QuickBooks alternative · Invoicing for service businesses
Keep the books. Move the work.
Quotes customers sign, jobs that turn into invoices in one click, and card payments that mark them paid. Synced with QuickBooks Online both ways.
From a signed quote to a paid invoice.
Watch a quote get signed, the job get billed from its lines, the customer pay by card, and the invoice land in QuickBooks.
- 1The customer signs the quote
- 2Finish and invoice in one click
- 3Paid by card from the email
- 4And it lands in QuickBooks
What changes on Monday.
- 01
Before
With AloriAn accepted quote becomes the job, then the invoice, with no typing
- 02
Before
With AloriLate invoices get a reminder by email or text, 3 times at most
- 03
Before
With AloriCustomers and invoices sync with QuickBooks Online both ways
What’s in your app.
Alori starts from ready-made modules, then shapes them to the way you work. Add or remove one any time by asking.
Quotes
Signed online, followed up by themselves
Jobs
Finish and invoice in one click
Invoices
A Pay by card link on every invoice
Automations
Reminders for late invoices
Every invoice can be paid by card.
Each invoice you email has a Pay by card link. You don't need a Stripe account, the invoice turns Paid by itself, and the money goes to your bank every day.
- Stripe's card fee plus 0.5%, with no monthly cost.
- Paid another way? Click Mark paid.
- The Invoices page shows what's overdue, waiting and paid this month.
Late invoices, chased for you.
Turn on the unpaid invoice reminder once. Alori writes to the customer by email, text or both, every few days, and stops as soon as the invoice is paid.
- Pick the days between reminders, 3 at most.
- Quotes with no answer get one follow-up too.
- Ask Alori "which invoices are overdue?" and get the list.
Change it by asking.
Your app isn’t frozen on day one. Write what you need, the way you’d text it. Alori makes the change and shows you before anything goes live.
- Which invoices are overdue?
- Invoice the Moore job and email it
- Remind late invoices every 10 days
- Connect QuickBooks
The full guide
Everything above, in detail: how it works, what it replaces and what it does not.
QuickBooks alternatives: keep the books, move the work
Short answer: Most service businesses looking at QuickBooks alternatives should not leave their accounting software. QuickBooks is accounting: bookkeeping, bank feeds, reports, payroll and taxes, the tools your accountant works in. Alori is the all-in-one app for service businesses: it runs the work before the books, from the quote to the job to the invoice and the card payment. It syncs customers and invoices with QuickBooks Online both ways, so most owners use the two together.
Who QuickBooks fits well
QuickBooks is a strong fit when:
- You need real bookkeeping: bank and card feeds, reconciliation, profit and loss, balance sheet.
- Your accountant or bookkeeper already works in your QuickBooks file.
- You run payroll, file sales taxes or track bills and vendors in it.
For the books, QuickBooks does the job, and Alori does not try to replace it.
Why service owners look for alternatives
The trouble is rarely the accounting. It is everything that happens before an invoice exists:
- Quotes and jobs live somewhere else. The quote is in one tool, the schedule on a whiteboard, and the invoice gets typed again at the end.
- The office types what the field did. Technicians finish a job and someone rebuilds the invoice from a text message.
- Chasing late invoices by hand. Someone has to notice who is late and write to them.
- The team stays outside. Owners keep their accounting file to one or two people, so technicians never see what they need.
Side by side
| QuickBooks | Alori | |
|---|---|---|
| Main idea | Accounting software | An all-in-one app for a service business |
| Bookkeeping, bank feeds, reports | Yes, a strength | No, keep your accounting software |
| Payroll and tax filing | Yes, in some plans | No; approved hours export to CSV for payroll |
| Quotes signed online | Estimates customers can accept | Yes, the customer signs with a finger or mouse |
| Jobs and schedule | Projects, not a crew schedule | Yes, from accepted quote to finished job |
| Invoices and card payments | Yes | Yes, with a pay link on every invoice |
| Late invoice reminders | Yes | Yes, by email or text, up to 3 times |
| Work together | Syncs with Alori | Syncs customers and invoices with QuickBooks Online |
What Alori replaces, and what it does not
Alori replaces the tools around the books, not the books:
- Quotes with your price list, a preview to print or save as PDF, and a link where the customer signs and accepts. A follow-up goes out by itself when nobody answers.
- Jobs to invoices in one click. An accepted quote waits to be scheduled. Once the job is done, Finish and invoice bills it from the quote's lines, with no typing.
- Invoices people pay by card. Every invoice you email has a Pay by card link. You don't need a Stripe account, and the invoice turns Paid by itself. Card payments go to your bank every day, for Stripe's card fee plus 0.5%.
- Late invoices chased for you. The unpaid invoice reminder writes to the customer by email, text or both, every few days, 3 times at most, and stops once it is paid.
- Where the money stands. The Invoices page shows what is overdue, what is waiting, what was paid this month and how many days customers take to pay.
- Technician expenses. On the job, a tech adds an expense and snaps the receipt. You approve it, and the job shows its cost and margin.
- QuickBooks Online sync. Connect it once in Connectors and turn on the sync. Customers and invoices stay the same in both places, every 10 minutes.
What it does not replace: bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, financial reports, bills and vendors, payroll and tax filing. Taxes are simple too: a Canadian app adds GST and QST, a US app adds no tax, and you can't change the rate per customer. Card payments are in Canadian dollars for now, with no partial payments. Keep QuickBooks for the books.
How to switch
- Describe your business. Alori builds the app with customers, quotes, jobs and invoices.
- Connect QuickBooks Online. In Connectors, connect it, click Manage and turn on Sync with QuickBooks. Your QuickBooks customers come into Alori.
- Set your prices. Add your services in Settings › Prices, or ask Alori to add them.
- Send the next quote from Alori. Its invoice syncs to QuickBooks, and paid status comes back from QuickBooks. Mark invoices paid there.
Start on the free plan, no card needed. See pricing.
Questions
Another question? Ask it when you start.
For quotes, jobs, invoices and getting paid, yes. For accounting, no: Alori has no bookkeeping, reports or payroll. Most owners keep QuickBooks and let Alori sync to it.
Customers and invoices, both ways, every 10 minutes and right away when something changes in QuickBooks. Each invoice goes over as one Services line, with the item and tax code you pick.
Yes. Create and send invoices in Alori, and your customers pay by card from the email. With the sync on, each invoice also lands in QuickBooks for your accountant.
Service businesses such as plumbing, HVAC and cleaning companies.