QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Which Is Right for Your Business?
QuickBooks Desktop Premier and Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise have even more reports (especially if you opt for the industry-specific versions of these programs). QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop operate on true double-entry accounting principles and have both accrual and cash-basis accounting. Each offers a detailed chart of accounts, journal entries, bank reconciliation, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and the basic reports needed to run a company. However, QuickBooks Desktop offers better reporting and supports more complex accounting. Four pricing plans for QuickBooks Online are available, ranging from $35 to $235/month (with an additional $50+/month for payroll). QuickBooks Desktop also has several additional features you won’t find with QBO, including sales orders and lead management.
QuickBooks Online is easier what are the stockholders' equity accounts to set up because it’s a cloud-based platform that doesn’t require installation. Also, the guided setup helps new users easily and effectively set up their company information, connect their bank accounts, create customers and vendors, etc. In both QuickBooks Online and Desktop, you can assign costs to your inventory items and track the quantities sold to calculate the cost of goods sold (COGS). You can upgrade to any version of QuickBooks Desktop as your needs change.
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QuickBooks Online wins because it offers more professional-looking and customizable invoices than QuickBooks Desktop. In fact, it recently upgraded its invoicing tool where you can aicpa now see the final look of your invoice as you complete the invoicing form. This allows you to easily customize the invoice based on how you want it to look without clicking the preview button.
Industry-specific Features: QuickBooks Desktop Wins
Send invoices, run reports, and get mobile alerts for key events—all on your smartphone. You may consider switching to QuickBooks Online if you want a cloud-based solution with several affordable plans and an easy-to-use interface. Yes, QuickBooks Desktop has a subscription fee that users pay annually. As you consider whether QuickBooks Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online is better for your accounting needs, keep in mind that QuickBooks Online is the more recent, up-to-date, and constantly evolving product.
QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop
With our online migration tool, you can move all your data or move only what’s key—like balances and specific lists. If you need help, we can migrate your data for you at no additional cost. For those customers that choose to stay on Desktop Plus subscriptions, we’ll continue to focus on product maintenance and security. If you don’t renew your QuickBooks Desktop subscription at the end of the year, then you will no longer be able to access your data on the desktop app. During our testing, it took us no time to get up to speed on how to use the QuickBooks Online platform. The platform has an intuitive layout that we were able to navigate on our own.
- It includes 100+ reports, while QuickBooks Online Simple Start includes around 40.
- Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.
- While these products will still be available to existing users, QuickBooks Desktop Payroll for Pro and Premier will no longer be available for new users to purchase starting on September 31, 2024.
- 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.
- QuickBooks Desktop is also not a great choice for accounting newbies, as the UI is quite unintuitive and has a steep learning curve.
In evaluating pricing, we considered the billing cycle (monthly or annual) and number of users. 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. QuickBooks Online is generally easier to use than QuickBooks Desktop as it has a more streamlined navigation menu.
QuickBooks Online VS QuickBooks Desktop: Pricing Comparison
For this section, we considered customer service, support network, and a subjective expert opinion score. Users must have easy access to customer service channels in case of problems, questions, or assistance. Although QuickBooks Online earned a perfect score and Enterprise took a slight hit in this criterion, we consider this a tie. Both allow you to create essential reports, including profit and loss (P&L), cash flow statements, and balance sheets. While Enterprise missed a few points because it doesn’t provide income/loss by location reports, it offers many other advanced reporting options and features that provide additional value for many businesses.
The software must have tools to track time, record billable wave community hours or expenses, send invoices for progress billings, or monitor project progress and performance. Additionally, QuickBooks Online allows you to calculate sales taxes automatically to apply to an invoice based on the customer’s address. This feature is particularly useful if you sell and ship products out of your state. QuickBooks Desktop has a more dated user interface than some cloud-based products and requires prior accounting knowledge to get the most out of the product. Both versions offer automatic syncing with your bank so you can categorize transactions.
