# QuickBooks Classes vs. Projects: What's the Difference?

In QuickBooks Online, projects track income and costs for one specific job under a customer, giving you profit per job. Classes tag transactions by a segment of your business, such as a trade division, service line or crew, so you can run a profit and loss by class. Use projects for jobs and classes for divisions; most contractors need both.

## Key takeaways

- Project = one job. Class = one slice of the business (HVAC vs. plumbing, service vs. install, Crew A vs. Crew B).
- Both are in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. Plus allows up to 40 classes and locations combined; Advanced has no limit, per Intuit.
- A transaction can carry both a project and a class, so you can see profit by job and by division from the same data.
- Don't use classes for jobs: you'd hit the limit fast and lose the project dashboard and labor costing.
- Locations are a third option, one per transaction, for branches or trucks.

## What are projects in QuickBooks Online?

A project is a container under a customer for everything about one job: the estimate, invoices, bills, expenses, time and payroll costs. Each project has an Overview tab with income, costs and profit margin, status (in progress, completed, canceled) and its own reports. Intuit's help says projects are available in QuickBooks Online Plus, Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite. The setup is covered in [how to do job costing in QuickBooks](https://www.brix.so/learn/how-to-do-job-costing-in-quickbooks).

## What are classes in QuickBooks Online?

A class is a tag you add to transactions (or to individual lines) to group them by part of the business. Intuit describes classes as representing important parts of your company, like store departments or product lines, and the feature is in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. For a contractor, classes usually mean divisions (HVAC, plumbing, electrical), service lines (service, installation, maintenance agreements) or crews. The payoff is a Profit and Loss by Class report: one P&L column per division.

To turn classes on, Intuit's help (updated August 2026) says: open Settings, select Account and settings, go to Advanced, then Categories, and turn on Track classes. You can choose to assign one class to an entire transaction or one to each line, and turn on a warning when a transaction has no class. Turn that warning on; unclassified transactions are what make the class P&L unreliable.

## Classes vs. projects side by side

|  | Projects | Classes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tracks | One job for one customer | A segment of the whole business |
| Typical use for contractors | Each install, remodel, roof or contract | Divisions, service lines, crews, residential vs. commercial |
| Key report | Project Overview and Project profitability | Profit and Loss by Class |
| Labor costing | Yes, with hourly cost rates and project time | Only if payroll is classed |
| Plans | Plus, Advanced, Intuit Enterprise Suite | Plus and Advanced |
| Limits | No stated limit on projects | Plus: 40 classes and locations combined; Advanced: unlimited |
| Lifespan | Opens and closes with the job | Permanent structure |
| Can combine? | Yes: a transaction can have a project and a class | Yes |

_Plan availability and limits per Intuit help articles, verified 2026-10-12. Intuit changes plans and limits; check the Usage tab under Account and settings for your own._

## When should you use projects, classes or both?

- **Projects only:** a single-trade shop that wants profit per job and doesn't need to split the business into divisions. Many small plumbing, electrical and remodeling companies.
- **Classes only:** a route-based business with no discrete jobs but several service lines, such as a cleaning company tracking commercial vs. residential, or a lawn care company tracking maintenance vs. fertilization.
- **Both:** a multi-trade or multi-crew contractor. Projects show which jobs made money; classes show which division or crew did. An HVAC and plumbing company tags each project's transactions with the HVAC or Plumbing class and gets a P&L per trade plus profit per job.
- **Neither (yet):** if the books aren't reconciled and job costs aren't coded, add structure after you fix the basics. See the [bookkeeping checklist for contractors](https://www.brix.so/learn/bookkeeping-checklist-for-contractors).

> **Worked example: an HVAC and plumbing company**
>
> Illustrative numbers. A company runs HVAC and plumbing with three trucks each. Classes: HVAC Service, HVAC Install, Plumbing Service, Plumbing Install (4 of the 40 allowed on Plus). Projects: one per install job; service calls tracked by customer with the class applied.
>
> The quarterly Profit and Loss by Class shows HVAC Install at 34% gross margin, HVAC Service at 58%, Plumbing Install at 41% and Plumbing Service at 55%.
>
> Opening the HVAC Install projects, three of eleven jobs ran under 25% margin, all heat pump installs with change orders that were never billed. The class report found the division; the projects found the jobs.

## Suggested class setups by trade

**Class lists that stay useful and under the limit**

| Trade | Suggested classes | Projects for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| HVAC | Service, Replacement/Install, Maintenance agreements, New construction | Each replacement or install |
| Plumbing | Service, Water heaters, Repipe/remodel, New construction | Each install or remodel |
| Electrical | Residential service, Residential install, Commercial | Each panel upgrade, fit-out or contract |
| Roofing | Retail, Insurance, Commercial, Repairs | Each roof |
| General contractor | Remodel, New build, Commercial (or one class per project manager) | Each contract |
| Landscaping | Maintenance, Installs, Irrigation, Snow | Each install |
| Cleaning | Commercial recurring, Residential recurring, One-time | Rarely; use classes |
| Multi-trade | One class per trade, or trade × service/install | Each job in every trade |

## What about locations and tags?

Locations work like classes but apply one per transaction (not per line) and are meant for branches, shops or trucks; they share the 40-item limit with classes on Plus. Tags are a lighter, informal label that doesn't appear on standard financial reports. For contractors, classes and projects cover nearly every need; add locations only if you have more than one physical branch. Intuit's usage limits article (updated August 2026) says you can see your current limits under Settings, Account and settings, Usage.

## Common mistakes with classes and projects

1. **Using classes for jobs.** You'll hit 40 on Plus within a season and never see labor on a job.
2. **Using projects for divisions.** A project named "Plumbing 2026" is a bucket, not a job; you lose per-job profit.
3. **Too many classes.** If a class has three transactions a year, it's noise. Keep the list short enough that everyone picks the right one.
4. **Unclassified transactions.** Turn on the warning and clear the unassigned column on the class P&L every month.
5. **Payroll not classed or projected.** Field wages are usually the biggest cost; they need to land on the class and project like everything else.
6. **Mixing customers' names into class names.** Classes describe your business, not your customers.

BRIX syncs customers, invoices and payments with QuickBooks so each job's income lands on the right customer and project, and keeps expenses categorized so the class P&L has fewer blanks to chase.

- [QuickBooks sync](https://www.brix.so/integrations/quickbooks): Syncs customers, invoices and payments with QuickBooks so the books match the jobs.
- [Bookkeeping and tax help](https://www.brix.so/features/bookkeeping-taxes): Keeps expenses categorized, tracks 1099 subcontractors and sales tax, and reminds you of quarterly estimated tax dates. BRIX does not file taxes or give tax advice.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should I use classes or projects for job costing in QuickBooks?

Projects. They're built for one-job tracking, include labor costing with hourly rates and give you a profit dashboard per job. Classes are for segments of the business like divisions or service lines, and Plus caps classes and locations at 40 combined.

### Can I use both classes and projects on the same transaction?

Yes. A bill, expense, invoice or timesheet line can carry a project (the job) and a class (the division). That's how a multi-trade contractor gets both profit per job and a P&L per trade from the same entries.

### How many classes can I have in QuickBooks Online?

Per Intuit's usage limits article, QuickBooks Online Plus allows up to 40 classes and locations combined; Advanced has no limit; Simple Start and Essentials don't include classes. Check the Usage tab in Account and settings for your plan's current limits.

### What is the difference between a class and a location in QuickBooks?

Both segment your business, but a location applies to a whole transaction and is meant for branches or sites, while classes can be applied line by line and suit divisions or service lines. On Plus they share the same 40-item limit.

### Do classes show up on the balance sheet?

Class tracking is mainly a profit and loss tool. QuickBooks Online offers a Profit and Loss by Class report; balance sheet by class is limited, so don't rely on classes for assets and liabilities by division.

### What happens to projects when a job is done?

Mark the project completed. Its history and profitability stay available, and it drops off your in-progress list. Don't delete finished projects; their data feeds year-over-year comparisons and your estimating.

## Related

- [How to Do Job Costing in QuickBooks Online](https://www.brix.so/learn/how-to-do-job-costing-in-quickbooks)
- [What Is Job Costing?](https://www.brix.so/learn/job-costing)
- [What Is a Chart of Accounts?](https://www.brix.so/learn/chart-of-accounts)
- [How to Read a Profit and Loss Statement (Contractor's Guide)](https://www.brix.so/learn/profit-and-loss-statement)
- [Bookkeeping Checklist for Contractors (Weekly, Monthly, Year-End)](https://www.brix.so/learn/bookkeeping-checklist-for-contractors)
- [QuickBooks Chart of Accounts for Contractors (Import CSV)](https://www.brix.so/templates/quickbooks-chart-of-accounts-for-contractors)
- [How to Set Up QuickBooks for a Contracting Business](https://www.brix.so/guides/quickbooks-setup-for-contractors)
- [QuickBooks for contractors: the right version, real job costing and a sync that keeps the books matched to the jobs](https://www.brix.so/integrations/quickbooks)
- [Contractor invoicing software that sends the invoice and chases the money](https://www.brix.so/features/invoicing-payments)
- [Bookkeeping for contractors that keeps your books tax-ready all year](https://www.brix.so/features/bookkeeping-taxes)

## Sources

- [Intuit QuickBooks — Turn on class tracking in QuickBooks Online](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/class-list/turn-class-tracking-quickbooks-online/L1uqOta7C_US_en_US) (checked 2026-10-12)
- [Intuit QuickBooks — Set up and use the Projects feature in QuickBooks Online](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/intuit-account-billing/set-up-and-use-the-projects-feature/00/186112) (checked 2026-10-12)
- [Intuit QuickBooks — Learn about usage limits in QuickBooks Online](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/intuit-subscriptions/learn-usage-limits-quickbooks-online/L6THMltE4_US_en_US) (checked 2026-10-12)

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Written by BRIX Editorial Team. Last updated 2026-10-12.
Canonical: https://www.brix.so/learn/quickbooks-classes-vs-projects