QuickBooks Online offers integration with more than 500 third party apps in categories such as Payments, CRM, Project Management, Payments, Payroll, Invoicing, Inventory, and Time Tracking. You can easily connect to any third-party app from within the application, saving you a ton of time in the process. QuickBooks Online offers a variety of pricing plans, which range from $12 to $75 for the first three months.
- Cost considerations depend on individual business needs and preferences.
- QuickBooks Online is like the charismatic superhero who can do it all while looking cool.
- To expedite product setup, you can choose to use the default chart of accounts that is included in the application.
- This means the data operates as fast as your computer, all without needing to worry about a connection issue.
The main difference between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop is that QuickBooks Online is cloud-based accounting software, and QuickBooks Desktop is locally installed. 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. Existing QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Mac, or Enhanced Payroll users will not be impacted. Security the role of accounting in business and why its important 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. Once purchased, the licensing of QuickBooks Enterprise is good for 3 years. If you fail to renew your solution each year, you are still welcome to continue using the solution on your desktop, but you will be limited to 1 user license and not have any ongoing support.
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. 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. Its highest-tiered plan is the Advanced option, which costs $100 per month for the first three months, then $200 per month after that. QuickBooks Online is better for business owners who want easy-to-use cloud-based accounting that includes anywhere online access, mobile apps, and tons of integrations with other business apps.
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Both applications also include an easy setup process, so you can be up and running in little time. 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. This is for the “Gold” version which should give your business all you need to get started with accounting. This annual subscription can sometimes include a 10% discount for the first year of service.
Can I switch from QuickBooks Online to Desktop?
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. Contractors and professional service businesses can use the software to compare revenue by city, customer and job type. QuickBooks Online offers a large selection of reports, but they aren’t industry-specific. 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.
An overview of QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online
If you purchased Desktop software via retail, make sure to place your credit card on file for uninterrupted service. 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. Lastly, our expert opinion score is our subjective rating based on our experience in trying the software. The software must have enough reports that can be generated with a few clicks. Moreover, we’d also like to see customization options to enable users to generate reports based on what they want to see.
QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop: Which QuickBooks Accounting Solution is Right for Your Business?
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. Live Bookkeepers aren’t responsible for errors resulting from incorrect information that you provide, or if you re-open the books by overriding closure after a Live Bookkeeper completes the month-end closure. Sign up to receive more well-researched small business articles and topics in your inbox, personalized for you.
Many versions of QuickBooks Online will include a 50% discount off the first 3 months if you buy now. A free 30-day trial is available otherwise, but you will give up any discounted pricing for starting with a trial. Determining which pricing structure your business can afford is one of the biggest deciding factors a business may use in shopping for software. QuickBooks Enterprise and QuickBooks Online have two very different pricing structures.
In other words, if you buy one license for QuickBooks Desktop, only one specific person at your company can access the app and file. QuickBooks Online has limitations like internet dependence, ongoing subscription costs, limited customization options, and fewer integrations compared to QuickBooks Desktop. It may not suit businesses with advanced needs or those without reliable internet access. QuickBooks Desktop is preferable when advanced customization, industry-specific versions, or offline access are required. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop can integrate with over 650 cloud-based apps. QuickBooks Online integrates with many other software platforms, such as PayPal and Square, but these platforms do not always have desktop versions.
By understanding the unique offerings of both, CPAs can make well-informed recommendations to their clients, ultimately enhancing their accounting processes and business efficiency. This pillar blog has aimed to provide an in-depth, comparative guide to assist in that decision-making process. QuickBooks Online offers seamless integration with a multitude of third-party apps, thanks to its SaaS model. Although QuickBooks Desktop also supports integrations, setting them up and maintaining them might require more technical know-how. However, please note that access to add-on services will be discontinued for all QuickBooks Desktop software after May 31, 2023.
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. You can switch from QuickBooks Online to Desktop, and many users who are used to traditional accounting and working with QuickBooks tend to do so after giving QBO a try. At the time https://intuit-payroll.org/ of this writing, QuickBooks has noted that it has no plans on sunsetting the QuickBooks Desktop software. Both offer strong accounting, though QuickBooks Desktop has more features and is more customizable, whereas QuickBooks Online has more automations and is easier to learn and use. Ultimately, your specific business’s size, type, and needs are the real deciding factors in determining which of the QuickBooks versions is best for your business.
This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. 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.
Users can simply click on the Reports option to access reports in a variety of categories including Favorites, Business Overview, Expenses and Vendors, Employees, and Sales Tax reports, along with several others. All reports can be exported to Microsoft Excel for customizing, viewing on screen, printing, or emailing directly to recipients. Users can access features via the vertical menu to the left of the screen or by using the drop-down menu bar at the top, and the My Shortcuts option allows you to add a shortcut to frequently used features. If the default screen is too crowded for your taste, you can hide the vertical menu, only displaying it when you wish. You can easily access all QuickBooks Online features from the dashboard, where you’ll find a vertical menu bar to the left of the screen. While the dashboard is a bit cluttered, you can easily customize it to only display the information you wish.