With four plans, robust features and a user-friendly interface, QuickBooks Online is the ideal choice for most small businesses. QuickBooks Desktop, on the other hand, is a good option for businesses that prefer desktop software, need its advanced inventory tracking and reporting tools, or are looking for an industry-specific https://www.quick-bookkeeping.net/periodic-inventory-system-methods-and-calculations/ solution. The software must have a mobile app to enable users to perform accounting tasks even when away from their laptops or desktops. Some of the features we looked into include the ability to create and send invoices, accept online payments, enter and track bills, and view reports on the go.
What are the versions of QuickBooks?
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. 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.
Invoices, estimates and quotes
If you regularly send invoices to your customers via email, being able to add a customer purchase order number to your correspondence can be helpful for both you and your customer. Although necessary for good cash flow, no one really enjoys following up on past due accounts receivable balances for your sales orders. While some are brand new, others have been around for a year or two, but all of them are designed to make it easier to manage your business. Another notable difference is QuickBooks Online offers a Self-Employed version for $15 per month, which is not available with QuickBooks Desktop. Intuit’s Lacerte and ProConnect Tax Online tax preparation software for professional accountants who prepare tax returns for a living integrates with QuickBooks in this way. But if your business sells goods or uses a lot of supplies, QuickBooks Plus will be much more useful for keeping track of purchase orders and vendors.
Why QuickBooks Online is a better choice
If you want locally-installed software, you can take your pick from QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, or QuickBooks Enterprise. Cloud-based software operates entirely in the cloud (on the internet), whereas locally-installed software is downloaded and installed on a single, on-premise computer. In this complete QuickBooks Comparison, we’ll explain what each program is capable of, what type of business accounts receivable is best for each version of QuickBooks, and the main differences between each product. Advanced Pricing / Control, customize, and automate pricing is included in the Platinum and Diamond subscriptions only. A Live Bookkeeper cannot begin cleaning up your past books until they receive the required supporting documentation, which your bookkeeper will request from you after your first meeting.
Although QuickBooks Online is a great cloud-based accounting platform, it isn’t the only one. All plans include access to QuickBooks Online mobile apps, customer support and third-party app integrations. Add-on services — including QuickBooks Payroll and QuickBooks Payments — will incur separate costs. Although QuickBooks Online is user-friendly, there can be a learning https://www.wave-accounting.net/ curve, particularly if you’re unfamiliar with the basic principles of accounting. Additionally, QuickBooks can be expensive for many businesses, even more so if you add on time tracking or payroll. Its range of features can support very small operations as well as growing companies that need granular reporting tools to assess different areas of their business.
Is QuickBooks Desktop being discontinued?
We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Information is gathered on a regular basis and reviewed by our editorial team for consistency and accuracy. QuickBooks Online gives you access to a marketplace of over 750 apps, including third-party tools as well as QuickBooks add-ons. The solution is ideal for business owners who’d like to step away from day-to-day bookkeeping tasks and outsource them elsewhere to save time. Even without those higher-level plans, you can create custom tags and run reports to show where you make and spend the most money. These features can help you organize your finances and provide insights such as cost-cutting opportunities or sales trends that you can use to improve and grow your business.
- QuickBooks Pro Plus is one of the four desktop applications QuickBooks offers.
- New users can choose between a 30-day free trial or a three-month 50% discount.
- QuickBooks is by far the most popular small business bookkeeping program in the United States, whereas Excel is a spreadsheet program that advanced users may use to create their own custom bookkeeping program.
- While QuickBooks Online users don’t get a discount when signing up for QuickBooks Payroll, the two software products integrate seamlessly with one another and are equally easy to use.
- Existing QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Mac, or Enhanced Payroll users will not be impacted.
QuickBooks Mac Plus also has no integrations, whereas QBO has more than 650. Both are locally-installed accounting solutions, both offer numerous features and robust reporting, and both have numerous integrations. QuickBooks Pro only supports up to three users, and you have to pay per user. Learn more about the differences between QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Pro. This table takes a deep look into each program’s features, so you’ll know exactly what each version of QuickBooks is capable of. Comparing QuickBooks features is one of the best ways to decide which version of the software is the best fit for your business.
If you’d like to use this service to pay your W-2 employees and 1099 contractors, you’ll need to pay an extra $500 per year, plus $2 per employee. Word and Excel integration requires Office 2010 SP2 and above, or Office 365. Synchronization with Outlook is also possible with Contact Sync for Outlook 2010 (32-bit) downloadable for free here.
The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation. Discover BusinessLoans.com’s lender network offering up to $3M in funding, no minimum credit score required. If, after reading this post, you aren’t convinced that any version of QuickBooks is right for you, or if you just want to consider all of your options, there are other solutions that may be a better fit. If a specific version of QuickBooks stood out to you, we recommend taking the software for a test run to make sure you love using it.
There’s also a place to manage unrecognized transactions, record credit card transfers, and view all downloaded transactions in the register. Yes, now you can add you company logo, color scheme, and any other information you desire, to make the payment receipt match all of your other customer correspondence. New features are added each year, and those that have been available for a while are often updated and enhanced to work better with today’s software.
QuickBooks Online integrates with a wide range of third-party software, including popular tools like PayPal, Square, Stripe, Gmail, Google Sheets, Salesforce, HubSpot, WooCommerce, and Shopify. While it has vast integration options, we believe a few business apps stand out for specialized purposes, as highlighted in our list of the best QuickBooks Online integrations. It could’ve scored higher if the QuickBooks team had a service for filing sales tax returns on behalf of the client. In terms of invoicing, there are many reasons to love QuickBooks Online. You can choose from different templates, add your logo, change colors, and include personalized messages.