MYOB or QuickBooks for Support Work Invoices? What Actually Imports (and What Doesn't)

A practical look at MYOB and QuickBooks for support work invoices and timesheets, what each one imports, and what still needs manual entry.

Published 15 October 2026. Published by Sparks Support Pty Ltd, the makers of Sparks Provider.

The short answer

Neither imports everything automatically. MYOB Business takes timesheets but not invoices, MYOB AccountRight takes both, and QuickBooks Online takes invoices but not timesheets. Know this before you pick one, not after a month of double entry.

If you are growing from solo support work into employing a worker or two, the accounting software question comes up fast: MYOB or QuickBooks? The honest answer is that it depends on whether you need timesheets, invoices, or both to flow across automatically, because the two packages do not handle imports the same way.

The core difference you need to know

• MYOB Business imports timesheets but cannot import invoices from a file at all.
• MYOB AccountRight imports both timesheets and invoices, but needs more setup first.
• QuickBooks Online imports invoices but does not import timesheets.

This matters because it is not a feature you can fix later with a setting. It is baked into how each product's import screen works. Choosing based on your actual workload, timesheets, invoices, or both, saves you from discovering the gap mid-month.

MYOB Business: good for timesheets, not for invoices

MYOB Business can bring in a timesheet file, matching employees by company name or last name, or by card ID depending on the layout. But it cannot import an invoice file from any source. If you are using MYOB Business and need invoices in there, the practical workaround is emailing them to the participant or payer directly rather than trying to force an import that does not exist.

MYOB AccountRight: more setup, fuller result

AccountRight handles both timesheets and invoices, but it asks for more detail upfront, things like payroll category names typed exactly as they appear in MYOB, each worker's card ID, and an income account number for invoices. Get that setup right once and both imports tend to run smoothly afterwards. Skip it and MYOB will quietly reject rows because a payroll category is missing or a card ID does not match.

QuickBooks Online: invoices yes, timesheets no

QuickBooks Online takes invoice files well, including matching GST-free items to your GST-free code and adding new customers automatically, with a cap of 100 invoices per file. Timesheets are not part of what it imports in this setup, so if wage hours are your main headache, QuickBooks alone will not solve that side.

A fictional, anonymous example

Picture a fictional sole trader support worker who has just taken on a second casual worker to cover extra shifts. For a year it was just invoicing herself, so QuickBooks Online felt fine, invoices went in cleanly every fortnight. Once she had a second person's hours to track and approve, she realised QuickBooks would not pull those timesheets in, and she was retyping hours by hand every week. Switching to MYOB AccountRight meant more setup at the start, payroll categories, card IDs, an income account number, but both her invoices and timesheets started flowing through without the manual retyping. This is a fictional scenario to illustrate the trade-off, not a real client story.

What this means if you're about to pick one

If you only invoice and have no staff to pay yet, QuickBooks Online's invoice import is straightforward. If you are approving staff hours and want less manual entry there, MYOB Business covers timesheets but you will be emailing invoices separately. If you want both handled through import, MYOB AccountRight is the more complete option, at the cost of a bit more setup work early on.

If you use Sparks Provider to run your roster and approvals, this choice is set once under Business then Accounting software, and the system tells you what that choice can and cannot import before you commit. We mention this because these specifics come from how Sparks Provider hands data to each package, not because we are rating MYOB or QuickBooks against each other as businesses.

Takeaways

• Match the software to your actual workload: invoices, timesheets, or both.
• MYOB AccountRight needs upfront setup, payroll categories and card IDs, before imports run cleanly.
• MYOB Business invoices still need to be emailed, not imported.
• QuickBooks Online handles invoices well but leaves timesheets out entirely.
• Sparks Provider does not calculate pay rates or wages. It hands off hours and invoices for your accounting software to apply.

Related reading

• When Separate Work Apps Stop Working Well Together (And What To Do About It) at supportworkerhq.com.au
• A Simple End of Shift Routine So Paperwork Never Piles Up at supportworkerhq.com.au
• The 15-Minute Weekly Admin Review Every Independent Support Worker Should Run at supportworkerhq.com.au

This article is general information only and is not legal, employment, payroll or award advice. Check current requirements with the Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au) or an adviser for your business.

Need a simpler way to run your provider business? Explore Sparks Provider. $499 a year including GST, with unlimited staff and clients.

Questions or corrections? Contact the publisher. Please do not send client or health information.