QuickBooks Online VS Desktop Comparison
This plan adds up to three users to the account so that the right people have access to data at their fingertips. It also gives you bill management and collects employee time for invoices to add them for proper billing. QuickBooks Online has four pricing tiers and offers 50% off for the first three months when you purchase. The first tier is the Simple Start Plan at $15 per month for the first three months, then is $30 per month. This plan gives you all the basics needed to run your business accounting, including income and expense monitoring, invoice and payment capability, tax deductions, receipt capture and mileage tracking.
How many different versions of QuickBooks are there?
Support is limited, so users are left reading help articles rather than getting a live person to help. This easy-to-use and feature-rich software is ideal if you have no bookkeeping experience and want top-notch customer support. Ultimately, your specific business’s size, type, and needs are the real deciding factors in determining which of the QuickBooks versions is best for your business. Just remember, you will need to make a decision quickly if you want QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier, as sales of these products will be discontinued this year. The company has updated its help centers to be more user-friendly, but there’s still no email support.
Small business owners that previously used spreadsheets save an average of 25 hours per month on manual entry with QuickBooks3. With QuickBooks, small business owners have more time to spend running their business and managing all aspects of their business from invoicing, managing inventory, and paying bills right from QuickBooks. But Intuit’s QuickBooks is on the higher end of expensive accounting software providers for small businesses. In fairness to QuickBooks, the extensive features do help justify the price. But that’s poor consolation for small-business owners who, in our opinion, shouldn’t have to dedicate a big chunk of their monthly finances to managing said finances. Moving up to the Essentials Plan, you’ll pay $30 per month for the first three months, then $60 per month.
Corporate Tax Leaders’ Views on GenAI Have Flipped, EY Survey Finds
- One big drawback of QuickBooks Pro in the past was that it didn’t have mobile apps.
- You’ll also get QuickBooks’ mobile accounting app, which beats every other accounting app on the market hands down.
- Users can also choose the method that they are currently using, so information can be imported into QuickBooks Online.
- On average, small business owners spend less than 30 minutes getting started in QuickBooks2.
Users can easily import data such as accounts and balances, product descriptions, chart of accounts detail, and product quantities and pricing levels. The product is designed to work with QuickBooks Online Payroll, and functionality is extensive with the availability of all of the apps that are designed to work with the product. QuickBooks Online for Accountants allows accountants to easily monitor client data through the Client Dashboard, which offers alerts, a to-do list, and access to all client accounts and payroll. The Plus Plan is $45 per month for the first three months, then becomes $90 per month, and adds up to five users. It also has inventory what is a t account management and gives you the ability to project profitability with forecasting reports. The Advanced Plan is the final tier for $100 per month for the first three months, then reverts to $200 per month.
Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager. Katherine Haan is a small business owner with nearly two decades of experience helping other business owners increase their incomes. Another notable difference is QuickBooks Online offers a Self-Employed version for $15 per month, which is not available with QuickBooks Desktop. With QuickBooks Online, you can add QuickBooks Online Payroll starting at $50/month. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop offer a large number of features. While they share many of the same features, QuickBooks Desktop’s voucher definition and meaning features are often more developed, except when it comes to invoicing.
Manage everything—from cash flow and tax prep to inventory and entering time—all in one place.
QuickBooks Desktop is a good choice if you need specialized features such as inventory tracking or forecasting, and you don’t mind paying more for them. For small business owners new to the accounting scene, this service may bring much-needed peace of mind when managing your books and filing small business taxes. Not only is QuickBooks Online easier to use, but it offers additional support — for a fee. QuickBooks Online users can sign up for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping to assist with getting the books up to date and managing bookkeeping tasks. As far as other add-ons, QuickBooks Online integrates with over 750 business apps and programs — well over twice the number of integrations you’ll find with Desktop. What stands out most about QuickBooks Online when compared to Desktop is that QBO is cloud-based accounting software.
Struggle to Retain and Attract Finance and Tax Talent is Peaking, EY Says
Additionally, there are numerous time-saving automations, such as recurring invoices and auto-scheduling. QuickBooks users can also easily apply for funding through the built-in lending platform QuickBooks Capital. The UI has a beautiful design, though the organization could still be improved. Some features are hidden in settings and are frustratingly difficult to find, but the built-in help button can make it easier to discover what you’re looking for. Add in mobility, an easy-to-use UI, and extras, such as QuickBooks Capital lending and the QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping add-on, and it’s easy to see why this software is a top choice among small business owners. Additionally, QuickBooks Online offers several features that you can’t get with QuickBooks Desktop (such as automatic sales receipts, split transactions, scheduled invoices, and location and class categories).
Small business owners get more deductions with AI-powered expense tracking and receipt matching. The QBO Accountant version is designed to provide a solution that integrates the client side needs of QBO with the firm side needs for trial balance reporting and tax preparation. For an extra $50, sign up for a one-time average accounts receivable calculation live Bookkeeping setup with any of its plans. QuickBooks Online is user friendly, flexible, and chock-full of smart features. If you’re okay with the price and aren’t worried about working through technical problems by yourself, QuickBooks Online can help you get your finances in line. Intuit reports that 94% of accounting professionals feel QuickBooks Online saves them time and thus saves their clients’ money.
When comparing QuickBooks Online with two of its top competitors, Xero and FreshBooks, there are some areas where QBO comes out on top. In terms of features, integrations, reporting, and ease of use, QuickBooks holds its own. One major drawback of QuickBooks Online is that there is no email support. However, QuickBooks Online offers phone support from 6 AM to 6 PM PST, Monday through Friday; Saturday hours are 6 AM to 3 PM PST. User types available in QuickBooks Online include Regular/Custom, Company Administrator, Reports Only, or Time Tracking Only, with specific access levels assigned to each user type.