Previously, she was an editor at Fundera, where she developed service-driven content on topics such as business lending, software and insurance. She has also held editing roles at LearnVest, a personal finance startup, and its parent company, Northwestern Mutual. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. QuickBooks Online’s month-to-month subscription service starts at $30 a month (totaling $360 a year). Or, to save money, you can try QuickBooks’ typical offer of 50% off for three months . Staxpayments.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.

This is a serious limitation if you need to see your labor costs broken down by cost code. However, if you’re a specialty contractor and you just need to see your total labor costs in one account/cost code, it’s a great option. Once you’ve got it set up and entered the time into the system, your labor costs are allocated when you run payroll. The payroll system in QuickBooks Desktop does an amazing job of allocating your labor costs. This includes payroll taxes, benefits and worker’s comp, and jobs.

QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop reviews

Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships. These versions give business owners more features and reports geared toward their industry.

• This may work just fine for some, but I have a hard time with it not showing up on the Job Estimates vs. Actual or Job Profitability reports.
• Alternatively, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial with QuickBooks Online.
• Roll back on changes made to vendors, customers, settings, and more.

Those interested in trying out QuickBooks Online can access a free 30-day demo with sample data that allows you to easily explore system features and functions without spending a lot of time entering data. QuickBooks Desktop features are better developed than comparable features found on QuickBooks Online. While people may assume that QuickBooks Online is simply the cloud version of QuickBooks Desktop, in reality, the two products are very different.

Save time when you work together

Using QuickBooks Online’s mobile app, you can view and enter transactions, take photos of expense receipts, receive payments, and track mileage automatically, among other things. Where QuickBooks Desktop’s mobile app only allows you to take photos of expense receipts and only works with subscription-based versions of QuickBooks 2020 and newer. The site also makes it easier to connect to your online financial institutions, import transactions, and monitor account balances.

• QuickBooks Online wins this one, offering easy system navigation from the user dashboard.
• With QuickBooks Desktop, your clients need to make an Accountant’s Copy, which isn’t as convenient as with QuickBooks Online where your clients only need to send you an invitation email.
• This person can customize your QBO for your preferences and needs, set up your chart of accounts, connect QBO to your bank account, and put automated processes into place for your most frequently-used tasks.
• Finding yourself in need of simple tools and guidance to navigate through challenging situations as a leader?
• How much you’ll pay for each service depends on the service tier you buy.

Join me in GoSkills’ beginner-friendly QuickBooks Online course to gain the confidence you need to handle your business’ books, boost your accounting efficiency, and enhance your bookkeeping skills. The sales receipt can be created from the Home Page or from the Customers menu on the top of the screen. This is also possible with QuickBooks Desktop, though some banks charge connection fees. If your bank is one such institution, you may opt to upload your transaction data to QBDT yourself. Doing so isn’t necessarily a complicated or a time-consuming process, but it does require more effort than having QuickBooks download your bank transactions automatically.

QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop starting plans and prices

Each edition of Quickbooks Online Vs Desktop 2020 Online allows a set number of users at no additional cost. If you use the desktop version, you have to buy additional licenses depending on the number of users you have. You’ll pay a few hundred dollars upfront for the desktop version, unless you choose the Plus or Enterprise subscription-based desktop versions, where the web-based edition requires a monthly subscription fee.