So, you’re thinking about using QuickBooks as your accounting system but are confused whether to go Quick Online QBO and QuickBooks Desktop QBD. You may want to consider the following questions when deciding Quickbooks Desktop vs. Quickbooks online.
Who: Who is going to be doing your books? Are you going to do them yourself or hire a bookkeeper?
What: What features are you looking to get out of QuickBooks? Will you be sending out invoices regularly? Tracking inventory?
Where: Where are you going to be accessing your books from? Do you prefer to work on the go? Do you work from home or only on location?
When: When and how often do you need your books brought up to date? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly?
Why: Keeping the previous points in mind, let’s look at some of the reasons why you might like QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online over the other.
| QuickBooks Desktop | QuickBooks Online |
| Who is going to be doing your books?
QBD is a good choice if you’re planning on doing your bookkeeping yourself. The files are stored locally. This means that your books are stored on a single computer and only one person will have access to them. |
Who is going to be doing your books?
QBO is equally a good choice whether you’re planning on doing your books yourself or having a bookkeeper do them. Both parties will have equal access and can even be working simultaneously. |
| What features are you looking to get out QuickBooks?
QBD works well for businesses that have low to medium activity. If you don’t need to send invoices frequently or at all QBD may be the better choice. |
What features are you looking to get out QuickBooks?
QBO makes invoicing easy. You can email invoices directly to clients and even have them process their payments online. If you have a high activity business QBO can save you time with streamlined expense and deposit entry. Especially if you link QBO to your bank account. |
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*Both QBD & QBO have options for payroll processing and inventory tracking. * |
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| Where are you going to be accessing your books from?
Options are limited for where you can work from with QBD. Files are only stored on a single computer so you must always work from that location. If you choose to use QBD on a laptop you could work on-the-go. When using QBD you should regularly backup your books. |
Where are you going to be accessing your books from?
This goes without saying; QBO can only be accessed with an internet connection. It can be accessed on any computer/ laptop/ phone/ tablet so it can be very on-the-go friendly. As QBO is cloud-based you don’t need to worry about keeping backups. |
| When and how often do you need your books brought up-to-date?
If you want your books brought up-to-date quarterly or annually QBD can work just as well for you. Transferring documents from QBD to your accountant monthly can prove to be a hassle. |
When and how often do you need your books brought up-to-date?
If you want your books done monthly QBO is the clear winner. Your accountant will have access to your books whenever they need it. |
| App Integration:
QBD supports a number of applications such as employee time tracking through QuickBooks Time or streamlined import/export of transactions. It appears to us like the Online apps are where the exciting development is happening. |
App Integration:
QBO supports a large library of apps that can help streamline your business. Everything from employee time tracking, sending and receiving payments, creating workflows. Even apps that can automate data entry such as bills, receipts, and sales invoices. If automation is your goal, QBO is the answer. |
| Starting prices for QuickBooks Desktop
Pro Plus 2021: $199.99 per year or $29.00 per month Premier Plus 2021: $299.99 per year or $42 per month Enterprise 21.0: $1,275 per year pr $300 per month No additional charges for payroll if your subscription is current. No direct deposit payroll available. |
Starting prices for QuickBooks Online
Easy Start: $10 /month Essentials: $20 /month Plus: $30 /month Add payroll with direct deposit to any of the above options for $20 /month +$3 per employee per month |
| We’d love to discuss what QuickBooks solution is right for you. Give us a call to set up a consultation. | |