QuickBooks Projects tracks the income, costs, and profit of each job separately, so you can see which projects make money while they are still running.
QuickBooks Projects is included in QuickBooks Online Plus, QuickBooks Online Advanced, and Intuit Enterprise Suite, and it keeps a job’s estimates, invoices, expenses, and time in one place. In 2026 Intuit added construction financials to Advanced at no added cost, along with an AI that flags projects heading toward an overrun. Owners who track jobs on spreadsheets carry real risk, since audits of real-world business spreadsheets have found errors in about 94% of those examined.
This guide covers what Projects does, which plans include it, what changed in 2026, and how to turn it on.
Key Takeaways
- QuickBooks Projects is available in QuickBooks Online Plus, Advanced, and Intuit Enterprise Suite
- It records every transaction, hour, and invoice for a job and reports profit by project
- Margins in project work are thin: CFMA’s 2025 Construction Financial Benchmarker put average net income before taxes at 6.7% across 1,558 contractors
- Audits of real-world business spreadsheets have found errors in about 94% of them, a risk for anyone costing jobs by hand
- Since August 2026, QuickBooks Online Advanced includes construction financials at no added cost: budgets by phase, AIA-style progress billing, change orders, and WIP reporting
- Intuit’s Project Management AI monitors budgets against actuals and flags projects trending toward an overrun
- QuickBooks Enterprise, the desktop product, offers job costing but doesn’t call it Projects, and Intuit Enterprise Suite is a separate online product
| Version | Projects? | What it adds for project work | Multiple locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online Plus | Yes | Project profit and loss, with income, expenses, and time tracked by project | No |
| QuickBooks Online Advanced | Yes | Everything in Plus, plus estimates versus actuals, phase budgets, change orders, WIP reporting, AIA-style progress billing, and Project Management AI | Not native |
| Intuit Enterprise Suite | Yes | Built for multi-entity organizations with heavy project costing, including project reports by dimension such as cost to complete and WIP | Yes |
| QuickBooks Enterprise (desktop) | Job costing, not labeled “Projects” | Job costing and project tracking for individual jobs | Yes, multiple inventory sites |
The Challenge of Managing Multiple Projects Simultaneously
Managing multiple projects at the same time can feel like juggling flaming torches—one misstep and everything can come crashing down. For any business owner, the stakes are high. Each project demands your attention, resources, and impeccable coordination to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Think about it: you’ve got Project A needing materials ordered, Project B waiting on client approval, and Project C where labor costs are spiraling out of control. Without a robust system in place, it’s all too easy for important details to slip through the cracks. And when that happens, the costs can be significant.
What is QuickBooks Projects?
QuickBooks Projects organizes everything tied to a single job in one place: estimates, invoices, expenses, time, and reports. Intuit uses the word broadly, so it covers jobs, engagements, and trips as well as projects.
If you track expenses, set budgets, invoice clients, or monitor profitability, Projects puts those tools in one view. You can switch between projects, see where each one stands, and make decisions without digging through separate files.
Key Features of QuickBooks Projects
Project Cost Tracking
QuickBooks Projects allows you to meticulously record every transaction related to a project, whether it’s materials purchased, hours worked, or payments received.
By using this feature, you can maintain accurate project financials effortlessly. Imagine knowing exactly how much you’ve spent on Project A versus Project B at any given moment. For instance, if you’re managing a kitchen renovation project, you can track every cost from purchasing tiles to paying your subcontractors, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
This level of detail helps you avoid overspending and ensures you’re charging your clients accurately for all the work done.
Related Reading: Why Accurate Project Time Tracking is Crucial for Your Business
Budgeting and Forecasting
With QuickBooks Projects, you can establish a budget at the outset of each project, detailing expected costs for materials, labor, and other expenses.
Comparing budgeted costs against actual expenses throughout the project’s lifecycle helps you stay on top of your finances. Imagine you’ve budgeted $10,000 for a landscaping project. QuickBooks Projects allows you to track spending in real time, so you can immediately see if you’re exceeding your budget on materials or labor.
This comparison is crucial for identifying areas where you might be overspending or where you can save.
Profitability Analysis
Monitoring each project’s profitability helps you understand which projects are making money and which might be draining resources. QuickBooks Projects provides tools to track income and expenses in real time and generate detailed profitability reports.
So, if you’re running multiple construction jobs, you can generate reports to see which ones are most profitable, allowing you to focus your efforts where they matter most.
These insights help you make informed decisions about where to allocate resources, which projects to prioritize, and how to improve overall profitability.
Invoicing and Payments
Creating and managing invoices within QuickBooks Projects streamlines your billing process. You can generate invoices directly from the project dashboard, ensuring all project-related expenses and work are accounted for.
This way, you can easily see which clients have paid and which ones still owe you money.
Time Tracking
Recording and linking time entries to specific projects is essential for accurate billing and cost tracking. QuickBooks Projects allows you to track the hours worked by employees or contractors and assign those hours to the relevant projects.
Related Reading: A Step-by-Step Guide to Tracking Time and Mileage in QuickBooks Online
What’s New for Project Tracking in 2026
Most of this year’s changes landed in QuickBooks Online Advanced.
- Construction financials are included in Advanced. Intuit’s August 2026 update added budgets by phase, AIA-style progress billing, change order management, and WIP over- and underbilling reporting at no added cost. They were previously a paid add-on, so older articles and some Intuit help pages still call them one.
- Enhanced project financials for service businesses. Budgets, phases, cost groups, cost-versus-budget tracking, change orders, milestone invoicing, and profitability reports now work in a single flow, not only for contractors.
- Project Management AI. It can create a project from uploaded documents, draft an estimate from project parameters, and flag a project trending toward a margin problem.
- Intuit Enterprise Suite. September 2026 added eight project reports by dimension, including cost to complete and WIP.
Real-World Application: How We Helped A-Team with QuickBooks Projects
At MISSION Accounting, we’ve seen firsthand how QuickBooks Projects can transform the way businesses manage their operations. One of our clients, A-Team, is a prime example of this transformation.
They struggled to track their various jobs’ profitability and manage expenses and revenues effectively across multiple locations.
Managing Multiple Locations
Using QuickBooks Projects, they could now manage and monitor the financial performance of each location independently. This helped them identify which locations were the most profitable and which ones needed more attention.
Multiple Projects for One Customer
A-Team often worked on multiple projects for a single customer. For instance, they might handle both a kitchen remodel and a bathroom upgrade for the same client.
QuickBooks Projects allowed them to track these projects separately while still associating them with the same customer. This meant they could see the profitability of each project independently and answer important questions like, “Did we make more money on the kitchen remodel or the bathroom upgrade?”
This new sense of financial visibility helped A-Team make informed decisions, improve profitability, and manage their business more efficiently.
How to Turn On QuickBooks Projects
- In QuickBooks Online, go to Account and settings, select Advanced, and turn on “Organize all job-related activity in one place,” per Intuit’s setup instructions.
- Create a project and assign it to a customer.
- Add the job’s estimates, invoices, expenses, and timesheets to the project.
- Open the project profitability report to compare income against costs.
MISSION’s Pro Tip: Settle your project naming and budget structure before the first job, so every project follows the same pattern and the reports compare cleanly.
Which QuickBooks Version Do I Need for QuickBooks Projects?
Projects requires QuickBooks Online Plus, QuickBooks Online Advanced, or Intuit Enterprise Suite. Plus covers project-level profit and loss, expenses, and time. QuickBooks Online Advanced adds the budgeting, change order, and WIP tools described above, which suits larger or more complex project work.
QuickBooks Enterprise, the desktop product, offers job costing and project tools instead of a feature called Projects. Intuit Enterprise Suite is a separate online product, so confirm which one you mean before comparing. Plan contents and pricing change often, so call us for current details.
Related Reading: QuickBooks for Contractors: 6 Advantages of Choosing Enterprise
Getting the Full Potential of QuickBooks Projects
MISSION sees Projects switched on but not set up around how the business runs, which leaves project reports that don’t match the books. Projects, items, classes, and time entries have to agree, or the profit report can’t be trusted.
If you’re not sure your version or setup supports project tracking, reach out to MISSION Accounting for a free consultation. We’ll review how your jobs are set up and tell you what to change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which QuickBooks versions include Projects?
QuickBooks Online Plus, QuickBooks Online Advanced, and Intuit Enterprise Suite. QuickBooks Enterprise, the desktop product, has job costing but not a feature called Projects.
What is the difference between Projects, classes, and locations?
Projects track one job’s income, costs, and time. Classes and locations categorize transactions by department, product line, or place across the whole business. Many businesses use both.
Are construction features included in QuickBooks Online Advanced?
Yes. Since August 2026, budgets by phase, AIA-style progress billing, change orders, and WIP reporting are included at no added cost. They were a paid add-on before then.
Do I need QuickBooks Time to use Projects?
No, but Intuit says Projects works best with QuickBooks Workforce and QuickBooks Time, because tracked hours flow straight into project costs.
Is QuickBooks Projects the same as job costing?
Projects is QuickBooks Online’s way of doing job costing. QuickBooks Enterprise, the desktop product, does job costing through its own tools.
How do I turn on Projects?
Go to Account and settings, select Advanced, and turn on “Organize all job-related activity in one place.” You need Plus, Advanced, or Intuit Enterprise Suite.
About Bernard Roesch
Bernard Roesch is co-founder and Managing Partner of MISSION, and an Elite QuickBooks ProAdvisor with over 20 years of consulting experience. He holds an MBA from Harvard University in Finance and Operations Management, and applies that background to help businesses design accounting systems that hold up as they grow.
