Which QuickBooks Product Is Right For Your Business?

QuickBooks Online mobile access is included with your QuickBooks Online subscription at no additional cost. Data access is subject to cellular/internet provider network availability and occasional downtime due to system and server maintenance and events beyond your control. On QBO you either lose these features or have to buy additional plans like QuickBooks Payroll, which starts from $37/month. Now that add-ons will no longer be supported for QBD 2020, users will have to find an alternative to tie manufacturing management and accounting together. NetSuite inventory management gives companies clear visibility of their inventory.

Some features, such as payroll management and payment processing, incur an additional fee regardless of which version you choose. QuickBooks is a well-established accounting software that is widely used by businesses from a variety of industries. With five plans, each at different price points, users can choose the plan that best meets their business needs without paying for additional features that they don’t want.

Both programs were part of Intuit , but Quicken was sold to H.I.G. Capital in 2016. Only Desktop version users who don’t use any add-on apps will be unaffected. Before the launch of QuickBooks Desktop 2022, the QuickBook products were available as a one-time purchase. Now, Premier Plus and Enterprise packages are available on a subscription-basis only.

• Although the program is simple to install, you will need to devote a significant amount of time to customizing your preferences and learning how to use the many functions to get the most out of them.
• QuickBooks offers several fantastic desktop-based and online accounting plans.
• You can also track investments using cost basis to best understand the tax implications of buying, selling, and how you are building your portfolio.
• For individuals , AMS can help keep track of every aspect of their financial life.
• QuickBooks Self-Employed is designed for independent contractors and freelancers.

However, if a new service update is released, you should “upgrade” your old version. No, you are not required to “upgrade” every year; some people still use the 2007 version! If you upgrade your computer’s operating system, you’ll discover that your old software no longer works. To see all of the product sections available, go to the QuickBooks Q&A board. Because it’s often practical to use several items from the same firm because they all operate together, so choose your plan cautiously. It may be tempting to stay at that level and share a single account among multiple team members, but you will come to regret your decision.

QuickBooks products FAQ

QuickBooks Self-Employed is more tax software than accounting software, lacking many of the features you’d find with full-fledged cloud-based accounting software like QuickBooks Online. Not all versions of QuickBooks offer multiple plans or make it simple to move your business from one product to another. If you think you’ll need more advanced features in the future, it’s important to make sure you choose an option that can accommodate those needs. QuickBooks Enterprise is the most customizable and powerful version of all the QuickBooks products, making it ideal for larger businesses with complex finances.

For businesses with multiple branches or departments that need advanced reporting and tracking options, the Enterprise Solutions version provides the most features. QuickBooks Premier provides advanced options suitable for most small businesses. The ability to view customized sales and profitability reports provides options to track your biggest sources of income.

QuickBooks Online Comparison: Pricing & Features

As a business grows, users can easily upgrade to a more advanced plan with additional features seamlessly. QuickBooks is the platform most used by professional accountants so if you plan to work with an accountant, they will likely be very familiar with the platform, its features and capabilities. The software is incredibly expensive, and for the price you’re paying, certain features — such as invoicing, project management, time tracking, and importing — are fairly limited. Apart from being expensive, the other thing with QuickBooks Enterprise is that it really isn’t an enterprise solution — it’s best for large businesses.

QuickBooks Online doesn’t support setting inventory reorder points. Sales and expenses are available in one currency only and business plans, sales or expense forecasts aren’t supported. Businesses with basic accounting needs may find the online version suitable. Carefully evaluate whether you need the missing features when choosing a version. The online version of QuickBooks works well for businesses that prefer the convenience of not having software to update, backup or manage.

Is QuickBooks Good for General Contractors?

As you grow, the number of customers increase, you hire more employees, process more data and require greater automation. You need an accounting software solution that increases efficiency and serves as the foundation for your increasingly complex business. Multidimensional reporting eliminates the need for a complex chart of accounts, letting you add tracking details at the transaction level. QuickBooks tries to make its solution work with tags, but there are a limited number of tags and they are used up quickly as users try to implement workarounds.

Meanwhile, Essentials gives you access to more than 40 reports, including those you can generate in Simple Start. You can drill down to a list of your outstanding invoices instead of only the total outstanding. The QuickBooks Online mobile and QuickBooks Self-Employed mobile companion apps work with iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. Not all features are available on the mobile apps and mobile browser.

The online version doesn’t include the Collections Center, Inventory Center or Lead Center. QuickBooks Search and the Calendar view to show invoices, billing and other tasks also aren’t provided. QuickBooks online doesn’t support multiple customer invoicing, batch invoicing or the ability to scan and deposit checks. QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Self-Employed are the best for businesses wanting cloud-based software with mobile apps.

While QBD and QBO are compatible and should be able to sync all the data accordingly, some features or reports are unavailable either in QBO or the plan you select. Payroll, Online Banking, and Merchant Services are just a few examples of what you will lose. Once you’ve weighed the pros and cons and decided that QBO is a better fit for your business, there are just a few simple steps to convert to QuickBooks Online. Gray and his co-founder tried, through consultants, to integrate their company’s order details with QuickBooks so they could meet the EDI requirements of big-name retailers like Target. After many failed efforts—and racking up costs, with the prognosis of more—the company switched to NetSuite. NetSuite allows detailed drill-down and drill-across reporting for any record in the system with simplicity.

Plus allows you to assign classes and locations to your transactions, so you can see how your florida income tax rate performs across divisions, locations, rep areas, or any units that are relevant to your business. If you run businesses in multiple locations and you want to see which one is most profitable, an upgrade to Plus from Essentials is worth the price. Our internal case study compares the four QuickBooks Online versions across major accounting categories and functions to help you decide which one fits your needs. QuickBooks Online mobile access is included with your QuickBooks plan.

QuickBooks Online is our cloud-based subscription service that provides the flexibility to take care of business anytime, anywhere. With Online you can access your books from your laptop, tablet, or smartphone and all of your data is automatically backed up. All QuickBooks products have a maximum user limit, so think about who will need access to your account, especially since the desktop products are priced based on the number of users. Also consider whether you’ll work with an accountant or bookkeeper, now or in the future. Think about the specific features you want in your software and which are most important to your business’s success. Use a free trial or ask QuickBooks for a software demo if you’re stuck between products.

QuickBooks Online includes numerous learning and support resources. 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.

Remember— if you know you want a QuickBooks Desktop product, deciding which version to buy is as simple as determining what features you don’t need and don’t want to pay for. If you have two or more companies on the same Intuit account, you can now issue bills or payments between the two. This is especially helpful if your companies do business with one another.

With Essentials, you can track your unpaid bills easily and pay them directly within QuickBooks. You just need to select the bills you want to pay from the Pay Bills window, place a checkmark next to the bills, and then select Save & Print. Licenses are available in single-user increments from 1 to 10 users or 30 users. Advanced Reporting is included in all QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise subscriptions. Mac Client app, you’ll get the beauty of online collaboration with the speed of running QuickBooks on your local machine. All with the same easy-to-use interface that QuickBooks Desktop users know and trust.

Reporting options are good in both applications, though only one of the applications offers industry-specific reporting options. While the features are similar, QuickBooks Desktop offers more functionality, such as the ability to run checks to pay bills and more in-depth customer and vendor management capability. If your business employs several employees who perform a lot of project work, this tracking is especially helpful. It gets down to the granular level— if you want to find out how much the business paid for particular employees to work on particular projects, you can! Beyond the more common reports, though, QuickBooks Desktop products track employee information, too. Businesses can keep track of employee time and employee-related expenses by using the free TSheets by QuickBooks app in conjunction with their QuickBooks Desktop product.

Some of them will be right for right now, but keep in mind that you may find it useful to change products as you grow and your business needs change. Depending upon what you sell and how you operate your business, some of these products will be obvious wrong choices. Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. There are six different versions of QuickBooks, including QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Self-Employed, QuickBooks Pro Plus, QuickBooks Premier Plus, QuickBooks Enterprise, and QuickBooks Mac Plus.