Aside from this, there are also secondary costs such as transportation packaging taxes along with others that can be recorded accurately. With QuickBooks Pro 2022, you can set automated payment reminders to let you know about the amounts of cash being deducted from your account. Aside from this, it also helps track you credit line in the case of recurring payments. This way, you’re never caught off guard and your payments are automated and carried out in a timely manner. Besides this, QuickBooks Online is better suited for business owners with less capital and who are likely to move around on a day-to-day basis. On the other hand, QuickBooks Pro is a complete accountancy software capable of recording complex transactions and can make use of vital information for reports.
- QBO is well-suited for small businesses with multiple users, particularly those in e-commerce.
- Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop can integrate with over 650 cloud-based apps.
- Terms, conditions, pricing, special features, and service and support options subject to change without notice.
- For example, nonprofits can use the desktop products to run donor contribution summary reports while manufacturing, wholesale and retail businesses have the ability to forecast product sales.
- The higher your plan tier, the more reports and users you can add, although it’s important to understand concurrent users are each sold separately.
Users must have easy access to customer service channels in case of problems, questions, or assistance. QuickBooks Online can be accessed anywhere you have an internet connection, and because it’s web-based, you can work with your accountant in real time. The QuickBooks mobile app is also available for free and lets you manage your account on the go. QuickBooks Online offers more features on the go and is a better overall value than QuickBooks Desktop. 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.
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 can you switch from simplified home office to actual and send it to your ProAdvisor. In addition to third-party integrations, QuickBooks Online integrates with native products, such as QuickBooks Payments, QuickBooks Payroll, and QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets). QuickBooks Desktop can be integrated with QuickBooks Desktop Payroll and QuickBooks Time.
Evaluating QBO & QuickBooks Desktop: Which is Right for You?
If you need personalized customer support, you can upgrade to QuickBooks Online Advanced or QuickBooks Enterprise. Doing so grants you access to the Priority Circle loyalty program, including a dedicated account team, free on-demand training, and premium care from QuickBooks experts. The QuickBooks Desktop mobile app is very limited as it only allows you to capture expense receipts and track business mileage. If you want to perform bookkeeping from anywhere, we strongly recommend QuickBooks Online’s mobile app. 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.
For most startup e-Commerce companies, keeping track of their expenses can be difficult. With software like QuickBooks Online, however, it becomes an efficient and relatively easy thing to do. It’s fair to point out that multiple people can use QuickBooks Desktop over the local network at the office. But when multiple users are working on the same file simultaneously, changes made by one user won’t be instantly visible to the rest of the team. The changes need to be saved and refreshed, leaving a lot of potential for errors. As I was testing them out, I found QuickBooks Online a lot sleeker, more modern, and easier to navigate than QuickBooks Desktop.
QuickBooks Desktop Premier and Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise have even more reports (especially if you opt for the industry-specific versions of these programs). Interestingly, the benefits of QuickBooks Desktop can be further amplified if the software is hosted on the cloud by a credible service provider. This approach essentially marries the robust functionality of QuickBooks Desktop with the accessibility of QuickBooks Online, providing businesses with a powerful, flexible solution.
And let’s not forget offline accessibility for the times your ISP decides to ruin your Monday. Everything from the installation screen to the lagging UI gave me flashbacks to the 1998 dial-up tone on my family’s Pentium III computer. There were also fewer prompts of the tutorial variety, but I was pleasantly surprised by the number of features packed into it. Here’s a quick way to tell which version of QuickBooks is right for your business.
QuickBooks Online is accessible from any device with an internet connection, while QuickBooks Desktop is installed locally
Ease of use is one of the most important things to consider when shopping for software. Neither QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop are difficult to use, although they offer very different user experiences. The online version will soon be the only available version, and it’s used by hundreds of thousands of American businesses. To find out what we thought about it, please check out our review of QuickBooks Online 2024. Launched in 1983, it was originally aimed at individuals looking to manage their money better. If you made a one-time software purchase of QuickBooks Desktop, support for the 2021 edition will end in May 2024.
Business stage
QuickBooks Online boasts a user-friendly, intuitive interface, making it easy even for accounting novices to navigate. In contrast, QuickBooks Desktop, while offering more advanced functionalities, may pose a steeper learning curve due to its traditional interface. QuickBooks Online operates on a subscription-based model with various pricing tiers, each offering a different level of features. The charges are on a monthly basis, which some users prefer for its flexibility. Intuit has recently announced that they are planning to invest more heavily in QuickBooks Online than their Desktop product. As a result, they will be begin moving most of their resources to QuickBooks Online, with the guidance that eventually everything will only be available online.
As an added convenience, if you outgrow your current edition of QuickBooks Online, upgrade to a more powerful plan in minutes. QuickBooks Desktop’s user interface is very different from QuickBooks Online, offering navigation using a flowchart style menu. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. There are two versions of QuickBooks Desktop (Premier Plus and Enterprise) and four versions of QuickBooks Online (Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced). Find help articles, video tutorials, and connect with other businesses in our online community.
Evaluating Pricing and Billing
Both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online utilize a subscription pricing model.
QuickBooks Pro 2023 must be purchased through a reseller or a phone call with QuickBooks Sales. In comparison with QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online is cloud-based, cheaper, easier to use, supports more integrations, and is unlikely to be discontinued by QuickBooks. Yes, you can convert your QuickBooks Online data to QuickBooks Desktop using Intuit’s conversion tools. It’s important to note that the process may not transfer all data and features, so thorough preparation and backup are advised before switching. While QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop both have their merits, experts suggest that certain capabilities of QuickBooks Desktop often score better points for their robust capabilities.
“About a third of our clients are still using QuickBooks Desktop,” says Emily. However, with the recent changes to Intuit’s annual subscription model, it’s likely to push some to convert to QuickBooks Online sooner. In recent months, many QuickBooks Desktop users have experienced long load times, intermittent errors, crashes and freezing.
Both versions offer automatic syncing with your bank so you can categorize transactions. Add payroll to QuickBooks Online starting at $45 per month, or to Desktop starting at $50, plus $2 per employee, per month. For $27.50 per month for the first three months, then $55 per month after that, get up to three users, manage and pay bills and track time with its https://quickbooks-payroll.org/ Essentials plan, which is its most popular plan. Upgrade to Plus for $42.50 per month for the first three months, then $85 per month afterward, and you will receive access for up to five users, inventory tracking and the ability to track project profitability. For $1,410 per year, get the Enterprise plan with advanced pricing, reporting and inventory.
Both applications can have long wait times to access telephone support, but you’ll likely get a better response if you purchase QuickBooks Online Advanced or QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, as both offer 24/7 support. Until Intuit’s announced that they were no longer going to support QuickBooks Desktop products after May 2023, this was a hard question to answer. Every business has its own needs and demands that make one accounting software version or the other a better fit. Unlike QuickBooks Pro and other accounting software, QuickBooks Online allows you to record transactions on the go provided you have the right credentials.
Unless you’re an accountant, the learning curve will likely be a little higher for you than it would with QuickBooks Online. For instance, if you choose the Simple Start plan, you’re the only person who can use the software—apart from your accountant, with whom you can share your business’s account at no additional cost. We also don’t recommend QuickBooks Desktop to Mac users, since there’s just one desktop-based plan for Mac users. This plan, QuickBooks Desktop for Mac, has the same features as QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, the most basic desktop-based plan.