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

Multiple users can even access the mobile app, giving more data democratization within an organization. None of these features are possible with the QuickBooks Desktop application. QuickBooks Online is cloud-based with monthly subscriptions, while QuickBooks Desktop is locally installed with one-time purchases.

Many satisfied QuickBooks Online users appreciate that they can access the program from any internet-enabled device. Some commented that it’s easy to add vendors and customers and share files with their bookkeepers—and we couldn’t agree more. The cloud accessibility plus the user-friendly interface makes QuickBooks Online easier to use than QuickBooks Desktop. QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based software that can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection, while QuickBooks Desktop is on-premise—meaning it can only be accessed from the computer where it is installed. When working with the Desktop version, it’s downloaded right to your computer. This means the data operates as fast as your computer, all without needing to worry about a connection issue.

If you want to learn more, you can read about each of the products on our dedicated landing pages. It’s worth pointing out that since QuickBooks focuses on the online versions, it receives regular updates and seems to be slowly catching up regarding features. So, in the future, we should see QuickBooks Online becoming https://www.online-accounting.net/ the better overall solution and overtaking Desktop. Both platforms offer a free 30-day trial that you can use to get familiar with the software before paying. Both platforms come with the basic features needed to manage your accounts, but there are certain differences between QuickBooks Desktop and Online.

IMS charges transaction fees and other fees for accepting customer credit card, debit card, online invoice, and ACH payments. The sellers receive customer payments in their designated merchant bank account. As a cloud-based solution, it enables you to access your data from anywhere, anytime, and on any device with an internet connection. Its standout features include automatic scheduling and sending of transactions, attaching documents, photos, signatures & more to transactions, and tracking income and expenses.

Subscription clients in QuickBooks Desktop 2023 (R1) or older versions will need to update to the latest 2023 (R3) version before their subscription expires. Businesses with inventory items should choose accounting software that can track inventory costs, manage cost of goods sold (COGS), and monitor inventory units. On the flip side, some complained that QuickBooks Online can’t manage multiple companies in a single account and that it lacks assembly management features. Others are also unhappy that they couldn’t easily contact QuickBooks Online’s customer support. I’ve also had some not-so-great experiences with QuickBooks’ support, but there are occasions when they manage to resolve things well—and that depends greatly on the assigned agent.

QuickBooks Desktop provides better security and control over data than QuickBooks Online

Although Intuit has talked about adding sales orders to QuickBooks Online, this feature is only available with QuickBooks Desktop products at this time. QuickBooks Online offers over 80 reports depending on your plan, whereas QuickBooks Desktop Pro has over 130 reports. QuickBooks Desktop Premier and Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise have even more reports (especially if you opt for the industry-specific versions of these programs). In the battle between QuickBooks Online versus Desktop, it’s best to focus on the differences between the two accounting software options since they are so similar. The cloud-based software design of QuickBooks Online makes it a better fit for modern businesses with the ability to access QuickBooks from anywhere and on any device.

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. QuickBooks Online and Desktop share many similarities, including income and expense tracking, bank reconciliation, accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R) management, and reporting.

QuickBooks Desktop: Best for industry-specific reporting

Reporting options are good in both applications, though only one of the applications offers industry-specific reporting options. QuickBooks Desktop offers good integration options, integrating with more than 200 third party applications, making it one of the better integrated desktop application options. However, it doesn’t compare with the more than 500 options offered by QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Online offers integration with more than 500 third party apps in categories such as Payments, CRM, Project Management, Payments, Payroll, Invoicing, Inventory, and Time Tracking. You can easily connect to any third-party app from within the application, saving you a ton of time in the process.

1. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is, in our opinion, the most powerful financial software on the market at its price point.
2. QuickBooks Online has four plans with a monthly subscription, and the total number of users depends on your plan.
3. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews.
4. Many satisfied QuickBooks Online users appreciate that they can access the program from any internet-enabled device.

In addition to having more integrations, QuickBooks Online also has better integrations. QBO’s integrations cover more business needs and include multiple payment gateway options. These https://www.quick-bookkeeping.net/ versions give business owners more features and reports geared toward their industry. You can learn more in our guide to the industry-specific editions of QuickBooks Enterprise.

CPAs and bookkeepers use QuickBooks Online Accountant software to access or prepare their clients’ accounting. The sales receipt can be created by clicking the +New button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, followed by choosing the sales receipt under the header called Customers. The sales receipt can be created from the Home Page or from the Customers menu on the top of the screen. Non-Plus editions of QuickBooks Desktop put the responsibility of backing up files entirely on you. This can be accomplished in much the same way you’d back up other files. This is by saving them to other locations on your PC, other sorts of media (such as flash drives), or uploading them to the cloud (using apps like Dropbox or Drive).

QuickBooks Online Reviews

It also keeps all your information automatically synced across all your business tools, saving you precious time and eliminating human errors. You can check out the complete list of affected services on the QuickBooks website. In the meantime, if you’re currently using QuickBooks Desktop, it’s worth considering transitioning to the online version as soon as possible. In contrast, QuickBooks Online files are automatically backed up on a nightly basis to ensure that there is no loss of data.

By using optical character recognition (OCR), details from your receipts are scanned and recorded directly into relevant transactions. QuickBooks Online simplifies both the receipt collection and organization process by allowing you to easily capture and upload a photo or document into your QuickBooks file. From there, you can add it to the correct transaction (or create a new transaction) and, voila, no more shoebox. Intuit often offers discounts and incentives for purchasing it for set blocks of time, though for the purposes of this article, I’m only covering its full regular price. Hosting your QBDT file on the cloud is available for all editions of QuickBooks Desktop and is available through a variety of providers. For the most part, QuickBooks Desktop offers similar features as QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Online

If you invoke the guarantee, QuickBooks will conduct a full n evaluation of the Live Bookkeeper’s work. Yes, you can, but the process is a bit tedious, as you need to manually export your files from QuickBooks Online to Desktop. If you are currently using QuickBooks Online and want to switch to an interface similar to QuickBooks Desktop, we recommend using the https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/ 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.

Benefits of QuickBooks Desktop (Enterprise)

In the past, customers could choose between annually renewing plans and single-purchase software with a license that stayed valid for three years. If you purchased a Desktop Pro plan in 2021, your software will still work until 2024—but new customers who bought the 2022 software version can only choose annual subscriptions. QuickBooks Online’s monthly subscription may be easier for some small businesses to fit into their financial situation. The good news is, whichever you purchase, accounting software counts as a tax-deductible expense. With QuickBooks Desktop, users receive some of the most developed accounting tools on the market. The software offers comprehensive features, unique touches (such as lead management and sales orders), industry-specific versions of the software, and the potential to be more secure.

The banking section of this case study focuses on cash management, bank reconciliation, and bank feed connections. 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. While there are significant differences between QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online, both applications offer solid accounting capability for small businesses. And while QuickBooks Desktop comes out on top in this comparison, only you can decide which one is best for your business. If neither application catches your eye, why not take a look at some QuickBooks alternatives or check out The Ascent’s accounting software reviews.

Unless you’re an accountant, the learning curve will likely be a little higher for you than it would with QuickBooks Online. Different software packages include licenses for 1 to 10 users, up to 20 users, up to 30 users, and up to 40 users. QuickBooks Online’s month-to-month subscription service starts at $30 a month (totaling $360 a year). Or, to save money, you can try QuickBooks’ typical offer of 50% off for three months (though choosing the discount waives your free trial).