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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Planning Center

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/APlanning Center in Carlsbad offers modular church management applications, providing CRM, tithe management, event registration and attendance, and volunteer resource scheduling.

    $14

    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
    Planning CenterQuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Editions & Modules
    Calendar
    14+
    per month
    Check-ins
    14+
    per month
    Giving
    14+
    per month
    Groups
    14+
    per month
    Registration
    14+
    per month
    Services
    14+
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Planning CenterQuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPrices increase based on the number of members and attendees.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Planning CenterQuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Considered Both Products
    Planning Center
    No answer on this topic
    Intuit
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    88%
    Would buy again
    29 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    32 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    20 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    Features
    Planning CenterQuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Planning Center and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Planning Center
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    6.6
    69 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings6.364 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.338 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings6.656 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings6.352 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.754 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Planning Center and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Planning Center
    -
    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 Planning Center and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Planning Center
    -
    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 Planning Center and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Planning Center
    -
    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 Planning Center and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Planning Center
    -
    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 Planning Center and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Planning Center
    -
    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 Planning Center and QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Feature
    Planning Center
    -
    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
    Planning CenterQuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Planning CenterQuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    8.5
    (135 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (19 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (42 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (1 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
    Planning CenterQuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Planning Center
    Planning Center is incredibly helpful if you are in the business of putting on events, performances, or productions. In such situations, Planning Center will help you coordinate with a large group of people, clearly showing who is expected to do what during the order of a service. If you are planning a major event (a wedding service, a major birthday party, a work event, or any kind of production), Planning Center will foster both teamwork and clarity. The only scenario I can envision Planning Center not being helpful would be a more laissez-faire type of event, (like a "come and go" reception).
    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
    Planning Center
    • Volunteer Management
    • Scheduling
    • File Hosting
    • Communication tools
    • Automated reminders
    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
    Planning Center
    • Adding files to an item on a playlist can be hard to find outside of that set.
    • Previewing songs on import gives very limited info - can be hard to find the correct one.
    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
    Planning Center
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    Usability
    Planning Center
    Planning Center is very user friendly on both the front and back ends.
    Incentivized
    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
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Planning Center
    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
    Planning Center
    I've not needed to use Planning Center support. In the few instances that I would have thought would "require support," tips and notices popped up on screen letting me know what was happening. There are very VERY few issues that I've found with Planning Center. The interface has been intuitive and powerful, so I've not needed to use their support service.
    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
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Planning Center
    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
    Planning Center
    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
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Planning Center
    At one point, I was presented with both Asana and Trello as helpful tools to facilitate teamwork and collaboration amongst a large group of people. However, when it comes to putting on productions/services/events, Planning Center just seemed to have everything we need. I have never really once given thought to moving on from Planning Center. I'm sure Asana and Trello have much to offer, and I did briefly consider the, but Planning Center (for what we needed) was a grand-slam, home run.
    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
    Planning Center
    • Planning Center Services has become an irreplaceable part of our Sunday gathering preparation
    • Planning Center Music Stand is an invaluable tool for rehearsal and performance of songs each week
    • Planning Center Giving helped us establish easy ways for folks to give online during COVID and beyond
    • Planning Center Registrations helped us navigate attendance issues during COVID, and has always been our go-to for gathering information for Events
    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
    ScreenShots