QuickBooks Online Nonprofit Discount: What You'll Pay and What to Know Before Switching
Plus tier ($80/yr) assumed; Advanced is $170/yr. Requires a NEW donated QBO subscription; the offer cannot be applied to an existing QBO account, so the company must be copied/migrated. Add-ons such as QuickBooks Payroll are not included and are billed by Intuit at commercial rates. One donated subscription per organization lifetime.
- Provider
- Intuit
- Category
- Accounting
- Who qualifies
- Eligible nonprofit registered and validated with TechSoup (US); One donated subscription per organization lifetime; Programs/departments typically not eligible for their own subscription; separate branch locations may be
- Where
- US (TechSoup US)
- Limits
- Plus: up to 5 users; Advanced: up to 25 users
- Billing
- 1-year subscription; annual renewal fee paid to TechSoup ($80 Plus / $170 Advanced). TechSoup support notes that renewing on TechSoup does not by itself reactivate nonprofit billing if it lapsed.
Standard vs. nonprofit pricing
| Plan | Type | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Start 1 user. Non-promo list price shown on Intuit pricing page next to a '50% off for 3 months' promo ($19/mo). | Standard | $38/mo | Official |
| Essentials 3 users. Non-promo list price; promo $42.50/mo for 3 months. | Standard | $85/mo | Official |
| Plus 5 users + 2 accountants. Non-promo list price; promo $70/mo for 3 months. The page's footnote text could not be read, so the regular-price label is inferred from page layout. | Standard | $140/mo | Official |
| Advanced 25 users + 3 accountants. Non-promo list price; promo $170/mo for 3 months. | Standard | $340/mo | Official |
| QuickBooks Online Plus via TechSoup (5 users) $80 TechSoup admin fee for a 1-year subscription (about $6.67/mo). Annual renewal fee to TechSoup is the same $80. | Nonprofit | $80/yr | Official |
| QuickBooks Online Advanced via TechSoup (25 users) $170 TechSoup admin fee for a 1-year subscription. Annual renewal fee $170. | Nonprofit | $170/yr | Official |
Prices in USD as published on the date verified. Vendors change pricing; always confirm before purchasing.
Is QuickBooks Online free for nonprofits?
No, but it is close. Through TechSoup's Intuit program, an eligible US nonprofit pays an $80 admin fee for a year of QuickBooks Online Plus, or $170 for Advanced, as of October 2026. Against Intuit's non-promotional list price for Plus of $140 a month, that is roughly a 95% discount.
The fee is annual, not one-time. Several older pages describe it as a one-time $75 charge; both the amount and the framing are out of date.
What the discount actually covers
The donation covers the QuickBooks Online subscription itself: Plus with up to 5 users, or Advanced with up to 25. It does not cover anything Intuit sells on top. If your monthly QuickBooks bill includes Payroll, Payments, or other add-ons, only the subscription portion goes away. Before you estimate savings, pull your last Intuit invoice and separate the subscription line from the add-ons.
Two other limits shape the decision:
- One donated subscription per organization, for life. Pick the tier you will need for several years, not just this one. If you expect to pass 5 users, Advanced at $170 may be the safer request.
- It must be a new subscription. You cannot convert an existing commercial account. See our step-by-step migration guide for how the copy works and what doesn't move.
Worked example
A small nonprofit with three staff and an outside bookkeeper pays Intuit's list price for Plus.
- Current cost: $140/month × 12 = $1,680 per year
- TechSoup cost: $80 per year
- Savings: $1,680 − $80 = $1,600 per year
If the same organization runs Advanced at list price:
- $340/month × 12 = $4,080 per year
- $4,080 − $170 = $3,910 per year
Now subtract the switching cost. We estimate about 8 hours to copy the company, reconnect bank feeds and apps, and set payroll back up. That is our estimate, not an Intuit or TechSoup figure. If you value that time at $50 an hour (an assumption; use your own rate), 8 × $50 = $400, and the first-year saving on Plus is still $1,200, and every later year saves the full $1,600.
If you pay less than list today (for example a grandfathered rate), use your actual monthly charge. At $125/month, the math is $125 × 12 = $1,500; minus $80 = $1,420.
Want to see this next to everything else you pay for? The free audit runs the same math across your whole software stack.
Who should and shouldn't switch
Good fit:
- You already use QuickBooks Online and pay monthly for Plus or Advanced.
- You don't run payroll in QuickBooks, or you are prepared to set payroll up fresh in the new subscription.
- You are registered with TechSoup or can complete its validation.
Think twice:
- You rely on Intuit Payroll history inside QuickBooks. Payroll data cannot move between subscriptions, so plan year-end reporting carefully and consider switching at a calendar or fiscal year boundary.
- You need true fund accounting. QuickBooks handles restricted funds through classes, locations, and workarounds. Some organizations prefer purpose-built tools; our Aplos vs QuickBooks comparison weighs that trade-off with the TechSoup price included.
- Your books are very simple. A free tool might be enough. See free accounting software for nonprofits, but compare it honestly: at $80 a year, QuickBooks Plus costs about $6.67 a month.
Church eligibility
Our data records no explicit exclusion of churches from the TechSoup Intuit offer, but TechSoup validation is required, and TechSoup applies its own eligibility rules by organization type. Churches should confirm validation before migrating any data. Our guides on church eligibility for nonprofit discounts and church accounting software pricing cover the paperwork and alternatives.
How to apply
- Register the organization with TechSoup and complete validation
- Request QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced and pay the admin fee
- Use the registration link from TechSoup to create a NEW QuickBooks Online subscription
- Copy/migrate data from the existing commercial QBO company into the new donated subscription, then cancel the commercial subscription
- Confirm nonprofit billing is applied in QBO; renew through TechSoup each year
Catches and limitations
- Cannot be applied to an existing QBO subscription
- Payroll and other add-ons not included
- Payroll history does not transfer to the new subscription
- One donated subscription per organization lifetime
- Admin fee reported as non-refundable by a user blog (not confirmed on an official page)
Frequently asked questions
Is QuickBooks free for nonprofits?
No. Eligible US nonprofits pay TechSoup an $80 admin fee per year for QuickBooks Online Plus (5 users) or $170 per year for Advanced (25 users), as of October 2026. That is a large discount from Intuit's list prices, but it is not free.
Is the TechSoup QuickBooks fee one-time or annual?
Annual. TechSoup lists it as a 1-year subscription, and renewal costs the same $80 (Plus) or $170 (Advanced) each year.
Can I apply the TechSoup discount to my existing QuickBooks Online account?
No. The donated subscription must be a new QuickBooks Online subscription. You copy your existing company into it and then cancel the commercial plan. Payroll history does not transfer.
Does the nonprofit discount include QuickBooks Payroll?
No. Payroll and other add-ons are billed by Intuit at commercial rates, separate from the TechSoup admin fee.
Is the $75 TechSoup price still current?
No. Older articles quote $75. TechSoup's listing showed $80 for Plus and $170 for Advanced when we checked in October 2026.
Sources
- TechSoup - Intuit for Nonprofits product listing (accessed 2026-10-17)
- TechSoup - QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits (accessed 2026-10-17)
- TechSoup Blog - What's New with QuickBooks in 2026 (Feb 13, 2026) (accessed 2026-10-17)
- Intuit QuickBooks pricing (accessed 2026-10-17)
- TechSoup Support - How to Migrate Data to a New Donated QuickBooks Online Account (403 to fetch; content via search snippet) (accessed 2026-10-17)
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