When the same company offers two amazing accounting software products, how can you possibly choose between them. QuickBooks Pro is the prehistoric dinosaur of accounting software, launched way back in 1992. It is also one of the primary software choices of accountants worldwide. The software offers a robust feature set, strong accounting, the ability to record bank transactions, online payroll, attractive invoices, 250+ integrations, and a brand new feature. It is also significantly easier to learn and use than QuickBooks Pro, and works anywhere you have an internet connection. Both seem great on the surface, so which software actually wins in this comparison. At Merchant Maverick, our goal is to help you to find the best software for your small business needs. Read quickbooks premier vs pro to learn which software comes out on top. Or looking for a different accounting option. Check out to see our favorite recommendations. Each offers a detailed chart of accounts, a bank reconciliation feature, and the basic reports needed to run a company. However, QuickBooks Pro beats QuickBooks Online in this category without question. QuickBooks Pro has some of the most advanced accounting features on the market. QuickBooks Pro has one of the most in-depth feature selections on the market. The developers literally thought of everything when they created this product. The time management, job-costing, budgeting, contact management, and bank reconciliation features are all more developed in QuickBooks Pro than in QuickBooks Online. Pricing Winner: Tie QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Pro have two very different pricing structures. However, the kicker is that once you quickbooks premier vs pro QuickBooks Pro you should be able to get three years out of your license. However, the extra costs of QuickBooks Pro add up quickly. If you have multiple users, use live bank feeds with multiple transactions, run payroll, and want phone support, QuickBooks Online will probably be a much better bet. We recommend crunching the numbers to decide whether the online version or the desktop version of QuickBooks wins this category for your specific business. QuickBooks Pro is a little more particular about their. QuickBooks Pro is compatible with only Windows 7, 8. Ease Of Use Winner: QuickBooks Online This is a simple one. The online version of QuickBooks is much easier to use than QuickBooks Pro. One of the most common complaints about QuickBooks Pro is its steep learning curve. Both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Pro have had notoriously poor customer service in the past. However, QuickBooks Online is working hard to remedy their customer service reputation. QuickBooks Online has received numerous complaints. Some of the most common are about limited mobile apps, slow run time, and bugs. QuickBooks Pro also has its share of complaints about its steep learning curve, forced upgrades, and poor customer service. However, the software is generally well-liked. QuickBooks Online is praised for its mobility, ease of use, feature selection, time-saving automations, and integrations. QuickBooks Pro is praised for its strong accounting, ample features, reliability, and reporting; several users even find the software easy to use. Security Winner: QuickBooks Online This category is a little unfair. When you sign up for a locally-installed software like QuickBooks Pro, you are in charge of keeping your data secure. This means that there is no built-in security. However, if you are tech savvy, locally-installed software can actually be more secure than cloud-based software. For most people, we figure that the convenience of security that is taken care of for you outweighs the extra security steps locally-installed software requires. QuickBooks Pro has some of the most developed accounting tools on the market. It offers an unbelievable number of features and each feature is highly developed. Another key factor to this win is the fact that many users who switched from QuickBooks Pro to QuickBooks Online have ended up switching back. While QuickBooks Pro is the overall winner of this mash-up, I predict that QuickBooks Online will be the winner for most small and many medium-sized businesses. It may even be a good choice for self-employed individuals, depending on their expenses and accounting requirements. Ultimately, the real deciding factor is going to be your specific business size, type, and needs. Whichever you choose, can help you make an informed decision during your hunt for the perfect accounting software. Read our full and reviews for more information. After doing your research, be sure to take each software for a test run, and feel free to reach out with any questions you have along the way. Chelsea Krause is a writer who has specialized in accounting for two years. She has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business. I just run a small business. I suspect there must have been valid programming reasons for not just adapting the desktop version for online use. I need to figure out how and when I can find the time and travel back to the desktop version. Chelsea, Perhaps you can broaden the horizon for me aswell. I have recently started a business. I am hiring a new bookeeper to minimize my workload. But how does one function without seeing their reports often. 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. Am I being to anal always wanting to see my financials. Am i the minority here. Hi Mike, You can import your customer and contact list only into QuickBooks Online from QuickBooks Pro Desktop. Quickbooks premier vs pro 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. 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 QuickBooks online is horrific. 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. Super easy and worth it. 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. But personally, I like the look of the QuickBooks Online templates much more. 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, quickbooks premier vs pro is something worth considering. I also recommend using the QuickBooks Online free trial, just to see if you like the feel and organization of QuickBooks Online. 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. Then after quite a while going back and forth they finally admitted that they are not completely compatible. Especially after the promotional discount runs out. They are doing things to force you to upgrade it more often by locking features for no reason, like importing bank data. I will be looking at other options when I am forced to upgrade again. In working as a professional accountant, I appreciate feature sets. There really is no comparison. Hmmm… 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. But again — no access. Hi Heather, Thanks for reaching out. QuickBooks Online would definitely solve this problem for you. Here is a quickbooks premier vs pro of the. 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 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. 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. But personally, I like the look of the QuickBooks Online templates much more. 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. I also recommend using the QuickBooks Online free trial, just to see if you like the feel and organization of QuickBooks Online. Be very careful if your switching. 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. The support is useless if the data imported is not complete!.
