photograph a bill on your phone and PayPolka fills in a draft for you to check. Unpaid bills stay on the list until you mark them paid.
See each project's profit after overhead
Spread rent, insurance, and other overhead across the projects that carry it. Profitability shows each project's margin before and after overhead.
Hand your accountant one package
At year end, download a zip with a cash-basis summary, the ledger behind it, subcontractor totals checked against the 1099-NEC threshold, open bills, receivables, and QuickBooks and Xero export files. Accountant access is read-only and free.
Put retainer clients on autopay
A client saves a card or US bank account from their portal, and PayPolka charges it for each recurring invoice. A card is charged the day you send; a bank account 10 days later, so the client sees the amount first. Drafts still wait for you unless you choose to have them send on their own.
Pay one price for the whole team
$9 per person per month, nothing metered. Accountants and client contacts never take a seat, and the first 30 days are free with no card needed.
Questions, answered.
What comes over from QuickBooks?
Customers become clients with their billing address, payment terms, and first email address as the primary contact. Products and services go into your Price Book. Each open invoice becomes a sent invoice for what's still owed, with its QuickBooks number on the line. Line-by-line invoice history, saved cards and bank accounts, and invoice numbering don't come over.
Does PayPolka replace my books?
No. PayPolka handles billing, getting paid, and what you spend, on a cash basis. It doesn't keep a general ledger, a balance sheet, bank feeds, bank reconciliation, payroll, or depreciation. Ask your accountant whether the year-end package covers what they need from you.
Who is PayPolka a good fit for?
Small US service teams, such as contractors, consultants, freelancers, and studios, who bill for their time and want projects, expenses, and invoices together.
What does PayPolka cost?
$9 per person per month. Every feature is included, and read-only accountant access is free. New accounts get 30 days free with no card needed. Add a card before the trial ends to keep going; if you never do, nothing is charged.
Bring your clients over and send your next invoice from PayPolka.
Import your QuickBooks customers and open invoices, log the next job, and see how PayPolka fits your business.
Try every feature free for 30 days. No card needed.