QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based software that can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection. It offers four scalable plans and a user-friendly interface, making it suitable for most businesses. Many businesses consider QuickBooks Premier over QuickBooks Online because of its advanced inventory management features and the availability of industry-specific features. Moreover, because QuickBooks features differ from plan to plan, be sure to thoroughly examine each tier for the components you need. 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.

• QuickBooks Online has a 30-day free trial, while QuickBooks Desktop provides a 60-day money-back guarantee.QuickBooks Online’s pricing structure may be a better choice for you if you want a fixed monthly plan.
• If you are currently using QuickBooks Online and want to switch to an interface similar to QuickBooks Desktop, we recommend using the QuickBooks Online Desktop app.
• However features present in editions older than three years are subject to planned obsolescence, removal, and discontinuation to “incentivize” you to purchase a new release.
• Online still has good reporting features, but its reports are not as useful for construction businesses without the advanced job costing and estimating features found on the desktop version.
• 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 will never have to worry about any technical issues or backing-up your client’s data again. Shubnoor is a Data Analyst with extensive expertise in market research, and crafting marketing strategies for data industry. At Hevo, she specialized in developing connector integrations and product requirement documentation for multiple SaaS sources. QuickBooks Desktop has a lot of integration possibilities, with 200+ third-party apps, making it one of the more interconnected desktop software solutions. However, it pales in comparison to QuickBooks Online’s more than 500 connectors.

QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Pricing

QuickBooks Desktop offers the same support options found in QuickBooks Online including video tutorials, on-demand webinars, and various training options. Both applications also include an easy setup process, so you can be up and running in little time. For $1,410 per year, get the Enterprise plan with advanced pricing, reporting and inventory. 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. Meanwhile, QuickBooks Desktop gets more praise for strong functionality, such as inventory accounting and the ability to generate advanced reports.

While installing QuickBooks Desktop on a single computer may take only a few minutes, installing it on multiple computers might be more complicated because each machine will need access to the company data file. Since QuickBooks Online is cloud-based and doesn’t require installation, it’s the clear winner in terms of ease of installation. Moreover, QuickBooks Online is generally easier to use and navigate than QuickBooks Desktop because it has a more streamlined and intuitive user interface. Both the online dashboard and mobile app, with their clear and straightforward graphics, are remarkably easy to understand and use.Conversely, QuickBooks Desktop was designed with accounting professionals in mind. It has a flowchart-style menu, a customizable user interface, and shortcuts for frequently used features. The assisted migration offer is eligible to Desktop customers that are migrating their data and setting up QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: Which should you choose for your business?

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. This means that QuickBooks Desktop users are limited to one hosting provider — the computer on which the software is installed — or a handful of licensed computers. QuickBooks Online can be accessed from any internet-connected device, including a mobile device with the QuickBooks app installed, after you enter a valid username and password. If your home or office has a slow or unpredictable internet connection, QuickBooks Desktop can ensure you can reach most of your data even if the internet goes down overnight.

In other words, if you buy one license for QuickBooks Desktop, only one specific person at your company can access the app and file. QuickBooks Self-Employed, or QBSE, is the version of QBO marketed toward freelancers and other self-employed business accounting basics owners. Unlike its counterparts, this edition of the software can never be upgraded to the small business editions of the software. For both QuickBooks products, Intuit QuickBooks mobile apps are offered for Apple iOS and Google Android devices.

QuickBooks Online: Pros & Cons

You can, however, switch your business’s account from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online without losing your data. 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.

Hosting your QBDT file on the cloud is available for all editions of QuickBooks Desktop and is available through a variety of providers. The four remaining editions of QBO include Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. Each edition varies in terms of its available features and functionality, with Advanced providing the fullest feature set. As a result, access to the software and its information is only possible if you’re physically using the computer it was installed on.

QuickBooks, QB, TurboTax, Proconnect and Mint are registered

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. Thanks to the cloud, you can also access QBO from the convenience of your smartphone or tablet. This means you can check in and manage your books from anywhere in the world, whether you’re relaxing on a beach in The Bahamas or enjoying a hot chocolate at a ski lodge. CPAs and bookkeepers use QuickBooks Online Accountant software to access or prepare their clients’ accounting. The online version will soon be the only available version, and it’s used by hundreds of thousands of American businesses.

For the Desktop version, you pay an annual fee starting at $549.99 per year, and the cloud-based option starts at $15 per month. Both versions have mobile apps, but the app for the Desktop version primarily functions as a way to upload receipts, and the Online mobile app is robust in comparison. QuickBooks Online has more third-party integrations than its desktop counterpart. It connects with over 750 popular business tools and platforms, simplifying and automating many accounting tasks.