A new and improved migration process gives you even more ways to move online. Move from any version of QuickBooks Desktop, and only migrate the data that matters most to you. Cassie is a former deputy editor who collaborated with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of compensation Kentucky.
However, converting your data from one desktop solution to another can be a complex process. Each Desktop plan comes with one user; additional licenses cost extra. For $27.50 per month for the first three months, then $55 per month after that, get up to three users, manage and pay bills and track time with its Essentials plan, which is its most popular plan.
Best Accounting and Bookkeeping Apps for Small Businesses
Beginning July 31, 2024, only QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise will be available. If QuickBooks Desktop seems to be the better fit after reading this comparison, make sure to act quickly to start your subscription to avoid missing out. All QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Desktop Premiere, Mac, and Desktop Enhanced Payroll products, excluding QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, will no longer be available to new users after September 30, 2024. Existing QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Mac, or Enhanced Payroll users will not be impacted. Security updates and product updates will still be released for all users who purchase a QuickBooks Desktop Plus or QuickBooks Desktop Payroll subscription before the cutoff date.
QuickBooks Online integrates with over 750 third-party apps, and we highlighted the most notable integrations cost of sales to revenue ratio in our guide to the best QuickBooks Online integrations for small businesses. For an extra $50, sign up for a one-time live Bookkeeping setup with any of its plans. Stay in sync with the QuickBooks mobile app and work where you want.
Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website. Another notable difference is QuickBooks Online offers a Self-Employed version for $15 per month, which is not available with QuickBooks Desktop. If you’re a freelancer, stick with its Self-Employed plan, which is $15 per month 9after the three-month discount at $7.50). Features include mileage tracking, basic reporting, income and expense tracking, capture and organize receipts and estimation of quarterly taxes.
QuickBooks Online
I want to confidently say that the difference in pricing is due to the considerable amount of features that QuickBooks Desktop offers, but I’m unsure if that’s the case. While QuickBooks Desktop is great for users who prefer locally-installed software, users will have to pay additional fees for cloud hosting, adding to the already expensive cost. Perhaps the biggest area where QuickBooks Desktop falls short is that its Pro and Premier versions will soon be discontinued for new users. While QuickBooks Enterprise will still be an option, this is powerful software with an expensive price tag that will be too much (in terms of features and pricing) for most small businesses. Every business is unique, and there may be instances where QuickBooks Desktop may be a better fit. For example, it may be more suitable for businesses with complex inventory management needs or those wanting offline access to their financial data.
Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. The latest product innovations and business insights from QuickBooks. Testimonial given in an online survey among remunerated QBO customers. Live Bookkeepers aren’t responsible for errors resulting from incorrect information that you provide, or if you re-open the books by overriding closure after a Live Bookkeeper completes the month-end closure.
- MarketWatch Guides may receive compensation from companies that appear on this page.
- Although Intuit has talked about adding sales orders to QuickBooks Online, this feature is only available with QuickBooks Desktop products at this time.
- That being said, large businesses may be ok with sacrificing some ease of use for advanced capabilities.
What happens if I don’t renew my QuickBooks Desktop subscription?
You can also integrate QuickBooks Online with Zapier, which lets you connect QuickBooks to thousands of other apps in your business’s tech stack. You can do things like automatically add customers to or create receipts in QuickBooks when payments happen in other apps, or track new QuickBooks invoices or payments in another app. Here are a few pre-made workflows to show you what’s possible, but you can use Zapier to connect QuickBooks to almost any app you use. All you need is your account information, and you can access your QuickBooks details on any device with an internet connection. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews.
Payroll
QuickBooks might encourage its users to switch from QuickBooks Desktop to Online, but it hasn’t issued any statements about discontinuing Desktop entirely. But based on the tech industry’s growing emphasis on cloud storage over local storage, it’s hard to imagine that downloadable programs like QuickBooks Desktop will still be relevant a decade down the retained earnings formula definition road. In contrast, QuickBooks Desktop’s interface was built with accountants in mind. Instead of showing clear images of your cash balance, outstanding invoices, and upcoming bills like the QuickBooks Online dash, the desktop version’s dash is a flowing series of connected folders and files. Unless you’re an accountant, the learning curve will likely be a little higher for you than it would with QuickBooks Online. In contrast, QuickBooks Enterprise is sold in user-based increments.
