If you can file taxes confidently on your own, Enhanced Payroll might be suitable. If you want QuickBooks to file your taxes for you, then you must upgrade to QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll. Check out our QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Enhanced vs Assisted comparison for more information. Danielle Bauter is a writer for the Accounting division of Fit Small Business.
When to Consider a QuickBooks Online Alternative
The two iterations of QuickBooks’ accounting software shine in different areas. Whereas one is completely online and cloud-based, the other operates locally on your computer. One is sleek and modern, and the other seems to have been designed for a cubicle. Small to midsize businesses that want a desktop solution or need advanced inventory and industry-specific features. Because QuickBooks Online is connected to the cloud, you can work from any device with an internet connection. On the other hand, QuickBooks Enterprise involves a more complex setup due to its extensive feature set designed for larger businesses.
Best QuickBooks Alternatives in 2024 (Free & Paid)
Below we provide a detailed comparison across each feature, where we also determine a winner for each category. However, note that there’s no direct data migration option available from QuickBooks Solopreneur to any higher version of QuickBooks Online. This means you must first cancel your Solopreneur subscription and then sign up for the QuickBooks Online version you wish to upgrade to.
QuickBooks Online Plans Comparison: Pricing & Features
Once you’ve recorded your billable time, you can add it to your invoice and then send it to your client. This feature is ideal for service-based businesses that charge work by the hour, such as lawyers and independent contractors. For operations paying their employees through checks, QuickBooks Online Essentials fits the bill. It is also suitable for those doing business outside the US, as it supports multiple currencies, unlike Simple Start. Essentials even lets you record employees’ worked hours and track billable hours by customer and project. Today’s leading accounting platforms offer standard security features such as data encryption, secure credential tokenization and more.
The A/P section focuses on vendor management, bill management, bill payments, and other payable-related transactions. A/P features include creating vendors and bills, recording purchase orders and converting them to bills, creating service items, and recording full or partial bill payments. Even after initial setup, the software must also let users modify information like company name, address, entity type, fiscal year-end, and other company information. Our QuickBooks Online comparison is based on our internal case study, explained below. As mentioned earlier, QuickBooks Solopreneur is excluded from our evaluation since it’s not a double-entry accounting software.
- It also has barcode scanning capabilities — business owners can download the QuickBooks Desktop mobile app and use their mobile device as a scanner.
- You just need to select the bills you want to pay from the Pay Bills window, place a checkmark next to the bills, and then select Save or Save and Print.
- I find myself leaning toward the futuristic solution, which makes QuickBooks Online my preferred choice of accounting software (my Ralph Macchio).
For this section, we considered customer service, support network, and a subjective expert opinion score. Users must have easy access to customer service channels in case of problems, questions, or assistance. QuickBooks Simple Start lets you process payroll for your employees when you sign up for QuickBooks Payroll, which requires a separate subscription. This allows you to automate your payroll so that it will calculate your payroll taxes, deductions, and net pay. Your employees have the option of direct deposit, and you can file and pay federal and state payroll taxes automatically.
When it’s time to file 1099s, Simple Start can help you generate and print the necessary forms, but you’ll need to mail them to the IRS and contractors yourself as e-filing is unavailable in Simple Start. QuickBooks Payments account subject to credit and application approval. Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
QuickBooks Simple Start is a good fit for businesses that are seeking a double-entry accounting system and for those with employees because of its integration with QuickBooks Payroll. The inventory management and job costing features are more robust in QuickBooks compared to QuickBooks Online. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are designed to handle small business’s bandwidth and needs. Strictly based on ease of use and basic functionality, QuickBooks Online is an what are activity quotas easier-to-adopt option that can handle small business accounting needs well.
