QuickBooks Desktop Premier vs. QuickBooks Online Advanced

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Premier is an installed version of QuickBooks for general business, contractors, manufacturing and warehouse accounting, as well as nonprofits, professional services, and retail.N/A
QuickBooks Online Advanced
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online Advanced is a SaaS-based accounting software designed to scale with growing businesses. It includes the functionalities of QuickBooks Online, as well as more robust business analytics, customization, and resource management.N/A
Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Online Advanced
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Online Advanced
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Online Advanced
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Desktop Premier

No answer on this topic

QuickBooks Online Advanced
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
I only use QuickBooks with my clients - both online and desktop. Some clients are moving in from Excel - it is incredible how much better they are to manage their businesses when entering data consistently!
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QBO is easier to use than QBs Desktop.
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks Online is a no brainer; everything is going cloud so your accounting should too. That trumps the desktop versions of this software hands down. Price is a factor as desktop versions are bought outright and supported for about 5 years, so they are a little bit cheaper. …
Features
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Online Advanced
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
9.0
48 Ratings
16% above category average
QuickBooks Online Advanced
-
Ratings
Pay calculation7.046 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration10.020 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.036 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.927 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management10.030 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
1.3
20 Ratings
142% below category average
QuickBooks Online Advanced
9.1
93 Ratings
18% above category average
API for custom integration1.315 Ratings8.376 Ratings
Plug-ins1.320 Ratings9.981 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
10.0
50 Ratings
18% above category average
QuickBooks Online Advanced
9.0
164 Ratings
8% above category average
Single sign-on capability10.044 Ratings9.1146 Ratings
Role-based user permissions10.041 Ratings8.9160 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.2
59 Ratings
4% above category average
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.5
177 Ratings
8% above category average
Dashboards9.050 Ratings8.9167 Ratings
Standard reports9.058 Ratings8.9176 Ratings
Custom reports6.556 Ratings7.8168 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.3
62 Ratings
7% above category average
QuickBooks Online Advanced
9.2
179 Ratings
17% above category average
Accounts payable10.060 Ratings9.2173 Ratings
Accounts receivable10.061 Ratings9.6168 Ratings
Cash management10.056 Ratings9.0149 Ratings
Bank reconciliation10.059 Ratings9.4171 Ratings
Expense management10.058 Ratings9.6158 Ratings
Time tracking5.028 Ratings9.690 Ratings
Fixed asset management5.040 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support9.018 Ratings9.646 Ratings
Multi-division support7.033 Ratings7.677 Ratings
Regulations compliance1.819 Ratings9.280 Ratings
Electronic tax filing10.028 Ratings9.5100 Ratings
Self-service portal5.018 Ratings9.796 Ratings
Global Financial Support5.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers7.06 Ratings9.976 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting10.010 Ratings7.476 Ratings
Localizations10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations10.015 Ratings9.5155 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting10.07 Ratings8.466 Ratings
Configurable Accounting10.08 Ratings9.784 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework10.05 Ratings9.365 Ratings
Standardized Processes10.09 Ratings9.0119 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
2.9
36 Ratings
87% below category average
QuickBooks Online Advanced
9.5
72 Ratings
26% above category average
Inventory tracking1.735 Ratings9.572 Ratings
Automatic reordering1.015 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing module1.017 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.0
40 Ratings
3% above category average
QuickBooks Online Advanced
9.5
121 Ratings
21% above category average
Pricing10.030 Ratings9.888 Ratings
Order entry10.031 Ratings9.881 Ratings
Credit card processing10.028 Ratings8.9106 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.036 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Orchestration10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Online Advanced
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Score 10.0 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Online Advanced
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(65 ratings)
9.4
(179 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.3
(12 ratings)
9.9
(6 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(16 ratings)
9.9
(4 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
1.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.2
(7 ratings)
6.4
(3 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Online Advanced
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
We really think that ANY typical business would be a reasonable fit for QuickBooks Desktop Premier. While not necessary, even a comparatively unexperienced accounting person could look at the "Home" screen and follow their nose thru typical daily accounting processes without much detailed knowledge. Reporting is simple, looking up customer info and prior transactions is simple, looking up vendors and prior payments is simple... all in all, quite straightforward. I really can't think of an instance where it would be 'less appropriate'.
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Intuit
Smaller businesses that need affordable accounting software that many people are used to should look at Quickbooks. QuickBooks makes it easier for people to access your books from multiple locations. If cost is an issue, QuickBooks is very affordable, given you do not need to install and maintain a server.
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Pros
Intuit
  • Employment - it makes creating paychecks a snap and tracks taxes.
  • Invoicing - they have a straightforward approach to creating invoices and you can even email them to your customers.
  • Customers - the program makes tracking customer information and balances easy.
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Intuit
  • It allows us to link to bank accounts in order to get up-to-date, real-time information, which is so important in today's lightning speed work world.
  • The "canned" reports are excellent and allow for extreme customization also. This makes them very helpful to both me and my clients.
  • The user interface for QuickBooks Online Advanced is easy to navigate and is intuitive for novices. The screens are well laid out and have cohesiveness on each screen to match tasks with others that match up well.
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Cons
Intuit
  • Support for older versions of QuickBooks ends after three years, then users must purchase the newest version at full price. Renewals should be deeply discounted for existing users.
  • I would like to see better in-product inventory tracking, so we can choose LIFO or FIFO rather than the ambiguous "average cost" method.
  • I would like to be able to assign payroll taxes to jobs for better job costing.
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Intuit
  • Proper advice in QuickBooks Online Pro for the usage if QuickBooks Online Advanced will be more efficient.
  • More features and space in the app for organization of the self-created workflows.
  • The stability of QuickBooks Online Advanced can still be better.
  • There are still file-size issues and limitations on transactions and attributes of transactions.
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Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
Because we have been extremely happy with the product and our organization tends to be creatures of habit. We rarely leave a product that works this well for the latest and greatest. Typically we follow the "if it's not broken, don't fix it rule". While QB does make changes we typically just roll with it. If we do find something we don't like we work through it until we fully understand its functionality.
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Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced is very easy to use and the data is very transparent. The reporting shortfalls (not being able to report the current month and YTD results on the same report) as well as the issues with the limitations with the management reports.
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Usability
Intuit
We switched to a more "robust" software program with the hiring of a new CFO. The migration of historical data and ancillary information has been cumbersome and riddle with errors and issues. In hindsight much of what the new software program was touted to accomplish is not come to fruition. QB Desktop Premier was sufficient for the organization needs
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Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced is great and effective. I use it for almost three months and it definitely does their job
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Reliability and Availability
Intuit
This is very reliable software, the desktop version is fast. If there is a problem, it is most likely on your own hardware!
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Intuit
No issue at any time with Availability
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Performance
Intuit
It takes forever to load.
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Intuit
It can be access at any time and reports is generate in less than a minute
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Support Rating
Intuit
This is where QuickBooks falls short. Many times my staff has had questions that have not been able to get resolved easily with a chat or call. I personally have had more general questions that have not been answered easily as well. I think QuickBooks needs to provide the resources of having readily accessible help in order to make it simpler to get solutions.
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Intuit
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Intuit
Training was simple
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Implementation Rating
Intuit
It is important to do your research. There are tutorial videos online that could help new user of this accounting system. These tutorials are straightforward and easily understandable.
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Intuit
Need to make an option for non-profit organizations
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Alternatives Considered
Intuit
QuickBooks Premier handles most of my business functions efficiently in one package. It is not my "everything." I use Replicon for time rather than QuickBooks. I don't want my WIP data interfering with my accounting. I use PaySimple for it's web interface and back office processing. I don't have security issues since I don't have any credit card data in my possession. With today's identity theft environment, I have to protect myself as much as I can. Not having credit card data in my accounting software lets me sleep much better at night. Quicken will do basic accounting but does not have all the double entry accounting systems contained in QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online does much of the basic business functions but I don't like the pricing structure. As a professional accountant, that is very important to me. Bill.com provided a good service but the ability of QuickBooks to add bills and receipts to transactions makes it redundant.
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Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced isn’t as robust as Netsuite or Sage, but it is generally a great choice for most businesses. This software will meet or exceed the needs of most companies, and should be the first part of your accounting software decision. I would even reach out to a QuickBooks Online Advanced expert to ensure you need to step up to Sage or Netsuite before doing so on your own.
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Scalability
Intuit
They're getting better. Still room for improvement.
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Intuit
Software is very flexible
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Return on Investment
Intuit
  • Most of our business clients use QuickBooks which makes it efficient for us to work on clients that use the program. We can import QuickBooks data into our software which adds efficiencies to our tax practice.
  • Having staff that are familiar with the software enables our firm to provide quality service to the clients that use QuickBooks.
  • We receive referrals from satisfied QuickBooks clients.
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Intuit
  • QBOA has shown my clients the increase and decrease of my monthly income activity
  • I am able to project my income and spending more easily
  • The P&L reports has shown me a lot and by customizing to focus on my income and expenses has allowed me to better budget
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