QuickBooks Online vs Desktop Comparison for 2024

Unlike its counterparts, this edition of the software can never be upgraded to the small business editions of the software. Advanced users receive better customer support through its Priority Circle membership. As a Priority Circle member, you get access to a dedicated customer success manager who can assist you with any questions or issues you have with your software. You will get priority support through chat and phone, with shorter wait times than non-Priority Circle members. Advanced also removes the limitations on the number of classes, locations, and charts of accounts, making it ideal for businesses with a growing staff.

1. Although QuickBooks Desktop also supports integrations, setting them up and maintaining them might require more technical know-how.
2. 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.
3. If your office computer is a Mac, you can still use QuickBooks Desktop on your Mac.
4. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication.
5. QuickBooks Desktop offers the same support options found in QuickBooks Online including video tutorials, on-demand webinars, and various training options.

Non-Plus editions of QuickBooks Desktop put the responsibility of backing up files entirely on you. 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). 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. In contrast to Pro and Premier, at the time of writing the software-only version of QBDT Enterprise is an annual purchase of $1,213 for its Silver, or most basic, level of functionality. The four remaining editions of QBO include Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced.

An overview of QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online

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. Since QuickBooks Online is priced as a monthly subscription, it doesn’t require a contract and you can cancel your account at any time. Additionally, the desktop products are only available as annual subscriptions, making them a bigger commitment than QuickBooks Online. Its highest-tiered plan is the Advanced option, which costs $100 per month for the first three months, then $200 per month after that. Spreadsheets can be a useful tool for historical tracking—but they have limited functionality when it comes to syncing data and automating processes, making them prone to errors.

By providing feedback on how we can improve, you can earn gift cards and get early access to new features. I recommend saving a backup of your QuickBooks Desktop company file in case of any issues. While most information transfers well to QBO, not all of your information will convert from https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/ Desktop. We think QuickBooks Online is the best overall option for small businesses, but QuickBooks Desktop Premier is a great option for niche businesses. Overall, QuickBooks Desktop Pro reviews are more favorable, but both user bases have good and bad things to say about each product.

Optional QuickBooks Online add-ons

However, the QuickBooks Desktop app is a very pared down version of the desktop and is poorly rated. These 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. If your business needs sales orders, QuickBooks Desktop is your only option. Although Intuit has talked about adding sales orders to QuickBooks Online, this feature is only available with QuickBooks Desktop products at this time.

Webgility syncs QuickBooks Desktop with your online stores, giving you an automated and reliable multichannel inventory hub for your entire business. With Webgility, you can minimize inventory mistakes and maintain centralized control over products, pricing, and profits. You can also easily add new products to online stores and marketplaces from QuickBooks.Webgility automates ecommerce accounting, inventory and pricing, order management, fulfillment and purchasing, and more. It automatically syncs your sales and financial data and keeps your books up to date.

QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Pros & Cons

You’ll need to provide QuickBooks with a receipt for the transaction in question, correspondence from your outside tax accountant, or a document stating the balance of the account if an account balance is in question. Work from anywhere with the power of the cloud and real-time, secure collaboration. You’ll get the most value out of QuickBooks Online if you understand how to use its transaction tags and reporting capabilities. https://www.quick-bookkeeping.net/ If you’re not sure whether you’re getting the most of these features, consider asking your accountant to review your chart of accounts and how you’re categorizing transactions. Watching tutorials, reading support pages or consulting experts for advice are all great options to learn how to use QuickBooks Online for your business. You can also use QuickBooks’ ProAdvisor network to find certified accountants and bookkeepers.

It also keeps all your information automatically synced across all your business tools, saving you precious time and eliminating human errors. Using the Banking tab on the left side of the dashboard, you can connect your bank and credit card accounts so that QuickBooks automatically imports transactions and categorizes them for you. Later, when reconciling your books, you’ll be able to review these transactions in the For Review tab within the Banking menu.

The Desktop Premier edition escalates to 150+ reports, including industry-specific reports for general contractors, manufacturers and wholesalers, nonprofits, and retailers. 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.

Since QuickBooks Online is browser-based, not desktop-based, you can log on to your Quickbooks Online account from any web-enabled device with a sturdy internet connection. You should also consider budget constraints before choosing, as QuickBooks Online provides more plans and more diverse pricing options, while QuickBooks Desktop can be more expensive. I want to confidently say that the difference in pricing is due to the considerable amount of features that QuickBooks Desktop offers, but https://www.online-accounting.net/ I’m unsure if that’s the case. You can also integrate QuickBooks Online with Zapier, which lets you connect QuickBooks to thousands of other apps in your business’s tech stack. You can do things like automatically add customers to or create receipts in QuickBooks when payments happen in other apps, or track new QuickBooks invoices or payments in another app. Here are a few pre-made workflows to show you what’s possible, but you can use Zapier to connect QuickBooks to almost any app you use.

A new and improved migration process gives you even more ways to move online. Move from any version of QuickBooks Desktop, and only migrate the data that matters most to you. QuickBooks Desktop offers more than 100 standard reports that can be customized as needed. QuickBooks Online wins this one, offering easy system navigation from the user dashboard. Ease of use is one of the most important things to consider when shopping for software.

Though QuickBooks Online has a handful of convenient features that can speed up your workflow and even automate some of it, the software can be complex. You’ll get the most out of it if you have some knowledge of basic accounting concepts. Whereas you might be able to use some software alternatives without explanation, it may take some time to get the hang of QuickBooks.

Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop users can apply for optional QuickBooks Payments processing by Intuit Merchant Services. 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. Has robust reporting tools and report customization options, invoicing for an unlimited amount of clients, inventory tracking in higher tier plans, plus a capable mobile app.

The application also offers a mobile app that works with both iOS and Android devices. A variety of short video tutorials are available as well as on-demand webinars and training classes. One of the best resources is the QuickBooks Online community, where you can connect with other users to share tips, answer questions, and find answers to problems that may arise. Product support can be accessed directly from within the application, where you can ask a question or connect to support personnel.