QuickBooks Desktop for Mac vs. QuickBooks Desktop Premier

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Quickbooks Desktop for Mac is an accounting software designed for Mac users. It is designed to integrate with Apple iCloud. It provides core accounting features in line with the rest of the Quickbooks Desktop product line.N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Score 8.3 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
Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Desktop Premier
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
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
QuickBooks for Mac definitely outshines other competitors mainly due to its ability to sync seamlessly with all mac products, which other programs have continual problems with. Although the Mac version isn't quite as powerful as the Microsoft counterpart, it is still one of the …
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
I feel that the online (QBO)version is the platform of the future. With third party companies building solid apps and plugins that integrate with QBO seamlessly, the desktop versions are becoming limited.
QuickBooks Desktop Premier

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
11 Ratings
29% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.9
47 Ratings
17% above category average
Pay calculation10.09 Ratings7.046 Ratings
Benefit plan administration10.06 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Direct deposit files10.08 Ratings8.036 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management10.05 Ratings9.927 Ratings
Reimbursement management10.07 Ratings9.529 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
6.0
11 Ratings
16% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
1.3
20 Ratings
138% below category average
API for custom integration6.07 Ratings1.315 Ratings
Plug-ins6.010 Ratings1.320 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
20 Ratings
24% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.4
49 Ratings
6% below category average
Single sign-on capability10.020 Ratings4.843 Ratings
Role-based user permissions10.017 Ratings10.040 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
22 Ratings
27% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
6.8
57 Ratings
11% below category average
Dashboards10.019 Ratings4.848 Ratings
Standard reports10.022 Ratings7.856 Ratings
Custom reports10.022 Ratings7.854 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
5.8
24 Ratings
24% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.1
60 Ratings
4% below category average
Accounts payable8.124 Ratings7.058 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.123 Ratings7.059 Ratings
Cash management6.218 Ratings8.054 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.824 Ratings8.057 Ratings
Expense management6.220 Ratings6.156 Ratings
Time tracking6.212 Ratings5.028 Ratings
Fixed asset management6.214 Ratings5.139 Ratings
Multi-currency support1.010 Ratings9.018 Ratings
Multi-division support6.211 Ratings7.033 Ratings
Regulations compliance6.210 Ratings1.819 Ratings
Electronic tax filing8.115 Ratings10.028 Ratings
Self-service portal6.213 Ratings8.017 Ratings
Global Financial Support1.07 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers6.213 Ratings7.06 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting6.214 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Localizations1.06 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations6.217 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting6.25 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Configurable Accounting6.29 Ratings7.16 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework6.29 Ratings9.93 Ratings
Standardized Processes6.213 Ratings4.37 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
7.7
15 Ratings
9% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
2.9
36 Ratings
83% below category average
Inventory tracking6.214 Ratings1.735 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.810 Ratings1.015 Ratings
Location management7.09 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Manufacturing module10.08 Ratings1.017 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
8.3
18 Ratings
11% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.0
38 Ratings
6% below category average
Pricing10.017 Ratings10.030 Ratings
Order entry10.016 Ratings10.031 Ratings
Credit card processing10.017 Ratings7.027 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.016 Ratings6.334 Ratings
Order Orchestration5.76 Ratings10.03 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility6.77 Ratings1.04 Ratings
Order exception Resolution5.66 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Small Businesses
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(32 ratings)
3.0
(63 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(9 ratings)
1.3
(12 ratings)
Usability
5.4
(6 ratings)
7.0
(14 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.9
(5 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
5.7
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
6.9
(4 ratings)
1.1
(12 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.0
(1 ratings)
7.2
(7 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
6.2
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
If you're a freelancer or running a very small business where you do your own bookkeeping I think this is a great option, especially if you're familiar with accounting and bookkeeping in general. If you're not so familiar with bookkeeping, I would say that the learning curve is too steep and you might want to look elsewhere for a more intuitive solution
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Intuit
QuickBooks Premier is not well suited to manufacturing industries, as it cannot handle the complicated inventory requirements of raw materials, work in process, and finished goods. Retailers and Wholesalers can use QuickBooks Premier as long as they have an add-on inventory tracking program or Point of Sale system that integrates with QuickBooks. Likewise, restaurants would need specialized restaurant software that integrates with QuickBooks Premier. Non-profits can use QuickBooks Premier non-profit edition, but if they use fund accounting, it will require some complicated work-arounds. QuickBooks Premier is well-suited to most construction trades, personal and professional services providers, small retailers, and rental property owners.
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Pros
Intuit
  • The program is very easy to learn, the interface is incredibly user-friendly and there are tons of free resources and tutorials available
  • It makes managing payroll really easy for the employee and accountant on staff. No more lost time sheets or late paychecks!
  • Managing bills and paying them has become streamlined and it's great having everything in one place so we don't lose track of things.
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Intuit
  • The program is easy to learn and use. We can train our clients' personnel how to use the program with out difficulty.
  • It is easy for clients to generate bills and manage accounts receivable.
  • It is easy to manage accounts payable and allows clients to pay their bills electronically.
  • Transactions can be imported electronically for credit card and banking transactions.
  • It is easy to reconcile bank and credit card accounts.
  • We can import data generated by QuickBooks into our tax and accounting software.
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Cons
Intuit
  • The #1 complaint is that setting it up right is a challenge. People waste time trying to figure it out only to realize that they don't know accounting so of course they don't know how an accounting program should be set up. Like any time you are in over your head, reach out to your network and find someone who can log onto your computer and walk you through it.
  • If you need to track the cost of wages to jobs you can't do it with the online payroll, but check for yourself because it's a function that landscaping companies and construction businesses usually need, so maybe they have added it by now. That would really help!
  • It's premise-based software and that means you take on the role of hardware admin, and it's a lot of work for what is increasingly becoming a smaller gap in the functionality between QuickBooks for Mac and QuickBooks Online.
  • QuickBooks for Mac 2015 has been updated consistently over the last 3 years and continues to provide for the bookkeeping needs of small companies using Macs in their offices. However, it has limited job costing functionality. It is similar in functionality to the 2010 version of QuickBooksPro which runs on Windows.
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Intuit
  • I would like to be able to choose how i want to view accounts receivable aging. I would like some flexibility to sort and choose how to present the data.
  • For a seasoned accountant, I would like to see some of the restrictive controls that are in place for novices to be able to be relaxed so that I can easily make some entries and adjust some balances that ordinarily a regular user would not be able to do.
  • I would like to see an easy way to clear old outstanding checks that need to be reversed without affecting prior balances/history.
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Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
I haven't spent that much time with the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac, but I think I'm seeing it make the much-needed improvements. For example, something as simple as undoing the previous reconciliation was a terrible chore, and I'm glad that feature has been included in the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac
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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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Usability
Intuit
The Mac version is OK overall. I find the Windows versions to be much more robust but Mac is quite good for Mac users. Though I think die hard Mac users should consider QuickBooks Online instead as there is a new QB for Mac app that makes using QBO much better!
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Intuit
QuickBooks is an amazing tool that provides all of the necessary features needed to run the finances of a company. I would like for QuickBooks to provide better resources for training. There are many features that go unused because of lack of knowledge. Procore offers chatting and calls on their platform and they make it easy and accessible to get answers and solutions.
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Reliability and Availability
Intuit
I've been using the QuickBooks online version for a little over 6 months now (upgraded from Mac desktop) and I haven't had any access issues. There have been times when it was down for service/upgrade however there is always plenty of notification time given by the Quick Books Online Support team. These upgrade maintenance time frames are always over night hours and on the weekends so everything can be worked around very easily.
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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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Performance
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Intuit
It takes forever to load.
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Support Rating
Intuit
Fortunately, I haven't had to reach out much for support.
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Intuit
This is an awesome product and the support team is very knowledgeable. The product is mature, so there are not a lot of bugs and the support team really solves problems quickly. Usually it is a user error issue, but the support desk helps me out. I love the fact that it is US based support.
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Implementation Rating
Intuit
No answers on this topic
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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Alternatives Considered
Intuit
I love using Quickbooks compared to other software we've tried. QuickBooks Online and TSheets interface. Customer service and problem resolution are generally excellent, with well-trained and proficient agents taking calls or on chat. Ease of use and accessibility via the mobile app. Great courses were available to help with learning the basics and some advanced accounting background. I love learning! Online accessibility - it can work anywhere with an internet connection. Linking to bank and credit card accounts is handy.
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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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Scalability
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Intuit
They're getting better. Still room for improvement.
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Return on Investment
Intuit
  • The ROI was good for when we were a smaller company because it is a lot cheaper than other more sophisticated programs.
  • The negative impact is that it caused a lot of extra manual entering and data entry that too often resulted in mistakes.
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Intuit
  • Since our financials are kept very up to date, it helps us compare our financial results to prior years and it is used for our internal goal setting.
  • Due to the accountant copy function, we are able to provide better service since our clients are not waiting on us to fix historical data. They can continue their operations uninterrupted.
  • The import feature certainly speeds up the process of accounting for our payroll. As previously mentioned, it takes about a minute to do our entries for payroll and check them.
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