QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: The Ultimate Guide

It’s a great fit if you’ll be doing the bookkeeping yourself and don’t need inventory accounting. However, freelancers that need good tax support and don’t require the more advanced features found in QBO may find everything they need with QuickBooks Self-Employed. QuickBooks Self-Employed offers basic features at a cost-effective price. However, businesses that require multiple users or want more accounting features will benefit more from using QuickBooks Online. Businesses with multiple users or that need more advanced features won’t find what they’re looking for here.

  • However, the problem with Plus or any of the other versions is that you can’t compare cost estimates to actual costs by project.
  • You can use the Direct Connect Option by enrolling for the Direct Connect service which will allow you access to the small business online banking option at bankofamerica.com.
  • QuickBooks Online’s month-to-month subscription service starts at $30 a month (totaling $360 a year).
  • It’s great for businesses that appreciate the stability of desktop software and those that require its advanced features, like inventory assembly management and industry-specific features.

Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships. 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). These versions give business owners more features and reports geared toward their industry.

Banking Transactions

We also don’t recommend QuickBooks Desktop to Mac users, since there’s just one desktop-based plan for Mac users. This plan, QuickBooks Desktop for Mac, has the same features as QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, the most basic desktop-based plan. In other words, Mac users can’t scale up their software from one plan to the next as they add software users. It offers more integrations, as well as a much smoother integration process that allows you to access third party apps directly within QuickBooks Online without the need to sync applications or import data. Small to midsize businesses that want a desktop solution or need advanced inventory and industry-specific features. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.

You can learn more in our guide to the industry-specific editions of QuickBooks Enterprise. Four pricing plans for QuickBooks Online are available, ranging from $30 to $200/month (with an additional $45+/month for payroll). If you are a product based business (like a clothing store), then go with QuickBooks Desktop.

The 6 Different QuickBooks Versions

This will offer you a customized recommendation based on the responses you give. Afterward, continue reading our article for a more detailed comparison of the five QuickBooks Online versions. If you are unable to see the option to terminate an employee on your list of active employees on the company payroll, this mostly implies that they have some history. Thus, if you change the employee status instead of deleting it on QuickBooks, the profile and pay records remain in your accounting database without any data loss in your tax payments. Dancing Numbers is SaaS-based software that is easy to integrate with any QuickBooks account.

Meanwhile, Batch expensing allows you to record and categorize multiple expenses at once instead of entering them individually. This is especially useful if you have many expenses to record, such as business travel expenses, office supplies, and equipment purchases. You can upload expense receipts in bulk, categorize them according to the appropriate expense account, and then submit them for approval. If you want a dedicated expert to handle your ongoing bookkeeping work, you can sign up for QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, available in Simple Start and all higher plans.

QuickBooks Online Plans Comparison: 2023 Pricing & Subscription Levels

Both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online have the ability to set up bank rules, which are ‘if this, then that’ rules that apply to transactions imported from the bank. Let’s imagine that you own a race track, and one of your sources of revenue is offering driving lessons. The transition from QBO to QBDT is rarely smooth and will very likely take multiple attempts to get the data to load. Once loaded, there is extensive post-migration work that will vary from company to company.

The price and subscription frequency of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online differ depending on the specific product — and, subsequently, the version — you choose. QuickBooks Desktop is, as its name implies, the desktop 1800accountant portal » logincast com version of the software. QBDT is installed locally on your PC in much the same way other software is, like your internet browser. Ironic, then, that choosing a QuickBooks product can be difficult, if not downright confusing.

The first major deciding factor is whether or not you want cloud-based or locally-installed software. Best for small to medium-sized businesses looking for locally-installed software compatible with Macs. In this complete QuickBooks Comparison, we’ll explain what each program is capable of, what type of business is best for each version of QuickBooks, and the main differences between each product. Katana integrates with QuickBooks Online and equips you with all the necessary tools to manage your inventory and manufacturing processes.

QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop: An overview

The sellers receive customer payments in their designated merchant bank account. 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. QuickBooks Online offers many advantages over QuickBooks Desktop, such as cloud accessibility, more convenient file sharing and collaboration, scalable plans with varying features, and a functional mobile app.

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

QuickBooks Self-Employed is not included in the case study because it is not a full double-entry bookkeeping system. QuickBooks allows you to access almost all types of accounts, including but not limited to savings account, checking account, credit card accounts, and money market accounts. You can use the Direct Connect Option by enrolling for the Direct Connect service which will allow you access to the small business online banking option at bankofamerica.com. This feature allows you to share bills, payments, information, and much more.

Tax Benefits and Deductions for the Self-Employed

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. Many users also complain that QuickBooks Online doesn’t compare to QuickBooks Pro in terms of features and quality. However, the majority of reviews are positive, with QuickBooks Online receiving 4.3/5 stars (based on 6,200+ reviews) on Software Advice and 4/5 stars (based on 3,100+ reviews) on G2.