Quickbooks Online vs Desktop

Quickbooks Online vs Desktop

Choose QuickBooks Online If…

• You want software that is easy to use and learn
• You want to be able to access your accounting remotely or on the go with mobile apps
• You need international invoicing
• You want access to QuickBooks Capital lending

Choose QuickBooks Desktop If…

• You are looking for locally-installed software accounting software
• You need the industry-specific features of QuickBooks Desktop Premier or QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
• You need sales orders
• You need advanced inventory
• You need to create multiple company
• You need customized check and voucher printing
• You have very complex accounting

Here are the eight main differences between QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online:

Cloud-Based VS Locally-Installed: The biggest difference between these two QuickBooks products is that QuickBooks Online is cloud-based and runs using the Internet, while QuickBooks Desktop is downloaded and installed on a computer. This means that QuickBooks Desktop doesn’t require the Internet to work, but it also means that you can’t access the software remotely (unless you pay additional cost for Hosting or Virtual Machine Set up for the online Access).

Security: Because QuickBooks Online is cloud-based, the security is taken care of for you by Intuit. On the other hand, QuickBooks Desktop is locally-installed to your File Server, so while this program has the potential to be more secure, you are responsible for taking those security measures yourself.

Pricing Structure: Another key difference is that QuickBooks Online has a monthly SaaS pricing structure, whereas QuickBooks Desktop has a licensing structure. You can buy a license for QuickBooks Desktop onetime payment to Pro and Premier, or you can pay for yearly subscription updates to Enterprise, but there are no monthly payment options.

Number Of Users Allowed: QuickBooks Online allows up to 5 users depending on your pricing plan and you can have an unlimited number of time-tracking only users. Additional user licenses for QuickBooks Desktop Pro cost Php 13,000 each, which is a bit steep, and the software caps out at three users max. QuickBooks Desktop Premier caps out at five users, and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise caps out at 30 users. All of these QuickBooks products offer strong user permissions.

Feature Depth: While QuickBooks Online and Desktop have many of the same features, QuickBooks Desktop’s features are usually more developed.

Available Automations: QuickBooks Online has far more automations than QuickBooks Desktop, which allows business owners to manage their books more efficiently and quickly.

Learning Curve: Because of its feature set and focus on traditional accounting, QuickBooks Desktop has a much steeper learning curve than QBO (and the UI isn’t as modern or simple to navigate).

Access to Capital: Another big difference between QuickBooks Online and Desktop is that only online users have access to QuickBooks Capital.