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Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) vs. QuickBooks Desktop Pro

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/AIntuit Online Payroll was a small business payroll option available as a standalone SaaS solution, that Intuit announced it was discontinuing in favor of Quickbooks Online Payroll, available via Quickbooks.

    $22.50

    per month

    QuickBooks Desktop Pro

    Score7.8 out of 10
    N/AQuickbooks Desktop Pro is accounting software from Intuit, Inc. It includes core accounting features, plus analytics and exportable reports. It is offered in on-premise and SaaS forms.N/A
    Pricing
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Editions & Modules
    Core
    22.50 + $4 per employee
    per month
    Premium
    37.50 + $8 per employee
    per month
    Elite
    62.50+ $10 per employee
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Considered Both Products
    Intuit
    Chose Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    Data transfer is seamless and allows for data analysis and business management. Reduction of errors in basic data entry allows more time for analysis and managing business finances. Knowing the data flows from one to the other keeps me from checking multiple places for …
    Incentivized
    Intuit
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    50%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    88%
    Would buy again
    29 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    50%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    63%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    32 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    57%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    20 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    71%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    Features
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    7.3
    10 Ratings
    12% below category average
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    6.6
    69 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Pay calculation8.99 Ratings6.364 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors2.26 Ratings00 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.33 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration8.95 Ratings6.338 Ratings
    Direct deposit files3.89 Ratings6.656 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management9.27 Ratings6.352 Ratings
    Reimbursement management8.78 Ratings7.754 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    5.7
    43 Ratings
    28% below category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings6.535 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings5.039 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    8.5
    101 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.482 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.695 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    8.5
    117 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.4100 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.9117 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings8.1114 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    7.5
    124 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings9.3119 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.2121 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings9.2107 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings9.7119 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings9.4108 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings7.451 Ratings
    Fixed asset management00 Ratings5.669 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings6.931 Ratings
    Multi-division support00 Ratings8.958 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings8.342 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing00 Ratings8.355 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings5.941 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings4.217 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.240 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings7.943 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings4.219 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings8.876 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings6.838 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.647 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings5.427 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.555 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    5.8
    59 Ratings
    23% below category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings6.056 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.035 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings6.032 Ratings
    Manufacturing module00 Ratings5.218 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued) and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    6.8
    77 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Pricing00 Ratings7.555 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings8.555 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings7.251 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings8.063 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings5.220 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings6.023 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings5.218 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Small Businesses
    Patriot Payroll
    Score8.6 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    APS
    Score5.7 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ADP Streamline Payroll
    Score6.1 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Likelihood to Recommend
    3.0
    (17 ratings)
    8.5
    (135 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    3.8
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (42 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.5
    (5 ratings)
    1.2
    (29 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (22 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Intuit Online Payroll (discontinued)QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Intuit
    I believe the ideal scenario is when you are already using the Intuit family of products and the payroll bolts on to your existing QuickBooks infrastructure. Payroll software products have been around a long time, and this is a very competitive niche. Most of the companies do a good job of filing taxes promptly, reporting W-2 items properly, providing good reports, etc. Where you might really get some extra efficiency and benefit is the fact that the payroll is woven into the accounting system, creating one seamless enterprise solution. Also, where it might be less appropriate is in a really simple use case such as a one person company where there aren't complex fringe benefits to deal with. In that scenario, you can set up the ACH debits directly with the state agency and the IRS and possibly file your own 941, 940, W-2/W-3 and state equivalent forms. Of course, if you're willing to do this and are good with details, you can save yourself some money.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    For a small business, QuickBooks Desktop Pro is great! For a larger, more complex business, another system may be more beneficial. We actually run multiple businesses on QuickBooks Desktop Pro, but all are very small. The help feature is sometimes so beneficial, and sometimes it seems like you just can't get the right answer and need to find a workaround - but this is usually for more complex issues.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Intuit
    • Integration with QuickBooks Desktop. This is the key strength of IP... it is a complete, native integration and let's you maintain all employee records and time keeping in QuickBooks
    • Job Costing. Another key differentiation -- some payroll outsources say they do true job costing (by work or item code). Don't believe them. If its' not integrated with your accounting system, you will not get "TRUE" job costing. You can get costs ASSIGNED to jobs (which may be fine), but you won't get item level detail in QuickBooks from anyone but Intuit.
    • Variety of Payment options. Use Direct Deposit or manual checks... or whatever you want. Since its in QB, you can make payments any way you want.
    • Cash Flow. This is both good and bad, but IP will not take taxes out of your bank account until they are due. That's different than some other providers that want assurance that you have the tax payments available at the moment you push "SUBMIT."
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • It is easy to manage and adjust inventory on hand.
    • It is easy to make reports and customize them to your needs.
    • We also use it to pay our employees directly.
    • It is easy to make year-to-year comparisons to see where we can make improvements and the current financial situation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Intuit
    • My biggest issue is that they do continue to raise their prices on a regular basis and it makes people feel stuck when there are so many clients already using the system.
    • They do not support roaming employees, so employees that cross over into various tax jurisdictions in one pay period pose a challenge for calculating taxes and pay.
    • The setup can be a bit daunting still if you are not familiar with the system or the various taxes and requirements for reporting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • QuickBooks Desktop Pro has been around for a few years and after an update[,] they force you to look at the changes/updates before you can use [them] after updating.
    • QuickBooks Desktop Pro does not have 2FA.
    • QuickBooks Desktop Pro should offer a way to store backups to a personal cloud without having to map a local network drive.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Intuit
    Works perfectly as advertised. Our simple needs are well taken care of.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    I'd love to keep using it, and do intend to - though we've not been pleased with price increases over the past several years. In fact, we used to subscribe to the payroll service, but QuickBooks priced themselves out of reach for us, so we discontinued that. Currently, pricing would be the primary reason for NOT renewing, if we didn't.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Intuit
    I would rate it a 0. It gets worse and worse all the time. It seems like every time I go into IOP to run a payroll for one of my clients, I have one more problem.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    The set up was quite easy. I took some online training causes, and figured our the rest pretty quickly. The only issue I had during the implementation process was it was very hard to change some of the GL Account name to reflect the needs of a non-profit organization, such as Net Assets. At the end I had to scratch what I did, and used the existing formats that the third-party bookkeeping firm shared. Everything else is simple and easy to manage and implement.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    I haven't experienced a time when QuickBooks Pro was unavailable when I needed it in the entire 20 years of using the software
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Intuit
    The customer support personnel have always walked me through the steps they need to take to assist me. Never rushed through anything. Always exceptionally thorough, answering all my questions and even sharing my screen visually (I have control, not them). It actually helps me to resolve future issues and questions, if they should arise.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    They are awful. Intuit doesn't spend real money on support. They appear to have typically said, first-level script readers who are sending messages to the senior people for anything even a little bit difficult. Many of them don't speak particularly good English. Considering that they recently doubled (or, if you are paying annually, tripled) their pricing, and touted as one of the benefits that it includes [..] support, it's a real ripoff. However, we have to use the product because it is ubiquitous. I look forward to the day a competitor comes up with something good enough, which has excellent support, that matches all the features QuickBooks Desktop Pro currently has [...] or at least gives us a way to have all the functionality we currently have without excessive sacrifice [...] so that we can switch. I was very satisfied with QuickBooks for many years. This latest [rise] in price, and their sheer gall at touting the benefit of the 100 to 200% increase as being [the] inclusion of support, is what turned me so far against them.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    Best thing I ever did was to attend a two day training seminar on QuickBooks, I learned an immense amount in a short time with hands on training by experts. I strongly recommend such training for anyone using any part of the software. It will pay for itself in the first month.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    We implemented the software ourselves. The training we received on the software was done by taking a community course teaching us how to use QuickBooks. It allowed me to get started with some basics of how to use the program and have not needed much assistance since completing the course work.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Intuit
    It's a payroll software with decent customer support readily available and direct integration with my accounting tools. This made it a prime fit for me, and made payment and tax reporting relatively simple, and errors readily correctable. It does not have time tracking, and I still believe that this software is overpriced, but it's the best fit for me right now.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    We tried switching from QuickBooks Desktop Pro to QuickBooks Online, but there were a lot of issues and bugs so we ultimately decided to stay with Desktop Pro. Unfortunately, we are losing a lot of Online Banking capabilities on 5/31 as we have an older version of QB, but we plan to stick with Desktop Pro. In terms of invoicing, SaaSOptics beats QuickBooks in almost all aspects as it's all automated and takes seconds to create and send invoices. However, SaaSOptics is not really a full ERP program so it wouldn't serve us as a main bookkeeping software like QB.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Intuit
    • Positive: Less of a learning curve to train payroll accountants, as they are already familiar with using Intuit. Also, in general there are a larger pool of candidates who know this system than many of the other "niche" lesser known payroll products.
    • Positive: More options to choose from depending on the level of service needed. For example, there is a Full Service offering if needed. This might apply to an organization that doesn't have the resources available or an internal person who has the time/bandwidth to handle the entire company's payroll. Thus, it is possible to cherry pick the level of service needed depending on the type of company/situation.
    • Positive: Good audit trail. This can be extremely important and cost efficient when a business is going through an external audit by an outside CPA firm and the payroll accounting function is undergoing testing (ie. less time required by the external auditor would likely lower their bill for their services).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • Training time is low compared to other accounting packages
    • It was difficult to adapt to DCAA requirements, [which] required [the] hiring of [a] special consultant for that
    • QuickBooks Desktop Pro is a standard for small companies and makes it easy to hire bookkeepers
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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