QuickBooks Online VS Desktop Comparison

quickbooks online vs pro

When signing up for QuickBooks Online, it only gives options for paying monthly. However, once you’ve signed up, navigate to your account settings, and you can switch to annual billing to save 10%. All Online plans include receipt capture, QuickBooks support and more than 650 app integrations with apps such as PayPal, Square and Shopify. For $27.50 per month for the journal entries to issue stock financial accounting first three months, then $55 per month after that, get up to three users, manage and pay bills and track time with its Essentials plan, which is its most popular plan. Upgrade to Plus for $42.50 per month for the first three months, then $85 per month afterward, and you will receive access for up to five users, inventory tracking and the ability to track project profitability. For $1,922 per year, get the Enterprise plan with advanced pricing, reporting and inventory.

QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop 2023

Businesses with inventory items should choose accounting software that can track inventory costs, manage cost of goods sold (COGS), and monitor inventory units. Even after initial setup, the software must also let users modify information like company name, address, entity type, fiscal year-end, and other company information. If you need personalized customer support, you can upgrade to QuickBooks Online Advanced or QuickBooks Enterprise.

  1. QuickBooks Plus is the most popular plan for businesses since it includes features such as inventory tracking, project management and tax support.
  2. 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.
  3. Both allow you to create essential reports, including profit and loss (P&L), cash flow statements, and balance sheets.
  4. The QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus plan is particularly useful for business that want industry-specific features.
  5. However, existing Pro and Premier users can still renew their subscriptions.
  6. 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.

Advanced

However, QuickBooks Desktop offers better reporting and supports more complex accounting. QuickBooks Desktop is an annual subscription, starting at $549.99 per year, which may be cost-prohibitive for small businesses or cash-strapped startups. While the Desktop version has app integrations, it doesn’t have near as many as the Online version. There are over 200 options instead of the 650-plus to its cloud counterpart.

However, QuickBooks Online offers over 750 integrations to QuickBooks Pro’s 260+ integrations. These versions give business owners more features and reports geared toward their industry. Both include the basic reports you’d expect to find with accounting software, such payroll automation as a balance sheet, a Profit & Loss report, a cash flow statement, etc.

If you want QuickBooks to file your taxes for you, then you must upgrade to QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll. Check out our QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Enhanced vs Assisted comparison for more information. The QuickBooks Desktop mobile app is very limited as it only allows you to capture expense receipts and track business mileage. If you want to perform bookkeeping from anywhere, we strongly recommend QuickBooks Online’s mobile app. QuickBooks Online wins for pricing because it’s essentially more affordable than QuickBooks Enterprise. For instance, if you have five members, you can purchase the Plus plan for only $90 monthly, whereas with Enterprise, you need to pay $427 monthly for five users.

What do accountants think of QuickBooks Online?

QuickBooks Plus is the most popular plan for businesses since it includes features such as inventory tracking, project management and tax support. Midsized businesses with several customers or clients might benefit from the ability to track profitability with QuickBooks Plus. Because the Plus plan enables users to view and track projects, including project expenses and labor costs, users can accurately track a project’s profitability and generate relevant reports on project progress.

quickbooks online vs pro

Security updates and product updates will still be released for petty cash log all users who purchase a QuickBooks Desktop Plus or QuickBooks Desktop Payroll subscription before the cutoff date. QuickBooks Online made it to our Best Accounting Software for Small Business list because it is a comprehensive platform that checks all the boxes for accounting, invoicing and expense tracking. If you aren’t sure about the product, you can give it a 30-day test run with 100% capabilities of the Simple Start Plan to see if it meets your needs.

However, so if you work with a professional accountant, they will likely have an in-depth understanding of the platform and can guide you through its functions. However, if you own a big business, prefer locally stored software, or want industry-specific reports, QuickBooks Desktop could be a better fit for your business. Yes, you can, but the process is a bit tedious, as you need to export your files from QuickBooks Online to Desktop manually. If you are currently using QuickBooks Online and want to switch to an interface similar to QuickBooks Desktop, we recommend using the QuickBooks Online Desktop app. Read our article on what the QuickBooks Online Desktop app is to learn more. Yes, but the only option is QuickBooks Enterprise, as Pro and Premier will no longer be available for new users after July 31, 2024.

QuickBooks Online wins because it offers more professional-looking and customizable invoices than QuickBooks Desktop. In fact, it recently upgraded its invoicing tool where you can now see the final look of your invoice as you complete the invoicing form. This allows you to easily customize the invoice based on how you want it to look without clicking the preview button. No matter which version of QuickBooks Desktop you’re using, you can switch to QuickBooks Online quickly and seamlessly.