The QuickBooks Alternative for Australian Businesses
QuickBooks Online has been winding down its Australian focus for years. The product is designed around US tax concepts that have to be contorted to fit GST, BAS, STP, and super. Australian businesses deserve Australian accounting software.
BBN Accounting is Australian from the chart of accounts up — no bolt-ons, no workarounds, no US-ism leaks.
Why Australian businesses switch from QuickBooks
Intuit is de-prioritising Australia
QuickBooks Australia has seen feature-freeze on STP, repeated price hikes, and a shrinking local support team. Intuit's focus is increasingly the US TurboTax / Mailchimp business. Australian users get patchy roadmap updates.
BAS is an afterthought
QuickBooks BAS reporting exists but requires extensive manual configuration, GST code mapping, and cross-checking. BBN Accounting generates BAS direct from journal entries with G1-G20 and W1-W2 populated automatically.
Payroll + STP Phase 2 inconsistencies
QuickBooks payroll handles STP but with known issues on disaggregated reporting (Phase 2). Users routinely work around the system manually. BBN Accounting implements STP Phase 2 natively: base salary, overtime, allowances, bonuses, director fees, and salary sacrifice all tracked separately.
No MSP-specific features
For managed service providers, QuickBooks can't handle contract billing, hour banks, time-to-invoice automation, or RMM integration. BBN Accounting is built specifically for MSPs with these features native.
QuickBooks Online vs BBN Accounting
| Feature | QuickBooks Online (Plus) | BBN Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $82 AUD | $199 AUD |
| Users included | 5 | Unlimited |
| GST / BAS reporting | Manual config | Auto from journal entries |
| STP Phase 2 | Partial (known issues) | Native |
| PAYG with HELP + SFSS | Add-on | Native |
| Super Guarantee 11.5% / 12% | Manual rate update | Auto per FY |
| TPAR contractor reporting | Separate add-on | Built in |
| ABN validation | No | ATO check-digit algorithm |
| Multi-entity consolidation | Advanced tier only | Included |
| Contract billing (MSP) | No | Native |
| Bank feeds | Yes (direct) | CSV/OFX (CDR feeds on roadmap) |
| Australian support hours | Shrinking | Yes (Queensland) |
| On-premise option | No | Yes |
| TFN / bank details encrypted at rest | Not disclosed | AES-128 + HMAC |
BBN is more expensive per-seat at small scale, but unlimited users means a 10-person team is already cheaper. For MSPs, the included contract billing + native STP Phase 2 + integrated helpdesk usually pays for the difference several times over.
Migration from QuickBooks
Our migration wizard handles QuickBooks Online exports directly. Steps:
- Day 1 — Export Trial Balance, Chart of Accounts, Customers, Suppliers, Open Invoices, Open Bills from QuickBooks Reports → Export
- Day 2 — Run BBN's migration wizard. We detect QuickBooks CSV columns automatically and map to the Australian l10n_au chart.
- Day 3-5 — Parallel run. Enter new transactions in both. Verify balances match.
- Day 6 — Cut over. Final QuickBooks reconciliation, final BAS from QuickBooks, switch bank feeds.
- Day 7 — Cancel QuickBooks.
Your existing accountant works as before — we export standard CSV, PDF, and JSON. Same reports they already review.
Australian accounting, built by Australians
See it in 20 minutes. Bring your current BAS and we'll show you the one-to-one equivalent in BBN.
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STP Phase 2 explainer
What Australian payroll software must produce