Only QuickBooks Online includes free access to a comprehensive version of the QuickBooks mobile accounting app, which is one of the best apps in the accounting sphere. Businesses that have purchased one-time licenses of the locally-installed QuickBooks Desktop versions that have been sunset can still use the software’s accounting features. However, these versions don’t receive security updates, live support, or access to cloud-based services such as live bank feeds, QuickBooks Desktop Payments, or QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.
Software-only QuickBooks Desktop
As a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Mark has extensive knowledge of QuickBooks products, allowing him to create valuable content that educates businesses on maximizing the benefits of the software. 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. If you go with QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier, a payroll add-on is available for an additional monthly fee. While these products will still be available to existing users, QuickBooks Desktop Payroll for Pro and Premier will no longer be available for new users to purchase starting on September 31, 2024.
Plus, it’s the only one that integrates with Zapier, enabling you to seamlessly link your accounting management to the rest of your business’s tools. QuickBooks Online is optimized to be as user-friendly as possible and very easy to navigate. The side menu categorizes features for easy access, for example, aggregating sections for employees, their taxes, and compliance details under the Payroll category.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. 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. With QuickBooks Online, users receive many of the same great features while gaining the mobility of cloud-based software. QuickBooks Online is easier to use and has more automations, more integrations, and better invoicing. The downsides are the lack of sales orders, lead management, and other complexities that loyal Desktop users may miss (such as customizable letter templates, a built-in calendar, and even spellcheck).
Meanwhile, QuickBooks Desktop allows you to set up classes, but you can’t track your income and expenses by location. The company has updated its help centers to be more user-friendly, but there’s still no email support. Both options, however, are working to reduce long hold times on the phone by now offering a callback feature. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Pro offer a good number of helpful integrations and add-on products. However, QuickBooks Online offers over 750 integrations to QuickBooks Pro’s 260+ the robots are coming for phil in accounting integrations. In the battle between QuickBooks Online and Desktop, it’s best to focus on the differences between the two accounting software options since they are so similar.
Receipt management
- QuickBooks might encourage its users to switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online, but it hasn’t issued any statements about discontinuing Desktop entirely.
- Just know that doing so waives your option to get 50% off your QuickBooks Online subscription for your first three months.
- However, if you’re not a Mac user, you can choose from all three QuickBooks Desktop plans.
- Strictly based on ease of use and basic functionality, QuickBooks Online is an easier-to-adopt option that can handle small business accounting needs well.
The two iterations of QuickBooks’ accounting software shine in different areas. Whereas one is completely online and cloud-based, the other operates locally on your computer. One is sleek and modern, and the other what is the difference between the current ratio and working capital seems to have been designed for a cubicle. Rachel Barnett has been a QuickBooks user since 1995, eventually earning QuickBooks ProAdvisor status. When she’s not busy supporting professionals and their businesses, Rachel enjoys actively participating in the QuickSource accounting community.
An overview of QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online
Most notably, Premier Plus has 150+ customizable reports for nonprofits, general contractors, and retailers. Unlike QuickBooks Online, Desktop Pro includes built-in inventory management. And if data analysis is an important part of growing your business, QuickBooks Desktop is a solid pick.
It starts at $30 a month and includes basic features only, such as mileage tracking and invoicing. 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 plans and pricing
There’s never any requirement that you have internet connectivity after the initial download and install. When it comes to user limits, the the 4 balanced scorecard perspectives major difference between QBDT and QBO is in how access is granted to additional users. If you need help with the initial setup of your QBO file, you can hire a professional bookkeeper through the ProAdvisor directory. This person can customize your QBO for your preferences and needs, set up your chart of accounts, connect QBO to your bank account(s), and put automated processes into place for your most frequently-used tasks. The price and subscription frequency of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online differ depending on the specific product — and, subsequently, the version — you choose.