QuickBooks Online VS QuickBooks Desktop: Which Is Better?
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When the same company offers two good accounting software products, how can you choose between them? That’s the question when it comes to QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.
In this post, we’re exploring the differences between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. We’ll be comparing each product’s features, pricing, user experience, customer support, reputation, and more so that you can confidently choose which software is better for your business.
| QuickBooks Online | QuickBooks Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Excellent | Excellent |
| Pricing | $20/mo+ | $299.95+ |
| Ease of Use | Good | Poor |
| Customer Support | Fair | Fair |
| Reviews & Complaints | Fair | Good |
| Integrations | Excellent | Good |
| Best For | Small to large businesses looking for easy accounting software with strong features and mobility | Small to large businesses with complex accounting needs that want locally-installed software |
Table of Contents
QuickBooks Online VS Desktop
When you compare Intuit’s two most popular products, QuickBooks Online vs Desktop, both have strong accounting features, but there is a key difference — QuickBooks Online is cloud-based software with monthly pricing and QuickBooks Desktop is locally-installed with a license pricing model.
And that’s not the only difference between these two products. But before we dive into the nitty-gritty comparisons, let’s give a quick overview of both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online, or QBO, is Intuit’s cloud-based accounting product. QBO was launched in 2004, and while the software was initially far less developed than the reigning QuickBooks Desktop, Intuit has made serious strides with this product and is constantly adding new features and small business services to improve their software.
QuickBooks Online is designed specifically for small businesses; however, the new QuickBooks Online Advanced plan makes the software scalable for larger businesses as well. The software offers a robust feature set, strong accounting, online payroll, attractive invoices, 500+ integrations, and a unique lending feature.
QBO is also significantly easier to learn and use than QuickBooks Desktop. Since the software is cloud-based, QBO works anywhere you have an internet connection, and there are mobile apps to help you manage your business on the go.
Pros
- Cloud-based
- Easy to use
- Monthly pricing
- Strong features
- Built-in lending
- 500+ integrations
Cons
- Customer support
- More expensive than other SMB products
- Fewer features than Desktop
- No sales orders
QuickBooks Desktop
QuickBooks Desktop is the prehistoric dinosaur of accounting software, launched way back in 1992. But this dinosaur is far from extinct (despite Intuit’s efforts to force users to switch to QuickBooks Online).
QuickBooks Desktop made Intuit what it is today, and it is still one of the primary software choices of accountants worldwide.
QuickBooks Desktop most often refers to QuickBooks Desktop Pro, although there are actually three different QuickBooks Desktop products: QuickBooks Desktop Pro, QuickBooks Desktop Premier, and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise.
The main difference between the three is that Pro is designed for small businesses, Premier for medium business, and Enterprise for large businesses. As such, each plan progresses in terms of available users and features.
Each desktop version of QuickBooks offers incredible accounting tools and extensive features, including expense tracking, budgeting, and job costing, 200 integrations, and positive customer reviews.
Pros
- Strong features
- Traditional accounting
- Potentially more secure
- 200+ integrations
Cons
- Customer support
- No remote access or mobile apps
- Expensive license structure
- Fewer automations than QBO
Features
| Features | QuickBooks Online | QuickBooks Desktop Pro |
|---|---|---|
Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ |
Contact Management | ✓ | ✓ |
Lead Management | ✘ | ✓ |
Expense Tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
Inventory | ✓ | ✓ |
Project Management | ✓ | ✓ |
Time Tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
Reports | 80 | 130 |
Sales Orders | ✘ | ✓ |
Tax Support | ✓ | ✓ |
Lending | ✓ | ✘ |
Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop offer a large number of features. While they share many of the same features, QuickBooks Desktop’s features are often more developed, except when it comes to invoicing. Even though QB Desktop has more comprehensive features in general, there are some key features that only QuickBooks Online has, including lending, international invoicing, and mobile apps. So, it really comes down to which features your business values most.
Here’s a breakdown of how each program’s specific features compare.
Accounting
QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop operate on true double-entry accounting principles and have both accrual and cash-basis accounting. Each offers a detailed chart of accounts, journal entries, bank reconciliation, and the basic reports needed to run a company. However, QuickBooks Desktop offers better reporting and supports more complex accounting.
Invoicing
When it comes to invoicing, QuickBooks Online blows QuickBooks Desktop out of the water. QuickBooks Online makes it easy to create beautiful, customer invoices. The designs are clean and modern, making it easy for customers to understand their invoices. Here’s an example of what a QBO invoice looks like:
QuickBooks Desktop’s invoices are cluttered, outdated and much harder to customize. Here’s what an invoice made with QuickBooks Desktop looks like:
In addition to having better invoice template designs, QuickBooks Online also has better automations:
- Recurring invoices
- Sending invoice reminder to late-paying customers
- The ability to auto-schedule invoices
- A client portal where customer can make online payments
- Invoice tracking so you can see easily if a client has received, viewed, or paid their invoice
- Having your invoices translated into six different languages for international customers
With QuickBooks Desktop you can set recurring invoices and track invoices, but you’ll miss out on many of the other modern, cloud-based automations that QBO provides.
Contact Management
While QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop offer contact management, only QuickBooks Desktop allows you to manage and track leads as well as contacts.
Reporting
QuickBooks Online offers up to 80 reports depending on the plan you choose, whereas QuickBooks Desktop Pro has 130 reports. QuickBooks Desktop Premier and Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise have even more reports (especially if you opt for the industry-specific versions of these programs).
Financing
QuickBooks has recently added a new lending service called QuickBooks Capital. This service offers financing for small business owners in need of working capital to better manage their cash flow. QuickBooks Capital is only available to QuickBooks Online users.
Sales Orders
If your business needs sales orders, QuickBooks Desktop is your only option. Although Intuit has talked about adding sales orders to QuickBooks Online, this feature is only available with the desktop products at this time.
Industry-Specific Features
One unique aspect of QuickBooks Desktop Premier and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is that you can opt for any industry-specific version of the software instead of the standard version. These industries include:
- General contractor
- Manufacturing & wholesale
- Nonprofit
- Accountant
- Professional services
- Retail
These versions give business owners more features and reports geared toward their industry. You can learn more in our post on The 6 Industry-Specific Editions of QuickBooks Desktop.
Mobile Apps
As QuickBooks Pro doesn’t offer mobile apps (being locally-installed software and all), QBO takes the cake here with its iOS and Android apps.
Pricing
QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Pro have two very different pricing structures.
QuickBooks Online has a monthly SaaS pricing structure. There are four pricing plans available ranging from $20-$150/month (with an additional $35/mo+ for payroll).
QuickBooks Desktop has a licensing pricing model and yearly subscription pricing model. The prices for QuickBooks Desktop vary depending on which version of the software you opt for.
QuickBooks Pro is geared toward small to medium businesses and costs $299.95 for a single user. QuickBooks Premier is geared toward medium and niche industry businesses and costs $499.95 for a single user. QuickBooks Enterprise is designed for large businesses or small enterprises and starts at $1,155/year.
However, the kicker is that if you buy QuickBooks Pro or Premier license you should be able to get three years out of your license. (You can opt for a yearly subscription model for both QuickBooks Pro and Premier instead which will give you access to the latest QB product and premium support).
It’s hard to say which software is cheaper because there are so many variables.
- When QuickBooks Desktop Pricing Is Better: If you are going to use QuickBooks Pro for three years and don’t have any additional users, this option will save you some serious money. However, the extra costs of QuickBooks Desktop add up quickly.
- When QuickBooks Online Pricing Is Better: If you have multiple users, use live bank feeds, and want phone support, QuickBooks Online will probably be a better bet. The monthly pricing structure also works better for small businesses that don’t have the cash flow for expensive licensing or yearly subscriptions.
We recommend crunching the numbers to decide whether the online version or the desktop version of QuickBooks is right for your specific business.
Ease Of Use
The online version of QuickBooks is much easier to use than the desktop version.
One of the most common complaints about QuickBooks Desktop is its steep learning curve. Accountants often find QuickBooks Pro and Premier to be more traditional easier to use, but you don’t have to be an accountant or professional bookkeeper to learn QuickBooks Online.
Customer Service & Support
Okay, let’s be honest. Customer service has never been Intuit’s strong suit. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Pro and Premier have notoriously poor customer support (QuickBooks Enterprise support has better priority support). The company has worked on updating its help centers to be more user-friendly, but wait times are still long, and there’s no email support at all.
QuickBooks Online’s customer service is slightly better in that you at least don’t have to pay extra for support, but Intuit’s products could still be improved where customer service is concerned.
Reviews & Complaints
Both programs have their share of positive and negative reviews, although, in comparison, QuickBooks Online has received more complaints. Some of the most common criticisms are about:
- Limited mobile apps
- Slow run time
- Bugs
- Poor customer support
Many users also complain that QuickBooks Online doesn’t compare to QuickBooks Pro in terms of features and quality.
QuickBooks Pro also has its share of complaints about its:
- Steep learning curve
- Forced upgrades
- Poor customer service
However, most users still view Quickbooks Desktop favorably, and the product receives high marks on most customer review sites. And despite the complaints about QBO, QuickBooks Online still receives high ratings across common customer reviews sites and has many happy users. QuickBooks Online is praised for its mobility, ease of use, feature selection, time-saving automations, and integrations, while QuickBooks Pro is praised for its strong accounting, ample features, reliability, and reporting.
Overall, QuickBooks Pro reviews are more favorable, but both user bases have good and bad things to say about each product.
Integrations
Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Pro offer a good number of helpful integrations and add-on products. However, QuickBooks Online offers over 500 integrations to QuickBooks Pro’s 200 integrations.
In addition to having more integrations, QuickBooks Online also has better integrations. QBO’s integrations cover more business needs and include multiple payment gateway options, whereas QuickBooks Desktop offers hardly any payment gateways, making it difficult for the modern merchant to easily accept online invoice payments.
The Key Differences Between QuickBooks Online & QuickBooks Desktop
We’ve analyzed the main components of each software — features, pricing, ease of use, customer support, reviews and complaints, and integrations. Now let’s break this down into the key differences between QuickBooks Online and Desktop that every small business owner should consider.
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 extra for hosting) or on mobile apps.
- 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, 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 that will be good for three years, or you can pay for yearly updates, but there are no monthly payment options.
- Number Of Users Allowed: QuickBooks Online allows up to 25 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 $299 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 (both require even steeper costs for additional 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 — and because QBO is cloud-based all of your information (like bank or credit card data) is synced in real-time.
- 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.
Which Is Best For My Accounting Needs?
If you’re looking for accounting software for your business, which software should you go with QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks 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 want time-saving automations and real-time sync with your bank and other business integrations
- You need payment processing integrations so that your customers can pay invoices directly online
- You need international invoicing
- You want access to QuickBooks Capital lending
| ||
|---|---|---|
| One of the best cloud based accounting software options for small businesses | ||
Chose 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 have very complex accounting
| ||
|---|---|---|
| One of the best accounting software options out there for small businesses | ||
Comparing QuickBooks Online & Desktop: The Final Verdict
Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are capable programs with strong accounting features. Each software has its highs and lows.
With QuickBooks Online, users receive many of the same great features while gaining the mobility of cloud-based software. QuickBooks Online is easier to use and has more automations, more integrations, better invoicing, and a unique built-in lending feature. The downsides are the lack of sales orders, lead management, and other complexities that loyal Desktop users may miss (like customizable letter templates, a built-in calendar, and even spell-check).
With QuickBooks Desktop, users receive some of the most developed accounting tools on the market. The software offers comprehensive features, unique touches like lead management and sales orders, industry-specific versions of the software, and has the potential to be more secure. The downsides are that QuickBooks Desktop lacks the mobility of QBO, has few automations, doesn’t offer lending or payment gateway integrations, and has a steep learning curve (although the software is well-organized and gets easier to navigate with time).
Ultimately, the real deciding factor is going to be your specific business size, type, and needs. Whichever you choose, our comprehensive reviews can help you make an informed decision during your hunt for the perfect accounting software. Read our full QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Pro reviews for more details about each software.
Chelsea Krause
Managing Editor - Accounting
Chelsea Krause is a writer who has specialized in accounting for over three years and is a QuickBooks Certified User. She has a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied at the University of Oxford as well. She has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business.
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I am a little confused on pricing. I will be purchasing Desktop Pro. Do I buy the software, install it, and then buy a license each year?
Hi Peggy,
Great question! QuickBooks Desktop Pro’s pricing can definitely be confusing. You have two purchasing options here.
Option #1: You can buy QuickBooks Desktop Pro license from Intuit or from a reseller like Amazon, Staples, or Officemax. If you buy the 2020 product license, this product will last you three years. After three years, the support for the 2020 license will end and you’ll need to repurchase another license. If you buy the license from Intuit, it’s simply called QuickBooks Desktop Pro.
Option #2: You can buy QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus from Intuit. QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus is a yearly subscription of the software — so every year you pay a subscription fee and every year you get the latest version of the software (along with customer support and automatic data backups).
I hope this helps clear things up!
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
Do you have an updated listing in terms of features that will be lost by switching to the newest version of QuickBooks Online?
Hi Michelle,
The best resource we have to see what you’ll lose (and gain) with switching to QuickBooks Online from QuickBooks Desktop is our Complete QuickBooks Comparison Guide. However, I will talk to our Editorial Team about doing a post specifically on converting from QuickBooks Desktop to QBO to answer this question and others like it.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
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Thanks so much for this comparison! Do you know if one is better than the other to be DCAA compliant? And how are they different when it comes to timekeeping / TSheets? Thanks so much!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi there,
With QuickBooks Online, you can have unlimited time-only users who can access QBO from any device and can input their hours into the software. With QuickBooks Pro, there is still time tracking, but you lose the mobility and the user access (as there are only three users available). While both programs offer time tracking, neither program has built-in DCAA compliance. Both programs integrate with TSheets, and TSheets is how you’d be able to ensure DCAA compliance (here’s some more information about TSheets, QuickBooks, and compliance). With either software, the TSheets integration will offer real-time syncing between each program.
So, in this case, your decision will probably come down to how important mobility is for your company and what other features you need. I hope this helps! Let us know you if you have any other questions.
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Looking for a payroll software program that is in house
that I can print out the payroll checks out with. I am a small
accounting firm that does payroll for some clients that
don’t want to do any payroll on online systems. So I need
to do multiple companies on it. Any suggestions ? Thanks
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi and thanks for your question! Check out QuickBook’s Desktop program. We think you’ll like this options because it has check printing capabilities, and you can set up multiple accounts. Hope this helps and best of luck!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I currently have Pro and am considering going online since my version 2017 is about to phase out. I currently print out checks with Pro…are you saying if I switch to online I will no longer be able to do that?
Hi Teresa,
You should still be able to print checks if you switch to QuickBooks Online! Here is an article about how to print checks in QuickBooks Online. I hope this helps answer your questions.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
I have been using the QB Pro 2013 version since then and it works fine. received a call that said that I no longer will be able to use this version after this month because it won’t be supported. If I understood correctly, I will lose the files. I don’t need the internet as we do not do payroll or things of that nature. We use the accounting and we back it up. Is that true that this version is no longer being serviced?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for reaching out! Every version of QuickBooks Pro is valid for three years and after three years the software is no longer supported. It is my understanding from talking to numerous QB reps that “no longer supported” means you won’t be able to have any QuickBooks support not that the software will suddenly stop working. So if there are any issues with the software, the QB support team won’t be able to help you. However, you should be able to still use the software fine and access your company, you’ll just be stuck without any support or any of the new features or patches. That being said, I’d definitely do a company file backup just to be safe. I hope this helps clear things up!
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I currently use QB online to run a property management business and lots of residents pay their rent online through the QB payment system. It works great, but all payments get deposited into the same account. Do you know if QB desktop will allow me to specify different destination bank accounts for different customers?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Scott,
Looks like you aren’t’ the only one with this question. Currently, you can only have one bank account with the QB payment system. You can see what QuickBooks’ support team has to say about it here and can leave a suggestion to the development team — who knows, maybe if enough people request this feature, QBO will answer. I’ll be sure to update you if I ever here them change this.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
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Loved the article. Very informative. Would love to see an update as I’m sure things must have changed.
What would you recommend today for a Freight Agency just starting out? We will have three partners and 1099 Contractors.
Thanks!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Shelly,
I’m glad you found the article helpful! You’ll be happy to know that an update of this post is slated on our content schedule, although the majority of the information in this post is still accurate.
It’s hard to say which software I would recommend without knowing more about your business and its specific needs. Generally, for companies just starting out QuickBooks Online is a bit easier to learn and use. However, both versions offer 1099 support. It’s really going to come to which features you need and how much accounting experience you have.
I recommend using the QuickBooks Online free trial to get a feel for the software to see if it’s a good fit for your business before buying. If you have more specific features or requirements you’d like your software to meet, please let us know so we can better help you.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Could you give me some guidance please. We are a fishing club of 300 members and have reached a crossroads in our accounting practices. Could you give us a recommendation of which version of Quick Books we should run? We send 300 membership renewals out once a year, write 30 checks a month, have 20 regular vendors, take credit cards in payment and run about $100k through the books each year from donations, sponsor payments and dues. We are also non profit.
Thanks in advance for your help!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Chuck,
Thanks for reaching out! I recommend taking a look at this article on QuickBooks for Nonprofits. In it, we break down which QuickBooks products are good fits for nonprofits. It sounds like your business could benefit from either QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition or QuickBooks Online with a nonprofit integration like Sumac or Kindful. Here’s another post worth checking out called the Best Nonprofit Integrations for QuickBooks Online.
I hope these resources help! If you have any other questions, please let us know!
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Chelsea Krause , thanks you for spending the time to put this together.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Chelsea Krause , thank you for spending the time to put this together.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Small 1120S business, bill quarterly, no paper invoices, one employee, track expenses, file 941s, w2, and need K1 end of year. Which is best? Online or desktop pro?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Jim,
We’re happy to help you find the right accounting software for your business! Based on the information you provided, I’d recommended QuickBooks Desktop Pro. There is no accounting software I know of that support K-1s, but QuickBooks Desktop Pro will support 941s and W2s as well as the other features you need (whereas QuickBooks Online only support W-2s).
Hope this helps and best of luck!
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I would appreciate some advice from you experts please.
I have Quickbooks v7.4. (Australian version)
Ive always used it (started in the year 2000). Still works even today even though its very limited.
I actually wanted to upgrade to a later software version of Quickbooks but Ive been told its nearly impossible to do.
I was told that the format has changed dramatically & you had to upgrade via 3-4 newer versions before you could get the 2018/19 with your info within the software.
I thought if I could upgrade to about “QB 2017-19” (even to version 2016-17 would do) that it would probably do me for the next 10+ years. I need to start thinking about having a piece of software that can download my online bank account info.
Can one of you experts give me some insight on what the process is to upgrade Quickbooks to a more modern version.
Thanks heaps.
Glen
p.s. I will never trust any company with having my accounts online …. period.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Glen,
I’ve never heard of needing to upgrade to an older version before upgrading to the newest version of QuickBooks. You should be able to upgrade to 2019 no matter which version you are currently using. Make sure your company file is saved and backed up securely before then in case of any complications, but you should be able to follow these steps to upgrade your QuickBooks software.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
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I have been running Quick books for 15 years and I am currently still using the 2009 version for my small business, but I just bought a new computer and want to install an updated version of QB. Will my knowledge of the old versions allow me to operate the new version without climbing a steep learning curve? Can my old accounts be transferred? I prefer to load the system rather than on-line.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Edd,
Great question! You should be able to transfer your accounts and data to the new version of QuickBooks without a problem. You’ll need to save your existing company file, which you can then upload to the new edition. You will find quite a few new features with the 2019 version, but the organization and UI remain similar so there shouldn’t be too steep of a learning curve for you.
Hope this helps and that you enjoy the new version of QuickBooks!
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
In your updated review you should include comparisions of sales tax features. Include sales tax as one of the items that doesn’t transfer well in QBO – QBD conversions. Multi-jurisdictional sales tax reporting requirements are better met by QBD, despite the new sales tax feature upgrade in QBO. Additionally, if you migrate from QBO to QBD, Intuit has to prepare your data file for saving. Realize you will never again be able to access that historical data without a QBO platform. A real issue if you get selected for a tax audit. I have no idea if an old QBO data file will be readable from an upgraded QBO platform.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
This is a great article and very helpful. I would love to see an analysis now that Quickbooks Online has raised its pricing.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I’m glad you like the article! I’m working on an update of this post as we speak, so stay tuned for the latest comparison.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Great article, very informative and deep. THANKS
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Felipe,
I’m glad you found it helpful! Best wishes in all your business endeavors.
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Thanks for writing such informative blog..
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi James,
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found this post helpful.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Let’s start this by saying I am NOT an accountant. I just run a small business.
I’ve been a QBD user since 1994 and just switched to Online. I am sad to say I’m very disappointed. I like to think I’m used to “upgraded” interfaces, but the change is dramatic. I could go into gory detail about how invoice templates are not “real” templates, but rather loose guides, the struggle of moving between invoices and a number of other little annoyances. Maybe if I had only seen QBO, I would think it was okay.
In my opinion the user interface and flexibility of QBD is far superior. I suspect there must have been valid programming reasons for not just adapting the desktop version for online use.
The ONLY real advantage to the On-line version I can see is the ability to review and work while traveling, and the ability to grant permission to an off-site accountant to have access to the information. I like the accountant part, but not interested in working on the books while I’m in the field or at home.
To new users have at it, QBO should be fine and you will make the program your friend. I have been reading switching back to the desktop version isn’t automatic, which puts me in a quandary. I need to figure out how and when I can find the time and travel back to the desktop version.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Sad to say it’s a hard lesson to learn. It gives credence to “Try before you Buy.” The lack of features, unfriendly interface and navigability, and ability to configure preferences and templates is a huge issue. My biggest issue is the inability to make backups and “restore back to yesterday” if you really mess up royally. Next biggest issue is inability to delete accounts with no activity. As an accounting consultant, cleaning up data and editing a botched up chart of accounts is not an easy task in QBO. Good Luck!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
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Chelsea,
Perhaps you can broaden the horizon for me aswell. I have recently started a business. I do about 600k a year in sales and started and finished my first year with QB online. I am hiring a new bookeeper to minimize my workload.
She is adamant on switching me to QB desktop. I am disappointed as I like to review my p&ls and constantly view my financials.
After reading this article and all the comments I see that QBD is the choice for accountants clearly. But how does one function without seeing their reports often?
I also use my QBO for accounts receivable to process and send my invoices. With the Desktop version how would I do this if only my accountant has access.
Can you clarify or can other viewers mention how exactly they go about doing business without the ability to know their financials on the fly.
What would be a suggestion? Do most people allow their bookkeepers to do the work on Desktop and just find out at the end of the quarter/month/year? Am I being to anal always wanting to see my financials. Am i the minority here? Why would an owner see a benefit in QBD if they werent using it themselves with constant access?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Please don’t ever stop looking at your financials daily! I’ve been a Bookkeeper for 20+ years and one thing I’ve always WISHED the business owners would do was to know how to do their own books or at least check up on me and my work! I do believe that your prospective bookkeeper probably hasn’t worked in QBO and just feels more comfortable with QBD. Last year I switched to QBO and I must agree, it was frustrating! However a year in and it has gotten super easy to navigate. You’re the boss, you get to say what system is used! If I were you, I’d NEVER stop looking at the finances and I’d definitely keep that QBO!
Good luck to you!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Looked at moving to QBO from an older desktop version and got as far as looking at the invoice templates. Are they joking? They all look terrible, I wouldn’t want to send one to a customer – and very limited customisation to help put things right. A real step backwards from the desktop version.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Im opening a new business and closing down an existing. Can the QBO import the customer list and contacts only from QBD to start fresh as far as invoicing and checking accounts go ? Thank you.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Mike,
You can import your customer and contact list only into QuickBooks Online from QuickBooks Pro Desktop. Instead of importing your full QuickBooks Desktop Pro into QuickBooks Pro backup company file, you’ll just import your contacts. To do this, go to your Customer Center and click the Excel button on the top of the screen. Export your customer list to an excel file.
Once you’ve exported and saved this your customer list, you can import it into QuickBooks Online (without adding any of the old company information that you don’t want). Follow these instructions for importing contacts into QuickBooks Online. Repeat the same process for vendors and employees.
I hope that answers your question! Let us know if you need any other help.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
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QuickBooks online is horrific. We have 450 clients and I have a contest every year to see who can take the most clients off of QBO and put them on desktop with a large bonus. I will do the conversion for free. We only have one client left on that awful thing and we will move them off in December to start fresh in January. It is VERY EASY TO CONVERT BACK TO DESKTOP. Super easy and worth it. My clients cant stand that “half -version”. Yuk.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I think this review is vary biased towards QBO and misses a lot of issues with the software. If your starting fresh with a new business it may work well for you, If your an existing QBD user the data is not imported completely, so be very careful and verify your data by running reports in each and comparing them.
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how do you print cheques with QBO?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Ada,
Thanks for reaching out! Here is a quick video that explains how to print checks using QuickBooks Online.
I hope it helps! If not, feel free to reach out with any further questions you may have.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I have the same question as Vicky and others regarding upgrading from QBD to QBO. Can you send me the same information you sent to them?
Thank you,
Brenda
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Brenda,
I am going to copy and paste the reply here:
Everything should transfer over easily. There are no complaints that I can find on the web about the transfer itself. Most people say this process is smooth.
QuickBooks Online also provides you a specialist who will help make sure the transfer goes smoothly.
In terms of features, here are the things you will be losing by switching to QuickBooks Online:
• Some reports (You’ll go from 191 reports to 44-106 depending on the plan you choose.
• Letter templates
• Printing checks
• Built in calendar
• To-Do list
• Notes (With QuickBooks Online, notes are saved with each contact, you can also save attachments of important documents to contacts. All of your notes information should still transfer though, it’ll just be organized a bit differently.)
• Some invoice templates (You’ll go from 9 templates. But personally, I like the look of the QuickBooks Online templates much more.
• multiple business support (You’d have to pay for a subscription for each individual business.)
The Accounts Payable feature will only be available with the Essentials Plan and Plus Plan. The time-tracking feature and inventory feature are both limited to the Plus plan of QuickBooks online. The time-tracking feature and project feature are also fairly limited with QuickBooks Online, which is something worth considering.
Here are the things you will gain with QuickBooks Online:
• Mobility (Both through the cloud and the various mobile apps available.)
• Schedule invoices
• Recurring invoices
• More users
• Live bank feeds
• Basic client portal
• 400+ integrations (Which could make up for some of the lost features.)
• No fee for phone support
• Multiple budgets (with Plus plan)
There are a few complaints about people who switched over to QuickBooks Online and then when back to QuickBooks Pro because there are more features. So you will really want to way these features and your company’s needs before switching. I also recommend using the QuickBooks Online free trial, just to see if you like the feel and organization of QuickBooks Online.
I hope this helps!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Personally I dont think any one that has used both would give QBO the win. We tried it for one of our businesses as we collect money in the field. Wethought it would make life easier, but it did not.
QB online is not very compatible with QBD as Intuit says. Run some simple reports like profit and lose after you import your data to QBO in both and you will get completely different numbers! That is unacceptable! QBO support told me that I had just imported the data wrong and they did it and the results were the same. Then after quite a while going back and forth they finally admitted that they are not completely compatible. The cost of QBO is higher in just one year in most cases and much higher in the long run. Especially after the promotional discount runs out. QBO is an incomplete package, which Intuit want to force everyone to switch to as it is much more profitable for them. They are doing things to force you to upgrade it more often by locking features for no reason, like importing bank data. I used to be a huge fan of QBD and intuit. I will be looking at other options when I am forced to upgrade again. QBO is a rip off in my opinion.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Rigjht on Steve. having been a QB user for more than 20 years, I can definitely agree with all your points. QBO is geared to those who either have NOT used QB Desktop, or whose accounting needs are really simple. QBO is slow, clunky, has lacking features sets, costs more in the long run (geared to “regularize” Intuit’s cash flow, mainly), the list goes on & on. In working as a professional accountant, I appreciate feature sets. QBO has far fewer for any true power user. There really is no comparison. It’s also interesting that the author, Chelsea, doesn’t reply to comments like ours. Hmmm…
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Michael,
I understand your frustration with QuickBooks Online. Thank you for sharing your experience. If Steve had asked a question about the software, I would have been happy to answer it. In cases like this, I believe that letting our readers see the opinions and experiences of past users is enough.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
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We currently have QBD. I personally don’t have access to our books until our bookkeeper finalizes everything 3 days prior to our board meeting. I have no clue on the financials until it’s too late. We are also moving payroll to QBD. But again – no access. Our CRM now has intergration availability with OBO – so most reports come from that system. Will we be losing too much with QBO if I do payroll and my financials?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Heather,
Thanks for reaching out! So it sounds like you’re currently frustrated with QuickBooks desktop and the inability to see your information right away. QuickBooks Online would definitely solve this problem for you. You’d still be able to run payroll and manage your financials in QuickBooks Online, plus you’d get the mobile, real-time access you’re looking for. Transferring files over to QuickBooks Online is a fairly simple process and you shouldn’t lose any of your existing data.
In terms of features, There are a few capabilities you will be losing by switching to QuickBooks Online which are worth considering:
• Some reports (You’ll go from 191 reports to 44-106 depending on the plan you choose. Here is a list of the QuickBooks online reports.)
• Letter templates
• Printing checks
• Built in calendar
• To-Do list
• Notes (With QuickBooks Online, notes are saved with each contact, you can also save attachments of important documents to contacts. All of your notes information should still transfer though, it’ll just be organized a bit differently.)
• Multiple business support (You’d have to pay for a subscription for each individual business.
I hope that gives you a clearer idea of what to expect if you do decide to switch to QuickBooks Online. If you need any more help or have any more questions about the transfer process, please let us know!
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
If we choose to go with online QuickBooks, what items am I loosing from my desk top QuickBooks? I have lots of important information on notes and all payables are under the Memorize Transaction too. Please reply back soon this morning as we are working on making a decision soon
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Vicky,
My reply to this question is a little bit on the longer side, so I went ahead and sent you an email. Please keep an eye out for it.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
I was wondering the same question. Would you please email me as well?
Thank you
Shannon
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Shannon,
Sending you an email right now, please keep an eye out for it!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Can you please send the same information to me. I am looking to upgrade, and having a hard time deciding between staying with desktop, or moving to online. Only advantage to online for me, would be allowing people in the field to submit invoices as soon as they complete work. ** please let me know if this is possible with both versions.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Lynne,
The information I had sent to Vicky basically sums up this article, but I will be happy to send it over, so please keep an eye out for it!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Chloe,
Could you also please send me the email? Thanks
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Hi Michelle,
Here is what I sent them:
Everything should transfer over easily. There are no complaints that I can find on the web about the transfer itself. Most people say this process is smooth.
QuickBooks Online also provides you a specialist who will help make sure the transfer goes smoothly.
In terms of features, here are the things you will be losing by switching to QuickBooks Online:
• Some reports (You’ll go from 191 reports to 44-106 depending on the plan you choose.
• Letter templates
• Printing checks
• Built in calendar
• To-Do list
• Notes (With QuickBooks Online, notes are saved with each contact, you can also save attachments of important documents to contacts. All of your notes information should still transfer though, it’ll just be organized a bit differently.)
• Some invoice templates (You’ll go from 9 templates. But personally, I like the look of the QuickBooks Online templates much more.
• multiple business support (You’d have to pay for a subscription for each individual business.)
The Accounts Payable feature will only be available with the Essentials Plan and Plus Plan. The time-tracking feature and inventory feature are both limited to the Plus plan of QuickBooks online. The time-tracking feature and project feature are also fairly limited with QuickBooks Online, which is something worth considering.
Here are the things you will gain with QuickBooks Online:
• Mobility (Both through the cloud and the various mobile apps available.)
• Schedule invoices
• Recurring invoices
• More users
• Live bank feeds
• Basic client portal
• 400+ integrations (Which could make up for some of the lost features.)
• No fee for phone support
• Multiple budgets (with Plus plan)
There are a few complaints about people who switched over to QuickBooks Online and then when back to QuickBooks Pro because there are more features. So you will really want to way these features and your company’s needs before switching. I also recommend using the QuickBooks Online free trial, just to see if you like the feel and organization of QuickBooks Online.
I hope this helps!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
Be very careful if your switching. to QBO. The transfer process is smooth, however it is incomplete. Not all information will transfer. Critical reports like Profit and loss will give different results in the two. How can that be???????????? Totally unacceptable!!!
The support is useless if the data imported is not complete!
I personally know of several business that tried QBO and switched back to QBD or other software.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.
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QB Online does not have some basic functions. For instance it does not have the ability to add Finance Charges to overdue customer statements.
Fay
This comment refers to an earlier version of this post and may be outdated.