Following is the comparison of QuickBooks Online vs Cloud
QuickBooks Online: Overview
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, 650+ 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
650+ integrations
Cons
Customer support
More expensive than other SMB products
Fewer features than Desktop
No sales orders
QuickBooks Desktop: Overview
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. It’s worth noting that QuickBooks Desktop is only available on Windows operating systems. Mac users will need to look at QuickBooks for Mac for a locally-installed Mac-based QuickBooks option. Learn about how to convert QuickBooks Online to Desktop in detail.
Pros
Strong features
Traditional accounting
Potentially more secure
200+ integrations
Cons
Windows-only
Customer support
No remote access or mobile apps
Expensive license structure
Fewer automations than QBO
I hope this comparison will be helpful!
Mark Wilson
QuickBooks Online
While QuickBooks Online is made by the same parent company as QuickBooks Pro, they are not the same program. Many people who purchased QuickBooks Online thought it was the same program as their desktop version, but alas, they are different programs built in different databases albeit with similar user interfaces.
QuickBooks Online is not a one-time purchase. Instead, users subscribe to use the service on a monthly basis. The program is only accessible over the Internet, so if a company loses its Internet connection, it will not be able to access its financial data. As QuickBooks Online is not simply the web-application version of QuickBooks Pro, data cannot be imported with 100% accuracy. Users may experience issues uploading QuickBooks desktop data to QuickBooks Online and vice versa. This means meaning-making a change from one program to another will require a significant amount of manual input.
Top Features of QuickBooks Online at a glance:
Number of Users Allowed – 5 (QuickBooks Online Plus Edition)
Mobile Applications for iPad®, iPhone®, and Android® devices
Monthly Subscription Fee for Services
Intuit Payroll (Additional Monthly Charge)
QuickBooks Pro Hosted in the Cloud
A hosted QuickBooks solution is the same version as the desktop application, just accessible via a web application. This means that switching from a QuickBooks desktop solution to a cloud-hosted QuickBooks program is much easier than migrating to QuickBooks online. Many businesses implement a QuickBooks hosted solution when they have multiple users who need access to the same QuickBooks file at the same time. In fact, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions allows up to 30 simultaneous users on the same system.
Data can be easily uploaded from a QuickBooks desktop application to a hosted QuickBooks solution and vice versa. Additionally, hosted QuickBooks allows users to utilize all of the reporting and tracking features that are present in QuickBooks Pro, but are not available for QuickBooks Online.
Top Features of QuickBooks Hosted at a glance:
Number of Simultaneous Users Allowed –30
Forecasting Capabilities
Industry-Specific Reporting
Mobile Device Access
Regards,
Caleb