by Bharat 
The QuickBooks mobile app is also available for free and lets you manage your account on the go. QuickBooks Desktop has a more dated user interface than some cloud-based software industry products and requires prior accounting knowledge to get the most out of the product. You can upgrade to any version of QuickBooks Desktop as your needs change.
If you don’t need the advanced features offered by the Desktop plan, the Online version will save you money. QuickBooks Desktop is a good choice if you need specialized features such as inventory tracking or forecasting, and you don’t mind paying more for them. However, QuickBooks Online will suffice for most small businesses. QuickBooks Desktop is an annual subscription, starting at $549.99 per year, which may be cost-prohibitive for small businesses or cash-strapped startups. While the Desktop version has app integrations, it doesn’t have near as many as the Online version.
QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based software that charges every month, whereas QuickBooks Desktop is a locally installed software that charges on a licensing basis. You can use the QuickBooks desktop for a few years without having to update the software. QuickBooks Online is updated regularly, whereas the online version is updated once a year. We will now only be selling our Premier product as a Premier Plus subscription.
QuickBooks Desktop Pro User Reviews
It also has barcode scanning capabilities — business owners can download the QuickBooks Desktop mobile app and use their mobile device as a scanner. With four plans, robust features and a user-friendly interface, QuickBooks Online is the ideal choice for most small businesses. QuickBooks Desktop, on the other hand, is a good option for businesses that prefer desktop software, need its advanced inventory tracking and reporting tools, or are looking for an industry-specific solution. It includes key accounting features, such as bank reconciliation, accounts payable (A/P), accounts receivable (A/R), inventory, and sales tax management. Access your account via the cloud for up to 25 users with the Online version, and pay an additional fee per user, up to 40 users, for cloud access with Desktop. What used to be a huge bulk of QuickBooks business is no longer so—it focuses mostly on its cloud version and actively encourages users to make the switch from Desktop to Online.
Using a structured scoring rubric, we evaluated the three programs across 12 accounting metrics and rated them anywhere from zero (very poor) to five (excellent) for each category. Kathy Haan, MBA is a former financial advisor-turned-writer and business coach. For over a decade, she’s helped small business owners make money online. When she’s not trying out the latest tech or travel blogging with her family, you can find her curling up with a good novel. For an extra $50, sign up for a one-time live Bookkeeping setup with any of its plans.
QuickBooks Desktop is better at project accounting than QuickBooks Online because of its ability to compare actual costs to estimates, which is an important feature for contracting companies. You can set up invoices to send on a recurring basis, issue a credit memo to a customer, and accept short payments from customers. You can also track unpaid invoices and print an Aged Accounts Receivable Report to identify potential collection problems. QuickBooks will include the unpaid bills in your expenses if you choose to print an accrual-basis income statement—but not if you print a cash-basis income statement. You can track outstanding bills until they’re paid and set up recurring expenses, which is useful when you have regular monthly bills to pay, such as subscription fees.
It may not offer the accessibility and convenience of cloud-based software, but it has many strong features that are worth considering. If you only need a few users and have no intensive inventory to manage, then it’s a great accounting solution for your business. QuickBooks Enterprise has significantly fewer additional fees than QuickBooks Pro and Premier since many features are included with your annual subscription. For example, all QuickBooks Enterprise plans include payroll. In addition, there are custom fields that can be used to track additional information for any inventory item. While Intuit sunsets the older versions of QuickBooks every year after a new version is released, these days they’re being a little more aggressive in trying to convert folks to QuickBooks Online (QBO).
Intuit/QuickBooks Launches New QuickBooks Commerce Platform
Migrate key desktop data to QuickBooks Online with confidence. Do it yourself or let us help with step-by-step guides, demos, and support. If you invoke the guarantee, QuickBooks will conduct a full n evaluation of the Live Bookkeeper’s work. Save time by having QuickBooks automate bill entries from the QuickBooks Desktop Mobile App or an email address. The QuickBooks Desktop Connector installs on your computer to allow Planergy send information related to your invoices directly to QuickBooks Desktop as bills ready to be paid.
Of course, there’s also the budget element and figuring out which plan is the most affordable. However, if you opt for the cheapest package, you might have to replace the features you cut out and eventually end up paying more than you initially were afraid to. Moving your data from one place to the other may take some time, and both platforms will be unavailable at that time. It’s highly recommended to plan the migration for an evening or a slower time when it won’t disrupt your work too much.
- QuickBooks Pro or any version of QuickBooks Desktop doesn’t offer location tracking.
- If QuickBooks desktop editions can handle things better, that’s also great.
- A reseller who participates in the QuickBooks Solution Provider program can not only sell Intuit products directly to clients but they are also QuickBooks ecosystem experts.
- Access your account via the cloud for up to 25 users with the Online version, and pay an additional fee per user, up to 40 users, for cloud access with Desktop.
- If you want to learn more, check out our complete QuickBooks Pro review, QuickBooks Premier review, or QuickBooks Enterprise review.
These industry editions add customized features and reports to fit your business needs better. Get paid up to 2X faster while QuickBooks Desktop automatically takes care of updating your books. Say yes to getting paid, even if your customer isn’t in person.
Best QuickBooks Alternatives in 2023 (Free & Paid)
The flagship accounting software of Intuit offers end-to-end solutions for cash flow and inventory management along with payroll, sales, billing and invoicing, etc. If mobile accounting is important to you, you should consider QuickBooks Online or even the more powerful Zoho Books mobile app. It has almost all the mobile accounting features you wish to have, such as the ability to send invoices, enter bills and payments, record billable time, and assign projects to customers. You may check out our Zoho Books review to learn more about its mobile app. Its highest-tiered plan is the Advanced option, which costs $100 per month for the first three months, then $200 per month after that. Another sticky issue with QBO is where multiple company files are involved.
When signing up for QuickBooks Online, it only gives options for paying monthly. However, once you’ve signed up, navigate to your account settings, and you can switch to annual billing to save 10%. All Online plans include receipt capture, QuickBooks support and more than 650 app integrations with apps such as PayPal, Square and Shopify. The most notable difference, aside from price, between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop is the Online version is cloud-based.
List of Top Office Suites Software
Yes, you can open the same company file from two different locations. But, changes made in the file from location A will not be reflected in the file in location B, in real-time. The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation. Discover BusinessLoans.com’s lender network offering up to $3M in funding, no minimum credit score required. Read our full QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online comparison for more information. The cheapest version of QuickBooks Desktop is Quickbooks Desktop Pro which costs $349.99/year.
This may signal future abandonment of its Desktop version as more people move to the cloud. If you make the switch from Desktop to Online, you can import your data and access your original company file at any time. QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus is ideal for small businesses that need robust, locally-installed accounting software for up to three users. An upgraded plan that includes QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll is also available, or you can purchase QuickBooks Payroll as an add-on. Both plans are billed annually and include automated backup and recovery, unlimited customer support, and automatic updates. Pro and Premier customers may download data from participating banks until May 2024.
Its numerous add-ons and features make it part of everyday work for over 5 million users worldwide. QuickBooks Desktop offers top notch invoicing software capability, allowing users to create a professional invoice for their customers. The Premier edition offers users a variety of industry-specific invoice templates including professional, product, and service invoice templates.
You can migrate your business and payroll data to QuickBooks Online and keep a copy of the original file to reference. QuickBooks Enterprise also offers mobile inventory barcode scanning capability as well as an enhanced pick, pack, and ship option that is perfect for retailers. Today, with QuickBooks Enterprise, small businesses can easily scale up to this very powerful edition of QuickBooks Desktop which supports up to 30 simultaneous system users. That’s not to say that small businesses will not eventually grow out of QuickBooks Desktop.