QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop: Comparison 2024

QuickBooks Self-Employed, or QBSE, is the what abortion access would look like if roe v wade is overturned version of QBO marketed toward freelancers and other self-employed business owners. Unlike its counterparts, this edition of the software can never be upgraded to the small business editions of the software. What’s more is that Method’s mobile app is perfect for businesses on the move. This means you can access your QuickBooks data without being tied to the office. No matter which version of QuickBooks Desktop you’re using, you can switch to QuickBooks Online quickly and seamlessly. With our online migration tool, you can move all your data or move only what’s key—like balances and specific lists.

1. Discover BusinessLoans.com’s lender network offering up to $3M in funding, no minimum credit score required.
2. If you need help with the initial setup of your QBO file, you can hire a professional bookkeeper through the ProAdvisor directory.
3. We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
4. QuickBooks Online simplifies both the receipt collection and organization process by allowing you to easily capture and upload a photo or document into your QuickBooks file.

Accessibility

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. QuickBooks Online offers many advantages over QuickBooks Desktop, such as cloud accessibility, more convenient file sharing and collaboration, scalable plans with varying features, and a functional mobile app. 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 solution. In addition, the Premier and Enterprise plans offer more than 150 reports, with industry-specific reporting options available. Intuit QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software with more than 6.1 million paying customers, according to Intuit’s Investor Day 2020.

So, if detailed job costing is a primary goal, QuickBooks Desktop with Full Service Payroll is a better fit. That said, QuickBooks Online combined with apps like Method CRM, Exact Online, and SOS Inventory is perfectly adequate for most businesses. The online version’s budget-friendly pricing makes it a great choice for business owners switching from QuickBooks Desktop to Online.

A variety of short video tutorials are available as well as on-demand webinars and training classes. One of the best resources is the QuickBooks Online community, where you can connect with other users to share tips, answer questions, and find answers to problems that may arise. Product support can be accessed directly from within the application, where you can ask a question or connect to support personnel. Support what is balance b/d and balance c/d options are fairly similar for both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop, with the more expensive plans offering better support options.

QuickBooks Desktop plans and pricing

For the most part, QuickBooks Desktop offers similar features as QuickBooks Online. How features differ between QBDT and QBO tend to be in looks, functionality, and comprehensiveness. Like its desktop counterpart, there are multiple editions of QuickBooks Online aimed at serving different purposes. Unlike QuickBooks Desktop, QBO is only available in a subscription-based format regardless of the edition you choose. If your office computer is a Mac, you can still use QuickBooks Desktop on your Mac. I do this using Parallels, software which allows you to run Windows applications on your Mac.

Company

Your business is unique, but your routine bookkeeping tasks are going to be similar to many other businesses such as consultants/coaches, dog walkers, and photographers. By using optical character recognition (OCR), details from your receipts are scanned and recorded directly into relevant transactions. QuickBooks Online simplifies both the receipt collection and organization process by allowing you to easily capture and upload a photo or document into your QuickBooks file. From there, you can add it to the correct transaction (or create a new transaction) and, voila, no more shoebox.

One big drawback of QuickBooks Pro in the past was that it didn’t have mobile apps. 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 payback period method desktop and is poorly rated. 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. 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.

Because of this, QuickBooks Online is much easier to use and has many more integrations and time-saving invoicing automations, such as auto-scheduling. While we’re on the topic of invoicing, QuickBooks Online has the superior product, offering six invoice templates and multilingual invoicing in six languages. QuickBooks Desktop is preferable for companies wanting to manage their books without an internet connection. It’s also the better option for businesses requiring complex inventory accounting features. We went to user review websites to read first-hand reviews from actual software users. This user review score helps us give more credit to software products that deliver a consistent service to their customers.