While QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop offer contact management, only QuickBooks Desktop allows you to manage and track leads as well as contacts. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop offer a large number of features. While they share many of the same features, QuickBooks Desktop’s features are often more developed, except when it comes to invoicing.
QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop pricing
Four pricing plans for QuickBooks Online are available, ranging from $35 to $235/month (with an additional $50+/month for payroll). In contrast, QuickBooks Desktop tends to have a steeper learning curve, offers fewer integrations, and has had its previous versions discontinued by QuickBooks. QuickBooks Pro and Premiere will also discontinue sales to new users on July 31, 2024. Probably not, unless your business absolutely needs advanced inventory management features, barcode scanning, or assembly builds. Not only is it the newer tool, but it also seems to be the focus in terms of update frequency, development, and marketing. You should also consider budget constraints before choosing, as QuickBooks Online provides more plans and more diverse pricing options, while QuickBooks Desktop can be more expensive.
QuickBooks Money
Subscription clients in QuickBooks Desktop 2023 (R1) or older versions will need to update to the latest 2023 (R3) version before their subscription expires. Another cumbersome feature that users don’t like is the requirement that clients must establish their own accounts to pay an invoice. Other popular merchant processors don’t require this, making collecting payments more difficult.
- QuickBooks Desktop can feel rigid and resistant to modification or integration—the same way Apple products and iOS felt rigid back when everyone had overheating, self-cooking Android phones.
- Each user has their own login credentials, which can be customized to limit access to sensitive information.
- Zapier is a no-code automation tool that lets you connect your apps into automated workflows, so that every person and every business can move forward at growth speed.
- In the battle between QuickBooks Online and Desktop, it’s best to focus on the differences between the two accounting software options since they are so similar.
Where QuickBooks Online Wins
If you choose to cancel your QuickBooks Online subscription, you will still have access to your QuickBooks Money account and data. A popular add-on is the payroll feature where you can run payroll and access benefits in one convenient place. It does cost more to access this, which is approximately $22.50 more per month plus $6 per employee, per month. When subscribing to this service, you’ll get a 1099 e-file of forms and a next-day direct deposit.
In addition to having more integrations, QuickBooks Online also has better integrations. QBO’s integrations cover more business needs and include multiple payment gateway options. 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. While QuickBooks Online boasts many of the features you’ll find with Desktop, some of its features, such as inventory management, aren’t quite as advanced. Additionally, you won’t find the industry-specific features and reports that you’ll get if you sign accrued vs deferred revenue up for Desktop.
Online Plus and Payroll Core Bundle
Moving up to the Essentials Plan, you’ll pay $30 per month for the first three months, then $60 per month. This plan adds up to three users to the account so that the right people have access to data at their fingertips. It also gives you bill management and collects employee time for invoices to add them for proper billing. 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. QuickBooks Desktop is also not a great choice for accounting newbies, as the UI is quite unintuitive and has a steep learning curve.
Read our comprehensive QuickBooks Online review to decide if this popular accounting software is the best choice for your needs and budget. If you go with QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier, a payroll add-on is available for an additional monthly fee. While these products will still be available to existing users, QuickBooks Desktop Payroll for Pro and Premier will no longer be available for new users to purchase starting on September 31, 2024. QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop operate on true double-entry accounting principles and have both accrual and cash-basis accounting.
The higher your plan tier, the more reports and users you can add, although it’s important to understand concurrent users are each sold separately. The two versions are independent of each other, which means the data you enter on Desktop doesn’t sync to the Online version and vice-versa. Terms, conditions, pricing, special features, and service and support options subject to change without notice.
