However, QuickBooks Online offers over 750 integrations to QuickBooks Pro’s 260+ integrations. If your business needs sales orders, QuickBooks Desktop is your only option. Although Intuit has talked about adding sales orders to QuickBooks Online, this feature is only available with QuickBooks Desktop products at this time. Both include the basic reports you’d expect to find with accounting software, such as a balance sheet, a Profit & Loss report, a cash flow statement, etc.

• Intuit QuickBooks has been pushing its online products, so switching from QuickBooks Online to Desktop isn’t as easy, but it is possible.
• Offers four plans to accommodate a range of businesses with different needs; each plan limits the number of users, though.
• We don’t just scratch the surface; we immerse ourselves in every platform we review by exploring the features down to the finest nuances.
• Both offer strong accounting, though QuickBooks Desktop has more features and is more customizable, whereas QuickBooks Online has more automations and is easier to learn and use.
• You can then click on a link that says, “Moving to QuickBooks Desktop?

However, QuickBooks Online is the better choice for most companies, especially those with remote accountants and multiple employees. Small to midsize businesses that want a desktop solution or need advanced inventory and industry-specific features. A variety of short video tutorials are available as well as on-demand webinars and training classes.

QuickBooks Online features

QBO provides up-to-the-minute info about your finances, rather than making you wait for transactions to reconcile at the end of the day. Here’s a look at the biggest advantages and potential drawbacks of using QuickBooks Online for your home-service business. Here’s a look at the biggest advantages and potential drawbacks of using QuickBooks Desktop for your adjusting journal entries in accrual accounting home-service business. Having lived most of his adult life abroad, he’s amassed a variety of experiences from many different fields. From ForEx trading to compliance to mobile engineering to demolition, he’s definitely not afraid to test out new things. Both platforms offer a free 30-day trial that you can use to get familiar with the software before paying.

The QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus plan is particularly useful for business that want industry-specific features. Most notably, Premier Plus has 150+ customizable reports for nonprofits, general contractors, and retailers. If you’re searching for accounting software that’s user-friendly, full of smart features, and scales with your business, Quickbooks is a great option. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop can integrate with over 650 cloud-based apps. QuickBooks Online integrates with many other software platforms, such as PayPal and Square, but these platforms do not always have desktop versions. That’s why QuickBooks maintains a list of apps for QuickBooks Desktop that you can use to determine which desktop apps you can pair with your Desktop software.

QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Which Is Right for You

QuickBooks Enterprise Gold and Platinum plans include Enhanced Payroll, while Enterprise Diamond includes Assisted Payroll. We recommend crunching the numbers to decide whether the online or desktop versions of QuickBooks are right for your specific business. And once a job is completed, each of the line items and charges that appear on an invoice will automatically sync to your QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop account. QBO was designed to be user-friendly to the end user not to the accountant. The screens an accountant is used to seeing are still there but hidden and not as easy to find.

Learn more about the time tracking capabilities in our full review of QuickBooks Time. QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Pro Plus and Premier are no longer sold, although unsold copies may still be available at authorized vendors for a limited time. QuickBooks is encouraging all existing Desktop clients to migrate to QuickBooks Online as soon as possible. Let us know how well the content on this page solved your problem today. All feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve the way we help small businesses. Discover BusinessLoans.com’s lender network offering up to $3M in funding, no minimum credit score required.

QuickBooks Time

This means the data operates as fast as your computer, all without needing to worry about a connection issue. You must pay an additional fee for every user who wants to access the account simultaneously, whereas Online lets multiple users access the account at the same time. QuickBooks Online’s monthly subscription may be easier for some small businesses to fit into their financial situation. The good news is, whichever you purchase, accounting software counts as a tax-deductible expense. One of the biggest differences here is that QuickBooks Online now offers a bookkeeping service called QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, where you can pay for professional support from certified QBO accountants and CPAs. 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.

• To access QuickBooks Desktop, on the other hand, you need to use the PC where you have the software installed.
• The final choice will depend on which product suits your business the best.
• QuickBooks Enterprise is designed for large businesses or small enterprises and starts at $1,410/year.
• As you hire more employees or bring on more customers, you can scale up your software to match.

Though not web-based, QuickBooks Desktop can be hosted online for more convenient access if desired.One of QuickBooks Desktop’s best features is its use of centers, which provide a central point for all activity. During the setup process, you can choose the features and functions that you will likely be using in QuickBooks Online. No need to worry if you skip one; you can always go back and add it at a later date. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop applications offer a good selection of features, though QuickBooks Desktop features tend to be more comprehensive. The online version will soon be the only available version, and it’s used by hundreds of thousands of American businesses.

QuickBooks Online VS Desktop

If you share accounting responsibilities with other members of your business, QBO allows individuals to use unique logins. Katana integrates with QuickBooks Online and equips you with all the necessary tools to manage your inventory and manufacturing processes. It also keeps all your information automatically synced across all your business tools, saving you precious time and eliminating human errors. It’s worth pointing out that since QuickBooks focuses on the online versions, it receives regular updates and seems to be slowly catching up regarding features. So, in the future, we should see QuickBooks Online becoming the better overall solution and overtaking Desktop. After May 31, 2022, your access to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Services, Live Support, Online Backup, Online Banking, and other services via QuickBooks Desktop 2019 software will be withdrawn.

Can I switch from QuickBooks Online to Desktop?

QuickBooks Online offers upgrade options and integrates with many add-on third-party apps to increase functionality. This article will cover the pros and cons of QuickBook’s two different products, QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online. We will lay out both perspectives for you, QuickBooks Oline vs. Desktop and QuickBooks Desktop vs. Online in 2022. The web-based version of the well-known desktop accounting program is called QuickBooks Online. It offers a user-friendly interface, multi-user plans, and rich reporting capabilities. Although the new QuickBooks Online Advanced plan makes the program adaptable for larger enterprises, QuickBooks Online is primarily meant for small businesses.

Pros of QuickBooks Online vs Desktop

All of which has changed over the past few months to provide more functionality and make the system better and easier to use. So how do QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online compare, and which version is better suited for home-service companies like yours? This comprehensive comparison of the features — and limitations — of QBD versus QBO will help you understand what each of these options can bring to your business.