Quickbooks Online Vs Desktop

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. We are driven by the Fit Small Business mission to provide you with the best answers to your small business questions—allowing you to choose the right accounting solution for your needs. Our meticulous evaluation process makes us a trustworthy source for accounting software insights.

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.

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. QuickBooks Online can be accessed how to enhance the audit to prevent and detect fraud anywhere you have an internet connection, and because it’s web-based, you can work with your accountant in real time.

1. These versions give business owners more features and reports geared toward their industry.
2. Even though QB Desktop has more comprehensive features in general, there are some key features that only QuickBooks Online has, such as bookkeeping support.
3. QuickBooks Desktop is preferable for companies wanting to manage their books without an internet connection.
4. The two versions are independent of each other, which means the data you enter on Desktop doesn’t sync to the Online version and vice-versa.

QuickBooks Online pros and cons

Although Intuit has talked about adding sales orders to QuickBooks Online, this feature is only available with QuickBooks Desktop products at this time. While QuickBooks Online boasts many of the features you’ll find with Desktop, some of its features, such as inventory management, aren’t quite as advanced. Additionally, you won’t find the industry-specific features and reports that you’ll get if you sign up for Desktop. 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.

Industry-specific Features: QuickBooks Desktop Wins

On the other hand, QuickBooks Desktop offers large businesses and enterprises a more advanced system that’s limited to desktop devices. QuickBooks Enterprise is designed for large businesses or small enterprises and starts at $1,481/year or $142/month. You can add payroll, more users, and cloud hosting for additional fees.

QuickBooks Online VS QuickBooks Desktop: Pricing Comparison

You can download a 30-day trial version of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise only—both the Premier Plus and Pro Plus plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee, but no free trial. Alternatively, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial with QuickBooks Online. Just know that doing so waives your option to get 50% off your QuickBooks Online subscription for your first three months.

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. However, converting your data from one desktop solution to another can be a complex process.

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Yes, you can, but the process is a bit tedious, as you need to export your files from QuickBooks Online to Desktop manually. If you are currently using QuickBooks Online and want to switch to an interface similar to QuickBooks Desktop, we recommend using the QuickBooks Online Desktop app. Read our article on what the QuickBooks Online Desktop app is to learn more. With QuickBooks Desktop, you must make an Accountant’s Copy of your data file and send it to your ProAdvisor. The copy will allow you to continue to work on transactions in the current period while your accountant makes adjustments to past periods. It’s an acceptable system but isn’t nearly as convenient as sharing your books through QuickBooks Online.

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. Add payroll to QuickBooks Online starting at $45 per month, or to Desktop starting at $50, plus $2 per employee, per month.