Compare QuickBooks Online vs QuickBooks Desktop

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. 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.

QuickBooks Desktop plans and pricing

QuickBooks Online is a good option for many small businesses that are looking to make invoicing customers easy and integrate invoicing and payments into the general ledger. Small businesses can customize how they use the platform so that they only use the features they need. QuickBooks Online is cloud based, which means you can access your QuickBooks account anywhere you have the internet and an internet-enabled device.

It also has inventory management and gives you the ability to project profitability with forecasting reports. The Advanced Plan is the final tier for $100 per month for the first three months, then reverts to $200 per month. This allows more users (up to 25) and increases analytics for users to assess the business’s health.

Project Accounting: QuickBooks Desktop Wins

Most notably, Premier Plus has 150+ customizable reports for nonprofits, general contractors, and retailers. I find myself leaning toward the futuristic solution, which makes QuickBooks Online my preferred choice of accounting software (my Ralph Macchio). Plus, it’s the only one that integrates with Zapier, enabling you to seamlessly link your accounting management to the rest of your business’s tools. QuickBooks Online is simply easier to learn, provides a detailed onboarding process, and is very intuitive. The software itself may look final accounts of non-trading organizations like an outdated image on some monitor within a cubicle maze, but it’s versatile in what it can do. The dashboard does an excellent job dividing all accounting aspects into a flowchart type of view, while the sidebar provides quick access to a list of features.

Head to our detailed QuickBooks Payroll review to see if it fits the bill. Meanwhile, QuickBooks Online provides some customization options for businesses, but they’re not as extensive as those in Enterprise. For instance, you can set up QuickBooks Online for nonprofits by adjusting the settings, customizing sales forms, and creating a project finance vs corporate finance chart of accounts based on Form 990. While QuickBooks Online offers project management features, it doesn’t have the same level of customization options as QuickBooks Desktop.

1. For instance, if you have five members, you can purchase the Plus plan for only $90 monthly, whereas with Enterprise, you need to pay $427 monthly for five users.
2. While QuickBooks Online is only 50 cents more than Xero, note that that is the introductory cost for the first three months.
3. If you make the switch from Desktop to Online, you can import your data and access your original company file at any time.
4. Probably not, unless your business absolutely needs advanced inventory management features, barcode scanning, or assembly builds.
5. This feature is particularly useful if you sell and ship products out of your state.
6. In the past, customers could choose between annually renewing plans and single-purchase software with a license that stayed valid for three years.

QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop pricing

QuickBooks Online integrates with over 750 third-party apps, and we highlighted the most notable integrations in our guide to the best QuickBooks Online integrations for small businesses. QuickBooks Online wins because it offers small business tax tip: depreciation can save you money more professional-looking and customizable invoices than QuickBooks Desktop. In fact, it recently upgraded its invoicing tool where you can now see the final look of your invoice as you complete the invoicing form.

This plan gives you all the basics needed to run your business accounting, including income and expense monitoring, invoice and payment capability, tax deductions, receipt capture and mileage tracking. 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. Users must have easy access to customer service channels in case of problems, questions, or assistance.

There is workflow automation, data restoration, batch invoices and expenses and on-demand training. This plan also gives you a dedicated account team to help with training, troubleshooting and setup. QuickBooks Online has four pricing tiers and offers 50% off for the first three months when you purchase. The first tier is the Simple Start Plan at $15 per month for the first three months, then is $30 per month.

It’s an acceptable system but isn’t nearly as convenient as sharing your books through QuickBooks Online. Additionally, all versions of QuickBooks Desktop allow you to set up cost estimates for projects and then compare them to actual expenses. In contrast, you need to upgrade to Advanced to be able to use QuickBooks Online’s budget vs. actual reporting feature.