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QuickBooks Desktop for Mac vs. QuickBooks Online Advanced

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AQuickbooks 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 Online Advanced

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AQuickBooks Online Advanced is a SaaS-based accounting software designed to scale with growing businesses. It includes the functionalities of QuickBooks Online, as well as more robust business analytics, customization, and resource management.N/A
    Pricing
    QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online Advanced
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online Advanced
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    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 Online Advanced
    Considered Both Products
    Intuit
    No answer on this topic
    Intuit
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    We chose to upgrade for the BackUp / Restore feature
    Incentivized
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Quickbooks has made their other products frustrating to use by eliminating features. Their feature bundling is annoying, confusing, and frustrating. QuickBooks Online Advanced or Pro or whatever their next marketing/sales idea fills me with dread.
    Incentivized
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    I have not used other accounting and finance software for the business. I usually use an Excel spreadsheet to record all my transactions. However, it was sometimes chaos. Therefore, when my supervisor encouraged us to use the QuickBooks Online Advanced, I was extremely …
    Incentivized
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    The cloud feature on QuickBooks Online Advanced, versus QuickBook Desktop, makes my company a possibility. All of my clients are in different states and I would be unable to do my job without the ease of QuickBooks Online and the ability for all parties to view finances and …
    Incentivized
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    I like the fact that it's cloud based and I like that it is more geared towards businesses.
    Incentivized
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    QBO has the benefit of saving to the cloud and being able to open in any browser without having to back up on a USB first. If my computer crashes I do not need to panic, I know my backup will be on the web.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    80%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    155 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    138 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    80%
    Happy with the feature set
    4 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    158 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    128 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    135 Answers
    Features
    QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online Advanced
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    8.9
    13 Ratings
    16% above category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation8.411 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration7.98 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files10.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management8.47 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management10.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    7.5
    12 Ratings
    1% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    7.9
    118 Ratings
    4% above category average
    API for custom integration7.08 Ratings7.797 Ratings
    Plug-ins8.011 Ratings8.0103 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    10.0
    22 Ratings
    20% above category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    8.4
    213 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Single sign-on capability10.022 Ratings8.4187 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions10.019 Ratings8.3209 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    6.7
    24 Ratings
    15% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    8.2
    228 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Dashboards5.121 Ratings8.3215 Ratings
    Standard reports7.924 Ratings8.5228 Ratings
    Custom reports7.024 Ratings7.7219 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    7.6
    26 Ratings
    0% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    8.2
    236 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Accounts payable8.126 Ratings8.4221 Ratings
    Accounts receivable7.725 Ratings8.5222 Ratings
    Cash management5.520 Ratings8.5195 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation9.526 Ratings9.1226 Ratings
    Expense management8.622 Ratings8.5207 Ratings
    Time tracking7.514 Ratings7.7111 Ratings
    Fixed asset management7.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency support5.011 Ratings6.557 Ratings
    Multi-division support6.012 Ratings7.297 Ratings
    Regulations compliance10.011 Ratings8.3104 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing10.017 Ratings8.8127 Ratings
    Self-service portal7.715 Ratings7.9122 Ratings
    Global Financial Support5.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers8.615 Ratings8.298 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting8.116 Ratings8.0101 Ratings
    Localizations8.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations9.519 Ratings8.4202 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting8.67 Ratings7.989 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting6.511 Ratings8.4112 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework6.511 Ratings8.887 Ratings
    Standardized Processes6.915 Ratings8.4153 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    7.4
    17 Ratings
    2% above category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    6.2
    91 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Inventory tracking9.516 Ratings6.291 Ratings
    Automatic reordering6.512 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location management6.911 Ratings00 Ratings
    Manufacturing module6.510 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of QuickBooks Desktop for Mac and QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    9.1
    20 Ratings
    21% above category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    6.8
    152 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Pricing9.019 Ratings6.8111 Ratings
    Order entry9.518 Ratings6.5100 Ratings
    Credit card processing9.119 Ratings7.1131 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold9.118 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order Orchestration9.07 Ratings00 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility9.19 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution9.18 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online Advanced
    Small Businesses
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.1 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online Advanced
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.1
    (34 ratings)
    7.9
    (238 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    9.7
    (21 ratings)
    Usability
    6.1
    (8 ratings)
    8.4
    (16 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.4
    (10 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (5 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (4 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.7
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (4 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    QuickBooks Desktop for MacQuickBooks Online Advanced
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    Well suited for a larger company with many classes that need to be differentiated. It is relatively intuitive to use, whether you have used other versions of QuickBooks, or any other accounting software. Easy to dig into your accounts from wither the Balance Sheet or the Profit and Loss when trying to analyze performance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • Budgeting is easy to input. Our entities have multiple departments, so using classes to separate and report the results of each department is important.
    • Reports are easy to customize to provide meaningful data to the board and department managers.
    • QuickBooks Online Advanced has a large market share of accounting software in use, so it is relatively easy to find new employees with prior experience with QuickBooks Online Advanced.
    • Able to open both entities at the same time, which is helpful due to the number of transactions between the two entities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • Continued growth around AI usage and tool.
    • There are still some reporting gaps that make setting up custom reports not absolutely top-tier.
    • There can be a lot of UI clutter as different features keep getting turned on. Can become harder to navigate.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    It has become second nature to use Quick Books at the company. If you need a report you log in and pull the report. It helps expedite reconciliation of bank accounts, the automation of most tasks make it easy to get mundane tasks completed quickly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    QuickBooks Online Advanced is highly usable and intuitive for most day-to-day financial tasks. Its interface is clear, and core functions such as invoicing, reconciliation, and reporting are easy to perform. While some advanced features like report customization or integrations can be less straightforward, overall the platform offers a smooth and efficient user experience.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    In the 5 years I have been using it, I cannot recall there ever having been an outage or not being able to access the system. Sure, there are issues with internet speeds sometimes that are unrelated to Intuit but it is a very reliable system.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    Since we do not integrate the software with other systems, I do not have any issues with speed related to that. Pages tend to load pretty quickly, but there are times when reports or other pages take a little longer to load than usual. It is not an overly frustrating amount of time, though, and it happens infrequently.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Intuit
    Fortunately, I haven't had to reach out much for support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    The online training is good enough.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    I did not participate in this part particularly much. The implementation was simple and easy to perform. There were not any major issues that arose during the process. QuickBooks has made the processes pretty streamless and I believe they had anticipated many difficulties ahead of time. This was easy enough
    Incentivized
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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.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    QBO is great because it does accounting very well, and it can integrate well with everything. I appreciate that it has third-party integrations with many other software companies, so we can focus on doing our accounting through QuickBooks while adding other software as needed through those integrations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    Software is very flexible
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Intuit
    • It has allowed us to offer multiple bookkeeping softwares for clients that do not want to change from what they have been using.
    • Payroll filing has given us ease of mind because we can physically make the filings rather than waiting on payroll software to make them for us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • Spreadsheet sync reduces manual data entry significantly. Exporting data into my customized Excel workbook that has complex formulas and macros for automating makes uploading changes and reconfiguring easy and convenient, saving a lot of time.
    • Automating AP approval has reduced lost paper copies, improved internal controls, and reduced audit findings.
    • Having banking connections has improved cash flow management, streamlined credit card expenses and reconciliation. I have found that utilizing it for my primary operating account actually makes things more difficult and can easily double-post payments, so I avoid using it on the checking account. It has been well for the credit card account, though.
    Incentivized
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