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QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Which Is Right for Your Business?

By: Ladarian Spencer0 comments

qb online vs desktop

To delve deeper into our best small business accounting software, we tested and used each platform to evaluate how the features perform against our metrics. This hands-on approach helps us strengthen our accounting software expertise and deliver on the Fit Small Business mission of providing the best answers to your small business questions. In addition, QuickBooks Solopreneur, a new and improved version of QuickBooks Self-Employed, adjusting entry example: prepaid rent is designed for one-person businesses and is available for $20 monthly. QuickBooks Online offers four standard plans—Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced—with prices ranging from $35 to $235 per month. They vary in the number of users and features included and are built for different purposes. Terms, conditions, pricing, special features, and service and support options subject to change without notice.

To help you get auditors responsibility for assessing a clients internal controls started, we prepared a guide on how to find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Meanwhile, if you or your accountant want to become a ProAdvisor to demonstrate expertise in QuickBooks, read our article on how to become a QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Additionally, all versions of QuickBooks Desktop allow you to set up cost estimates for projects and then compare them to actual expenses.

What is QuickBooks and how does it work?

The software must have bank integrations to automatically feed bank or card transactions. The bank reconciliation module must also let users reconcile accounts with or without bank feeds for optimal ease of use. Most small businesses will find Plus the perfect fit, but there are many reasons you may want to upgrade to Advanced, successful mompreneur especially now that several new features have been added. It now offers fixed asset accounting, estimated vs actual cost reporting, and multi-company report consolidation.

How QuickBooks Online Stacks Up

qb online vs desktop

Small businesses can customize how they use the platform so that they only use the features they need. QuickBooks Payments account subject to credit and application approval. Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. I find myself leaning toward the futuristic solution, which makes QuickBooks Online my preferred choice of accounting software (my Ralph Macchio).

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

The inventory management and job costing features are more robust in QuickBooks compared to QuickBooks Online. While QuickBooks Online is very popular among business owners, some have problems with the system. Problems stem from the complexity of making simple fixes, such as miscategorizations or duplicate entries. Support is limited, so users are left reading help articles rather than getting a live person to help.

QuickBooks Essentials vs QuickBooks Plus

  1. Its additional reports include A/P and A/R aging details, transaction lists by customer, expenses by vendor, uninvoiced charges, unpaid bills, and expenses by supplier summaries.
  2. While both QuickBooks Online and Desktop are supported by a large network of independent ProAdvisors, it’s much easier to share your books with your ProAdvisor using QuickBooks Online.
  3. QuickBooks Simple Start has a decent ability to record and track payments to independent contractors, making it easier to stay compliant with tax regulations.
  4. Essentials even lets you record employees’ worked hours and track billable hours by customer and project.
  5. The Projects tool helps you manage different jobs and projects for your clients and track costs related to labor and materials.

Essentials is preferable if you need to track unpaid bills, while Plus is great if you require inventory and project management. 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. The software must also have a mobile app to enable users to perform accounting tasks even when away from their laptops or desktops. The software must have features that allow users to set sales tax rates, apply them to invoices, and enable users to pay sales tax liability. The banking section of this case study focuses on cash management, bank reconciliation, and bank feed connections.

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.

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