QuickBooks Desktop, Compare QuickBooks Desktop to Online

The most notable difference, aside from price, between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop is the Online version is cloud-based. The mobile app for Online is robust, and Desktop’s mobile app is so limited, that it essentially functions as a receipt uploader. Working from the cloud means you need an internet connection, so a poor signal or an intermittent connection can be an issue. Its highest-tiered plan is the Advanced option, which costs $100 per month for the first three months, then $200 per month after that. The Plus Plan is $45 per month for the first three months, then becomes $90 per month, and adds up to five users.

Payroll: Tie

It’s also the better option for what kind of company or business would use the single businesses requiring complex inventory accounting features. We went to user review websites to read first-hand reviews from actual software users. This user review score helps us give more credit to software products that deliver a consistent service to their customers. Service or project-based businesses should choose accounting software that can track project costs, revenues, and profits. The software must have tools to track time, record billable hours or expenses, send invoices for progress billings, or monitor project progress and performance. 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).

1. For example, it may be more suitable for businesses with complex inventory management needs or those wanting offline access to their financial data.
2. As you hire more employees or bring on more customers, you can scale up your software to match.
3. It’s designed to foster collaboration between multiple users, facilitating multi-user access to accounting data.
4. In contrast, you need to upgrade to Advanced to be able to use QuickBooks Online’s budget vs. actual reporting feature.
5. The side menu categorizes features for easy access, for example, aggregating sections for employees, their taxes, and compliance details under the Payroll category.
6. Advanced Reporting is included in all QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise subscriptions.

Is QuickBooks Online cheaper than QuickBooks Desktop?

We don’t guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services. For many small-business owners, most of the time, QuickBooks Online works better than QuickBooks Desktop. It’s more affordable, easier to share with your accountant or other financial stakeholders, and offers better invoicing than its locally installed counterpart. The dashboard is super intuitive with large, easy-to-understand charts, and the mobile app is similarly easy to use. However, if you’re not a Mac user, you can choose from all three QuickBooks Desktop  plans. The QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus plan is particularly useful for business that want industry-specific features.

QuickBooks Desktop vs. Online: At a Glance

Even after initial setup, the software must also let users modify information like company name, address, entity type, fiscal year-end, and other company information. On the other hand, QuickBooks Enterprise involves a more complex setup due to its extensive feature set designed for larger businesses. You need to properly install and set up the software, which often requires IT support for proper configuration. For example, we commend QuickBooks Enterprise’s multicompany reporting feature. This tool allows you to create consolidated financial reports across multiple company files—making it ideal for businesses that operate multiple entities and subsidiaries.

For instance, QuickBooks Desktop allows you to create customized job costing reports tailored to specialized industries, including manufacturers, contractors, and retailers. We developed an internal case study to evaluate the accounting software we review subjectively. Using the data we gathered from this case study, we are able to compare QuickBooks Online and Desktop across several key categories, such as pricing, ease of use, general features, A/P, A/R, and banking.

Today’s leading accounting platforms offer standard security features such as data encryption, secure credential tokenization and more. While human error will always play some role in security breaches, you can be confident in your accounting the difference between implicit and explicit costs platform when it comes to keeping your information safe. Intuit reports that 94% of accounting professionals feel QuickBooks Online saves them time and thus saves their clients’ money.

QuickBooks Online is a leader in the accounting industry with it being the bookkeeping software of choice for many accountants, certified public accountants (CPAs) and bookkeepers. When comparing it to other bookkeeping providers, such as FreshBooks and Xero, we note that all three have a 30-day free trial to test the system out. This is important to note since you’ll want to make sure that it is capable of doing what you need in a manner that you understand and can digest. QuickBooks might encourage its users to switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online, but it hasn’t issued any controller vs cfo: 6 key differences to understand statements about discontinuing Desktop entirely.