TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Planful

    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Planful is a cloud-based enterprise performance management (EPM) suite. It includes financial applications for modeling, planning, consolidation, reporting and analytics.N/A

    QuickBooks Online

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AQuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.

    $38

    per month

    Pricing
    PlanfulQuickBooks Online
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Simple Start
    $38
    per month
    Essentials
    $75
    per month
    Plus
    $115
    per month
    Advanced
    $275
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    PlanfulQuickBooks Online
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPricing is highly dependent on the complexity and scope of the implementation.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    PlanfulQuickBooks Online
    Considered Both Products
    Planful
    Chose Planful
    Planful (formerly Host Analytics) is very user friendly and easy to navigate and use for any person in the organization.
    Incentivized
    Intuit
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    101 Answers
    83%
    Would buy again
    129 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    90 Answers
    87%
    Delivers good value for the price
    124 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    102 Answers
    83%
    Happy with the feature set
    129 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    90%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    60 Answers
    82%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    84%
    Implementation went as expected
    67 Answers
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    117 Answers
    Features
    PlanfulQuickBooks Online
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    6.1
    64 Ratings
    21% below category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports6.933 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards5.057 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates6.555 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    7.5
    104 Ratings
    3% below category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis8.4103 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities7.0104 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration7.197 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    7.4
    86 Ratings
    7% below category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web8.433 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF6.477 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning6.555 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.566 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    6.1
    51 Ratings
    19% below category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)5.040 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization6.42 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics6.044 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining7.33 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    8.9
    103 Ratings
    6% above category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)8.496 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model8.894 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.595 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control8.855 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)9.778 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    2.3
    42 Ratings
    104% below category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access2.540 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile2.230 Ratings00 Ratings
    Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
    Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    8.7
    156 Ratings
    8% above category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Long-term financial planning8.7139 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial budgeting9.0155 Ratings00 Ratings
    Forecasting9.0146 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scenario modeling7.8131 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management reporting9.0149 Ratings00 Ratings
    Consolidation and Close
    Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    8.0
    118 Ratings
    3% above category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Financial data consolidation9.3107 Ratings00 Ratings
    Journal entries and reports7.886 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency management7.470 Ratings00 Ratings
    Intercompany Eliminations7.673 Ratings00 Ratings
    Minority Ownership6.939 Ratings00 Ratings
    Local and consolidated reporting7.789 Ratings00 Ratings
    Detailed Audit Trails9.187 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial Reporting and Compliance
    Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    7.6
    152 Ratings
    7% below category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Financial Statement Reporting8.8133 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management Reporting8.8143 Ratings00 Ratings
    Excel-based Reporting7.0141 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated board and financial reporting6.5114 Ratings00 Ratings
    XBRL support for regulatory filing7.13 Ratings00 Ratings
    Analytics and Reporting
    Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    5.9
    104 Ratings
    24% below category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Personalized dashboards5.191 Ratings00 Ratings
    Color-coded scorecards2.555 Ratings00 Ratings
    KPIs7.476 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cost and profitability analysis6.975 Ratings00 Ratings
    Key Performance Indicator setting6.963 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benchmarking with external data6.410 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration
    Comparison of Integration features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    8.9
    140 Ratings
    10% above category average
    QuickBooks Online
    -
    Ratings
    Flat file integration9.5105 Ratings00 Ratings
    Excel data integration7.8130 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct links to 3rd-party data sources9.596 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Online
    7.7
    125 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings8.0114 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.962 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.1105 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.778 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.784 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Online
    7.0
    116 Ratings
    8% below category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings6.996 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings7.198 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Online
    8.2
    191 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.3156 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.1181 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Online
    8.0
    217 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.1204 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.3211 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings7.7195 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Online
    7.8
    234 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.5200 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.6217 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings7.9198 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings9.0223 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings8.2206 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings6.998 Ratings
    Fixed asset management00 Ratings7.798 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.549 Ratings
    Multi-division support00 Ratings7.180 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings7.979 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing00 Ratings8.0118 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings7.3126 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings6.441 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.972 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings7.672 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings7.855 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings8.5146 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings7.062 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.789 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings7.560 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.6108 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Online
    6.8
    90 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings6.685 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.947 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings7.254 Ratings
    Manufacturing module00 Ratings6.537 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of Planful and QuickBooks Online
    Feature
    Planful
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Online
    7.7
    144 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Pricing00 Ratings7.991 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings7.787 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings8.3111 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings8.0110 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings7.347 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings7.750 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings7.443 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    PlanfulQuickBooks Online
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Planning Analytics
    Score8.5 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
    Score7.2 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    PlanfulQuickBooks Online
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (164 ratings)
    8.3
    (252 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.7
    (23 ratings)
    9.6
    (27 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (21 ratings)
    8.2
    (167 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    1.0
    (5 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (22 ratings)
    9.9
    (70 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.3
    (9 ratings)
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    1.0
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    7.4
    (18 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    5.3
    (4 ratings)
    1.3
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    2.0
    (3 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    7.4
    (4 ratings)
    5.0
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    5.0
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    PlanfulQuickBooks Online
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Planful
    Planful is initially easy to setup and if a company is already using a mid layer to transform and standardise GL data, management reports can be set up in days, not weeks or months. Budgeting template setup does get some getting used to but the training provided by Planful is sufficient to get going and learn along the way. Building custom reports is straightforward and the interface is user-friendly, therefore the accounting team can get going without the need for technical specialists getting involved. Budget and forecasting is flexible and drivers of revenue and cost can be created in Planful and customised by Unit or Geography.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    QBO is a great solution for small and midsize companies. If the goal is to record all transactions and pull reliable financial reports, QBO is a great option. QBO is also a great solution if most operations are run in a system like Ramp. It syncs well with systems like that and turns the data into something management can use to make decisions. QBO is great because so many people use it. It is easy to find training online, and many people have experience with it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Planful
    • It aggregates data from different sources well, allowing me to report on a wide variety of metrics that interrelate.
    • I can build detailed reports so that my monthly and weekly reporting is done more efficiently
    • I like the tools that I am using to create dedicated models for forecasting and budgeting purposes
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • Workflows for accounts payable invoice review are terrific.
    • Bill payment allows you to pay vendors online via ACH or check without having to write a physical check, which reduces admin time.
    • The cloud based login lends well to a remote or hybrid work environment for staff.
    • QuickBooks Online allows you to pre-configure vendors' general ledger expense accounts. This helps with general ledger coding accuracy and consistency.
    • QuickBooks Online integrates with Rippling HRIS, Coast, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, etc., which lends well to an efficient month-end closing and reduced administrative time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Planful
    • Dashboarding could be more flexible and easier to use.
    • Dynamic Reporting has room for flexibility with nesting, dimension names showing up instead of “All,” and overall flexibility.
    • Make Analyze view in Spotlight more intuitive.
    • A high-level onboarding guide to understanding the different components of Planful, data flows, and tips & tricks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • I dislike that the online bill pay option through QuickBooks is required for their invoicing.
    • The auto-fill portion of the customer setup, specifically the company name, is listed, but it also auto-fills in the name portion, which is inconvenient and time-consuming to remove.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Planful
    Our new Comptroller understands the value of Planful, and we plan to utilize it further in the organization to enhance external reporting. Strangely enough, Planful had not previously been embraced by the former CFO, who argued that we were running two sets of books (of course, we were not). Fortunately, the before mentioned reconciliation of EBITDA to Net Income demonstrated that to the banks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    It like the product 'right out of the box' and I trust Intuit will continually improve it over the years based on my experience with their desktop products. The large providers of Apps makes customizing the entire package relatively easy and seamless for a wide variety of business types.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Planful
    The tool is extremely adaptable, and it enables very quick querying to give us opportunity to gain live insights into the business. Given its adaptability, we are also able to create scenario analyses very quickly in rapidly changing environments. The formatting also enables us to provide this information in a very consumable manner.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    Beyond being overkill for a small org's needs, QBO is constantly stealing screen real estate and attention by hammering users for account upgrades, connecting to one of their approved consultants or buying add-ons. The idea of using a simple configurable bookeeping and light accounting interface is completely missing. At the very least, we should be able to hide functions like inventory that we will never use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Planful
    I only give a 9 rating rather than a 10 rating because it seems that every day around 2pm we see a slowdown in the use of Planful. I have requested our internal IT department verify that it is not an internal issue and have been assured it is the tool. We have not yet reached out to Planful to do extensive research to solve this issue.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    We have rarely had outages in the last 10 years. I can only recall 2 times in the last 10 years where we were not able to access our client files.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Planful
    Again, the system is very reliable and, for the most part, runs very quick and smooth. When running larger queries, it does take some time, and during budgeting season our users experienced slower loading times, but nothing that raises concerns outside of normal network issues. Occasionally, as with any software we use, it will crash and you have to restart, but that does not happen very often.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    Everything process has its bugs lately with the new interface. Nothing has worked smoothly since this all began last month.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Planful
    Sometimes we get great help when using Planful's support team and other times we don't. In particular, there is one person that often responds to our support tickets who is less than helpful, hence the reason for the 5 out of 10 rating. As a result, most of the time we reach out to our Planful consulting group as they provide faster and better support
    Read full review
    Intuit
    In my experience, most representatives keep me on the phone for hours, literally, for a single issue and then usually cannot resolve it satisfactorily. I have 10 open cases that need resolution and, in my experience, there has been NO follow-up communication on any of them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Planful
    My team has attended training offered several times before/during the Planful Perform conference. This training has been extremely useful and we always learn something we didn't know prior to the training. The trainers are always very knowledgeable and more than willing to help each and every user after the training with specific questions regarding their environment. Planful also offers training and certifications on their training hub. I have completed a couple of the certifications. The courses are easy to follow along with and very informative. Additionally, Planful schedules webinars pretty regularly. They'll email their customers and allow you to register to participate live. They also record these sessions so you can refer back to them at a later date or if you are unable to attend at the time the webinar is offered, you can register anyway and get access to the recording. Their training has improved year over year!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Planful
    Planful provides a lot of online training support. There's so many options for training. Admin Learning Courses, User Learning Courses. Plus they have several webinars devoted to the tool and the new features they release. New Releases can be practiced in a Sandbox Environment prior to going live in Production
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Planful
    After going through the initial implementation with Host Analytics and a re-implementation with Cervello (due to an ERP change, not due to a poor initial implementation), I've learned that you really must rely on your internal staff to bear most of the implementation burden. Use the vendor or partners for ideas and best-practice suggestions, and some of the easy-but-time-consuming work. Since you will ultimately be using and maintaining the application, you should be able to do most of it yourself.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    The person in charge of QB needs to be very accurate with record keeping and is recommended to stay on top of tasks. The biggest issue we have is reconciliation, and those issues occur only when too much time has occurred between reconciliations
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Planful
    Prior to joining the company, we tried to implement Vena but were unsuccessful. There we're a few reasons it didn't work out, but a lot of it related to the implementation team they provided. In just the first week with Planful, we achieved more progress than we did in several months with Vena.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    As a freelance bookkeeper, the Desktop version of QuickBooks Online doesn't allow for ease of access from any device. Having to be on a computer with the software downloaded creates additional work to gain access to all required filings etc. Also, I personally find the linking functionality on the Online version to be much more streamlined and user friendly.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Planful
    From our experience, Planful is only used in 2 overhead departments in our organization. We easily added another overhead department, but they decided against using Planful for their workforce and financial planning. Removing them from our environment was extremely easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    As we have grown along our professional path, we have also expanded our use of QB. The scalability is easy and features seem to be waiting for you until you need them. We have increased profits by over 10x from our first year in business to the current and have yet to find a reason to look elsewhere
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Planful
    • Has allowed users to view a real-time P&L in a way they weren't able to do with Qlik.
    • Budget to Actual analysis has become much more streamlined and actionable
    • Long-range plan process has been significantly streamlined and a lot of time has been cut out of the process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • QuickBooks has given us a useful portal by which to get an overview of our financials.
    • QuickBooks has given us a relatively easy way to send out invoices quickly and efficiently.
    • Due to the customization limitations on QuickBooks, we've had to get creative in third-party implementations to better represent our brand and to track financials.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Planful Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Planful Planform DashboardScreenshot of Planful for FinanceScreenshot of Planful for MarketingScreenshot of ReportsScreenshot of a Capacity Planning TemplateScreenshot of Integrations

    QuickBooks Online Screenshots

    Screenshot of the accounting and bank transactions interfaceScreenshot of an overview of the accounting inventoryScreenshot of book marksScreenshot of the business tax overviewScreenshot of the customer hubScreenshot of the dashboard