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QuickBooks Online Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons

quickbooks desktop vs quickbooks online

Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. As businesses increasingly embrace digital transformation, many are opting for QuickBooks Online and other cloud-based solutions that offer accessibility, flexibility and collaboration across devices and users. The maximum amount of users you can have with a QuickBooks Online subscription is 25 (plus an accountant). If you need more users than that, you can contact QuickBooks Online’s customer support to see if you can create a custom plan with custom user access. Otherwise, you’ll need QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, which supports up to 40 users. For instance, if you choose the Simple Start plan, you’re the only person who can use the software—apart from your accountant, with whom you can share your business’s account at no additional cost.

quickbooks desktop vs quickbooks online

Everything from the installation screen to the lagging UI gave me flashbacks to the 1998 dial-up tone on my family’s Pentium III computer. There were also fewer prompts of the tutorial variety, but I was what is a 12 month rolling forecast pleasantly surprised by the number of features packed into it. Find help articles, video tutorials, and connect with other businesses in our online community.

  1. Plus, with access for up to 40 users, Enterprise can scale with your business as it grows.
  2. Terms and conditions, features, support, pricing, and service options subject to change without notice.
  3. Alternatively, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial with QuickBooks Online.
  4. Whereas one is completely online and cloud-based, the other operates locally on your computer.

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Fortunately, a mobile app is now available with the introduction of QuickBooks Desktop 2022. However, the QuickBooks Desktop app is a very pared-down version of the desktop and is poorly rated. These versions give business owners more features and reports geared toward their industry. Four pricing plans for QuickBooks Online are available, ranging from $35 to $235/month (with an additional $50+/month for payroll).

Enterprise Software Bundle

For the Desktop version, you pay an annual fee starting at $1,922 per year, and the cloud-based option starts at $15 per month. Both versions have mobile apps, but the app for the Desktop version primarily functions as a way to upload receipts, and the Online mobile app is robust in comparison. 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. Since QuickBooks Online offers four cloud-based plans, it easily grows with your business.

Add new QuickBooks Online invoices to Google Sheets spreadsheet rows

Granted, you don’t have to be is it m for thousand and mm for million or k for thousand and m for million an accountant to learn QuickBooks Desktop either, but if you are new to accounting, you will need a lot of time to learn the program. Even though QB Desktop has more comprehensive features in general, there are some key features that only QuickBooks Online has, such as bookkeeping support. As you consider whether QuickBooks Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online is better for your accounting needs, keep in mind that QuickBooks Online is the more recent, up-to-date, and constantly evolving product.

Support is limited, so users are left reading help articles rather than getting a live person to help. Advanced Pricing / Control, customize, and automate pricing is included in the Platinum and Diamond subscriptions only. Upon opening QuickBooks Desktop, we found that the general layout didn’t differ too much from that of QuickBooks amortization — accountingtools Online. For instance, there were tabs for inventory tracking, job costing and industry-specific reporting. That being said, large businesses may be ok with sacrificing some ease of use for advanced capabilities.

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. You can download a 30-day trial version of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise only—both the Premier Plus and Pro Plus plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee, but no free trial. Alternatively, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial with QuickBooks Online. Just know that doing so waives your option to get 50% off your QuickBooks Online subscription for your first three months. While QuickBooks products work for many businesses, they aren’t the best choice for all businesses. If neither of these options seems to be the right fit or you’re just exploring your options, make sure to check out our list of the best accounting software for small businesses for more great options.