Common Questions

Getting Started with QuickBase

What is QuickBase?

QuickBase is a Web-based software solution that can be tailored to fit the unique needs of your business—increasing your productivity and efficiency. Instead of buying or developing individual software applications, you customize or create QuickBase applications to meet your specific needs. QuickBase streamlines the gathering, tracking and sharing of information for almost any work process—saving time and reducing paperwork.

QuickBase can be used for some or all of your information-driven software needs, such as managing projects, sales contacts, customer support and inventory. You can select a ready-made QuickBase application template, then customize it to meet your needs, or you can create your own application from scratch.

QuickBase is developed by Intuit, a 25-year software veteran and Web services developer with more than 25 million customers and more than $2.6 billion in annual revenue. Intuit is recognized for such widely used software as QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®.

Is QuickBase easy to customize?

Yes. QuickBase was developed with the everyday businessperson in mind. Customizing QuickBase requires no programming. In fact, many of our customers say learning to customize QuickBase is actually easier than trying to figure out how to use off-the-shelf software. But it does require some proficiency with a computer. Anyone who is an advanced spreadsheet user or familiar with databases will have no problem learning to customize QuickBase applications. For others it may take a bit more time. For your team members, QuickBase is as easy to use as a spreadsheet. They can access your applications with a single click from anywhere at any time; all they need is a Web browser.

How does QuickBase work?

To get started, simply select one of QuickBase's ready-made applications, then tailor it to fit your needs and your workflow. If you don't find an existing application that addresses your business challenge, you can create one from scratch.

When you're ready, add your existing data. It's simple to import data from spreadsheets or other sources. Next, decide whom you want to share the application with and what level of control you want to give them over the information. You can then send an invitation to team members to log in and start using your QuickBase application. View more details on how QuickBase works.

Do I need to install software on my computer?

No. QuickBase is a completely Web-based software solution. All you need is an Internet connection and a Web browser. (For optimum performance, it's recommended that your team members use Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5.0 or higher.)

Where is my information stored?

All QuickBase applications and the information within them are stored and hosted on Intuit's secure Web servers, which are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our customers know that they can rely on QuickBase to protect their valuable information because of the Intuit reputation and the industry-standard practices we employ. These include SSL encryption to protect information during transmission over the Internet, around-the-clock security of our data center, and backup and recovery systems that ensure QuickBase is ready to use anytime, anywhere.

Pricing, Terms and Options

How much does QuickBase cost?

A monthly QuickBase subscription starts at $249 for up to 10 users. Additional users are only $3/user/month.

What are the terms?

No contract is required with QuickBase. You can cancel at any time. The QuickBase subscription allows you to pay month-to-month by credit card, with the option to be billed annually if preferred.

Does QuickBase offer different packages?

Yes. Whether you're considering QuickBase for your team or for your entire organization, we have the right offering for you. QuickBase for Workgroups is perfect for a dynamic business team. You can grow your account from 10 users to as many as you need in packs of five users each. If you're a larger company with many business teams and hundreds or thousands of users, QuickBase Enterprise Edition—designed for 100+ users and offering additional security, branding and account management features—might be a better fit.

How do I cancel my QuickBase subscription?

You can cancel your QuickBase subscription at any time.

If you want to keep your application data, you first need to export it in one of three formats: TSV format (tab-separated values), CSV format (comma-separated values) or XML (extensible markup language.

To cancel your subscription you must first transfer ownership of all the applications in your account to another application owner or simply delete them. Otherwise, the system will prevent the cancellation option. Note: An application's owner represents the account to which that application is billed.

Once all applications are deleted, only an account manager can cancel the subscription. If you are an account manager, go to the My QuickBase page and click the "Manage your billing account” link. Then click "Change Plan” on the left side of the page. At the bottom of the page, click the "Canceling your service...” link. Then, to cancel your QuickBase service, follow the directions provided.

Using QuickBase

Does QuickBase provide help and technical support?

Yes. We offer several forms of online self-help resources to get you started, including in-product help, a knowledgebase and video tutorials. Plus you can access our support team at no extra cost by entering a support ticket. Visit our Support Center to learn more.

What can I customize in a QuickBase application?

QuickBase enables you to customize:

What information is gathered and tracked.
How information is displayed.
Who can see what information.
What information is communicated when and to whom.
What analysis and calculations are performed on data.

How do I customize a QuickBase application?

Browse the ready-made applications and select one that looks like it will meet your needs. Then tailor it to your requirements. You can customize your pre-built application's overall appearance as well as its fields and tables. It's easy to change field names, create or modify reports, and set rules for when team members receive reminders or notifications. To learn more about the customization features of QuickBase, visit our features page.

How can I customize a QuickBase application for my users?

With QuickBase you can create customized application dashboards for your users, including personalized views of the information important to them, buttons to get them going to the right place fast, and information to guide them on what to do or what's new.

How do I upload my existing information or documents?

You can import data into an existing QuickBase application—and even create a whole new application by importing data. You can import data from another program, such as Microsoft Word, Excel or Project, as a file or you can copy and paste the data. For example, you can copy a table from a Word document or you can copy a group of rows or columns from a spreadsheet.

Adding any kind of document to a QuickBase application is easy. Open the application you want to add the document to. Select the data table you want (such as Document Library), and then select "Add a New Document." The Add Document page appears with a form that lets you add a new document to your QuickBase application.

Click the browse button to summon the File Upload Box. When you find the document you want, click Open. The document's filename appears in the Attachment text field. Click Save when you're finished (or Save & Add Another if you've got more documents to add).

What are the reporting capabilities?

QuickBase reports are powerful and flexible, providing at a glance the customized information that members of your team need. You can quickly and easily create and modify reports yourself—without having to rely on IT to pull the reports for you.

QuickBase's standard report formats include the table, the calendar, the chart and the timeline. In addition you can create custom reports. The table shows your data in rows and columns. A calendar report displays data on a calendar. QuickBase offers several Chart report options: bar, pie, line and area. A timeline displays records, such as tasks, each with its own start date and end date. Timelines are great for spotting potential business bottlenecks.

QuickBase reports are so flexible you can do just about anything you want with them. You can create a report that displays data in a whole new way, or you can tweak an existing report so that it shows exactly what you want to see. When you've got a report looking just right, you can save it, print it or copy it. You can also copy a report to use it as a starting point for creating a new report.

How many QuickBase applications can I create?

Since QuickBase subscriptions are priced per user, not per application, you can create and use as many applications as you want at no additional cost. QuickBase offers solutions for a variety of business needs. Whether you're struggling with managing your projects, sales opportunities, customer lists, software bugs or other issues, QuickBase can help.

What kind of administrative features does QuickBase offer?

QuickBase provides capabilities to manage and monitor all users and applications within your team. You can add and remove users as needed, track overall user activity, and report on the total number of applications created within the team, as well as delete applications, transfer application management and much more.

Does QuickBase work with QuickBooks?

Yes. We have partners that help our customers do that integration by utilizing the QuickBase API (Application Program Interface). It provides the building blocks that let a programmer create a program to communicate and work with QuickBase. The QuickBase API works with any environment that supports HTTP POSTs and GETs (methods used to send data from a Web page). That includes but isn't limited to Perl, Java, Visual Basic, C, C++, Python and Cold Fusion.

Sharing with QuickBase

Whom can my team share applications with?

Can I control who can view or modify information?

Yes. The administrator of an application can specify and control permissions over which individuals or subgroups can view, modify, add or delete information.

How does QuickBase keep everyone on the team informed and up to date?

To promote better workflow, communication and collaboration, members of your team can set up a wide range of communications specific to their applications. These include customized invitations to new applications, e-mail notifications of changes or new documents, and activity reminders.

Didn't see the answer you were looking for?

Join us for a 30-minute QuickBase overview—and get your questions answered right away. It's informal, interactive and available every day. Learn how QuickBase lets you and your team work the way you want—quickly, efficiently and with greater productivity.