QuickBooks Desktop Premier vs. QuickBooks Desktop Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Score 8.0 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
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Quickbooks 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
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks 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
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Premier

EasyAcct is a multiple general ledger system developed for accounting firms.

Peachtree by Sage (Quantum) is similar to QuickBooks but not as user friendly.

QuickBooks is a market leader for small business both used by accounting firms and their clients.

Chose QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Have used Peachtree but it is much more expensive, doesn't offer multiple years in same data file and is not as user friendly. It requires a monthly close each month which is cumbersome for smaller clients.
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Premier
I've used Peachtree several years ago and found it very confusing and not user friendly. Clients with little accounting knowledge couldn't handle it at all. QuickBooks is easy to learn and easy to use. There are also many sources of support for QuickBooks users.
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Pro
My experience in QuickBooks has allowed the system to do what I need. The functionality of the others is somewhat limited for what I need to do for reporting purposes.
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Pro
I do not recommend QuickBooks Pro for any user.... QuickBooks PREMIER / ACCOUNTANT is my go-to solution.
Features
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.5
54 Ratings
12% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
6.9
69 Ratings
9% below category average
Pay calculation9.252 Ratings6.664 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.425 Ratings6.638 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.242 Ratings7.056 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.433 Ratings6.652 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.536 Ratings7.554 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.5
24 Ratings
3% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
6.0
43 Ratings
25% below category average
API for custom integration8.017 Ratings6.635 Ratings
Plug-ins7.024 Ratings5.339 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.5
58 Ratings
3% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
8.3
101 Ratings
1% above category average
Single sign-on capability8.650 Ratings8.382 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.449 Ratings8.495 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.3
69 Ratings
6% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
8.5
117 Ratings
8% above category average
Dashboards8.858 Ratings8.4100 Ratings
Standard reports8.468 Ratings8.9117 Ratings
Custom reports7.766 Ratings8.3114 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.9
72 Ratings
4% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
7.7
124 Ratings
1% above category average
Accounts payable8.470 Ratings9.2119 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.671 Ratings9.2121 Ratings
Cash management8.865 Ratings9.1107 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.869 Ratings9.6119 Ratings
Expense management8.868 Ratings9.3108 Ratings
Time tracking7.535 Ratings7.551 Ratings
Fixed asset management6.249 Ratings6.169 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.623 Ratings7.431 Ratings
Multi-division support8.239 Ratings8.858 Ratings
Regulations compliance8.224 Ratings8.042 Ratings
Electronic tax filing7.936 Ratings8.355 Ratings
Self-service portal5.823 Ratings6.341 Ratings
Global Financial Support6.09 Ratings4.517 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers7.014 Ratings6.740 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting8.117 Ratings8.343 Ratings
Localizations7.86 Ratings4.519 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.825 Ratings8.776 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting8.513 Ratings7.138 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.115 Ratings7.647 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework7.510 Ratings6.427 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.515 Ratings8.455 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.1
43 Ratings
7% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
6.1
59 Ratings
21% below category average
Inventory tracking8.342 Ratings6.356 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.321 Ratings6.335 Ratings
Location management8.825 Ratings6.332 Ratings
Manufacturing module7.722 Ratings5.518 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.2
47 Ratings
8% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
7.1
77 Ratings
7% below category average
Pricing8.037 Ratings7.755 Ratings
Order entry7.838 Ratings8.655 Ratings
Credit card processing9.234 Ratings7.651 Ratings
Cost of goods sold9.043 Ratings8.363 Ratings
Order Orchestration7.58 Ratings5.520 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility8.59 Ratings6.523 Ratings
Order exception Resolution7.56 Ratings5.518 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 7.2 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 7.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(75 ratings)
8.5
(135 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.5
(14 ratings)
8.0
(19 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(26 ratings)
9.2
(42 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(6 ratings)
8.3
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
4.0
(13 ratings)
1.2
(29 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.2
(7 ratings)
9.0
(6 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(5 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
We really think that ANY typical business would be a reasonable fit for QuickBooks Desktop Premier. While not necessary, even a comparatively unexperienced accounting person could look at the "Home" screen and follow their nose thru typical daily accounting processes without much detailed knowledge. Reporting is simple, looking up customer info and prior transactions is simple, looking up vendors and prior payments is simple... all in all, quite straightforward. I really can't think of an instance where it would be 'less appropriate'.
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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.
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Pros
Intuit
  • Employment - it makes creating paychecks a snap and tracks taxes.
  • Invoicing - they have a straightforward approach to creating invoices and you can even email them to your customers.
  • Customers - the program makes tracking customer information and balances easy.
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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.
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Cons
Intuit
  • Support for older versions of QuickBooks ends after three years, then users must purchase the newest version at full price. Renewals should be deeply discounted for existing users.
  • I would like to see better in-product inventory tracking, so we can choose LIFO or FIFO rather than the ambiguous "average cost" method.
  • I would like to be able to assign payroll taxes to jobs for better job costing.
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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.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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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.
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Usability
Intuit
We switched to a more "robust" software program with the hiring of a new CFO. The migration of historical data and ancillary information has been cumbersome and riddle with errors and issues. In hindsight much of what the new software program was touted to accomplish is not come to fruition. QB Desktop Premier was sufficient for the organization needs
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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.
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Reliability and Availability
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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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
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Performance
Intuit
It takes forever to load.
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Intuit
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Intuit
This is where QuickBooks falls short. Many times my staff has had questions that have not been able to get resolved easily with a chat or call. I personally have had more general questions that have not been answered easily as well. I think QuickBooks needs to provide the resources of having readily accessible help in order to make it simpler to get solutions.
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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.
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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.
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Implementation Rating
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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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.
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Alternatives Considered
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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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.
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Scalability
Intuit
They're getting better. Still room for improvement.
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Intuit
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Intuit
  • Most of our business clients use QuickBooks which makes it efficient for us to work on clients that use the program. We can import QuickBooks data into our software which adds efficiencies to our tax practice.
  • Having staff that are familiar with the software enables our firm to provide quality service to the clients that use QuickBooks.
  • We receive referrals from satisfied QuickBooks clients.
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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
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