Our complete QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop comparison covers key differences, pricing, features, and usability, so you can easily decide whether QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop is right for your business. QuickBooks Desktop offers more than 100 standard reports that can be customized as needed. QuickBooks Online wins this one, offering easy system navigation from the user dashboard.
As a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Mark has extensive knowledge of QuickBooks products, allowing him to create valuable content that educates businesses on maximizing the benefits of the software. Ease of use gets the highest weight in this case study because we want to give more credit to easy accounting software. For this section, we considered customer service, support network, and a subjective expert opinion score.
With QuickBooks Desktop, users receive some of the most developed accounting tools on the market. The software offers comprehensive features, unique touches (such as lead management and sales orders), industry-specific versions of the software, and the potential to be more secure. QuickBooks Enterprise is designed for large businesses or small enterprises and starts at $1,410/year.
That said, it can feel overwhelming and confusing if you don’t have prior accounting knowledge. QuickBooks Online is cheaper than QuickBooks Desktop if you need multiple users. For instance, QuickBooks Online Plus only costs $90 per month ($1,080 per year) for up to five users as opposed to Desktop’s Premier, which costs $1,999 per year for five users. While both QuickBooks Online and Desktop are supported by a large network of independent ProAdvisors, it’s much easier to share your books with your ProAdvisor using QuickBooks Online. Getting assistance with your Desktop bookkeeping is difficult since you must save an Accountant’s Copy of your company file and send it to your ProAdvisor.
Choose QuickBooks Online
Each user has their own login credentials, which can be customized to limit access to sensitive information. There’s also a feature that facilitates inviting your accountant to the platform, so they can have direct access to your data. If your accounting software doesn’t register changes in real time, it could lead to costly delays. Support network refers to a community of software users that can extend professional help to businesses. Having an independent software expert perform the bookkeeping is good for overall ease of use.
QuickBooks Desktop doesn’t offer the same multi-user accessibility, but it does have a more comprehensive assortment of features that provide an in-depth view of your accounting operations. QuickBooks Desktop offers more advanced inventory management features, job costing worksheets, sales orders, and highly customizable reports. I was impressed with how you could do batch invoicing, something QuickBooks Online doesn’t offer.
Is QuickBooks Online better than QuickBooks Desktop?
Existing QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Mac, or Enhanced Payroll users will not be impacted. Security updates and product updates will still be released for all users who purchase a QuickBooks Desktop Plus or QuickBooks Desktop Payroll subscription before the cutoff date. You must purchase additional licenses if you want to access it on multiple computers. While you can add cloud access to QuickBooks Enterprise, it involves an additional fee. Reporting options are good in both applications, though only one of the applications offers industry-specific reporting options. QuickBooks Desktop offers good integration options, integrating with more than 200 third party applications, making it one of the better integrated desktop application options.
- Another key difference between QuickBooks Online and Desktop is that the former allows you to track your activity, such as income and expenses, by class and location.
- QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop share the same basic functionality of organizing your accounting processes and automating much of the manual data entry work.
- At the time of this writing, QuickBooks has noted that it has no plans on sunsetting the QuickBooks Desktop software.
Or, to save money, you can try QuickBooks’ typical offer of 50% off for three months (though choosing the discount waives your free trial). QuickBooks Desktop software is as an annual subscription that will auto-renew with your credit card on file, so there’s no service interruption. If you purchased Desktop software via retail, make sure to place your credit card on file for uninterrupted service.
While QuickBooks has not announced any plans for discontinuing Pro and Premier for existing users as of that date, we anticipate it will likely end support after two or three years. You can explore QuickBooks Enterprise as an alternative or consider QuickBooks Online, which we believe is the more ideal accounting solution for most businesses. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. https://accountingcoaching.online/ Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
QuickBooks Online service tiers and pricing
Know that your data is protected without downloading and installing product updates. You don’t have to worry about losing everything in a fire or an unforeseen event. Katherine Haan, MBA is a former financial advisor-turned-writer and business coach. 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. Another notable difference is QuickBooks Online offers a Self-Employed version for $15 per month, which is not available with QuickBooks Desktop.
This provides the highest level of security from hacking and fraud, but it does mean you won’t be sending invoices from your phone or tablet. The accounting software a company chooses needs to be able to work for those using it and scale with the growth of the company. This is what makes software selection such a financial reporting for non-traditional insurance vital step in a company’s overall financial management journey. QuickBooks Self-Employed, or QBSE, is the version of QBO marketed toward freelancers and other self-employed business owners. Unlike its counterparts, this edition of the software can never be upgraded to the small business editions of the software.
This person can customize your QBO for your preferences and needs, set up your chart of accounts, connect QBO to your bank account(s), and put automated processes into place for your most frequently-used tasks. The price and subscription frequency of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online differ depending on the specific product — and, subsequently, the version — you choose. Both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online support small business bookkeeping, but the manner in which each product does so differs. If you run a business that delivers physical products, you already use one or the other (or a combination of the two) — regardless of how well-versed you are in their meaning. Katana integrates with QuickBooks Online and equips you with all the necessary tools to manage your inventory and manufacturing processes. It also keeps all your information automatically synced across all your business tools, saving you precious time and eliminating human errors.
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For example, it may be more suitable for businesses with complex inventory management needs or those wanting offline access to their financial data. However, QuickBooks Online is the better choice for most companies, especially those with remote accountants and multiple employees. QuickBooks Desktop is preferable for companies wanting to manage their books without an internet connection. It’s also the better option for businesses requiring complex inventory accounting features.
Most notably, Premier Plus has 150+ customizable reports for nonprofits, general contractors, and retailers. If you’re searching for accounting software that’s user-friendly, full of smart features, and scales with your business, Quickbooks is a great option. Subscription clients in QuickBooks Desktop 2023 (R1) or older versions will need to update to the latest 2023 (R3) version before their subscription expires.
Depending on your business, the ability to integrate with other applications may be convenient, while for others, it can be a necessity. QuickBooks Online offers a variety of pricing plans, which range from $12 to $75 for the first three months. QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop have very different pricing structures, with QuickBooks Online available by a monthly subscription, while QuickBooks Desktop has an annual cost. While the features are similar, QuickBooks Desktop offers more functionality, such as the ability to run checks to pay bills and more in-depth customer and vendor management capability. Only Desktop version users who don’t use any add-on apps will be unaffected. How much you’ll pay for each service depends on the service tier you buy.
QuickBooks Premier also has a payroll add-on, or you can purchase the QuickBooks Premier + Payroll annual plan. QuickBooks Enterprise Gold and Platinum plans include Enhanced Payroll, while Enterprise Diamond includes Assisted Payroll. Both include the basic reports you’d expect to find with accounting software, such as a balance sheet, a Profit & Loss report, a cash flow statement, etc. All QuickBooks Desktop Plus and QuickBooks Desktop Payroll products, excluding QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, will no longer be available to new users beginning July 31, 2024.
The specific QuickBooks version and edition you buy dictates how many users are allowed access to your business’ individual account. In other words, if you buy one license for QuickBooks Desktop, only one specific person at your company can access the app and file. The “Plus” subscription affords you certain benefits, including 24/7 support, automatic backups of your QuickBooks file, and yearly software upgrades. However, in most cases, it’s recommended that you purchase the software-only version.