QuickBooks Desktop Premier vs. QuickBooks Desktop Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Score 8.2 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.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.5
53 Ratings
13% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
8.6
67 Ratings
14% above category average
Pay calculation9.251 Ratings8.563 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.425 Ratings8.537 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.241 Ratings9.055 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.432 Ratings8.551 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.535 Ratings8.552 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.5
24 Ratings
2% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
7.3
42 Ratings
5% below category average
API for custom integration8.017 Ratings7.534 Ratings
Plug-ins7.024 Ratings7.038 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.5
57 Ratings
4% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
8.8
97 Ratings
8% above category average
Single sign-on capability8.650 Ratings9.079 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.448 Ratings8.791 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.3
68 Ratings
7% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
8.9
114 Ratings
14% above category average
Dashboards8.857 Ratings8.898 Ratings
Standard reports8.567 Ratings9.1114 Ratings
Custom reports7.665 Ratings8.8111 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
71 Ratings
4% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
8.7
119 Ratings
14% above category average
Accounts payable8.469 Ratings9.0114 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.670 Ratings9.2116 Ratings
Cash management8.864 Ratings9.2103 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.868 Ratings9.7115 Ratings
Expense management8.867 Ratings9.3105 Ratings
Time tracking7.534 Ratings8.350 Ratings
Fixed asset management6.248 Ratings6.568 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.623 Ratings8.330 Ratings
Multi-division support8.239 Ratings9.355 Ratings
Regulations compliance8.224 Ratings9.040 Ratings
Electronic tax filing7.935 Ratings9.053 Ratings
Self-service portal5.823 Ratings8.540 Ratings
Global Financial Support6.09 Ratings7.016 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers7.013 Ratings8.038 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting8.116 Ratings10.041 Ratings
Localizations7.86 Ratings7.018 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.824 Ratings9.172 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting8.513 Ratings8.736 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.115 Ratings8.744 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework7.610 Ratings9.026 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.515 Ratings9.252 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.1
42 Ratings
7% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
8.0
58 Ratings
6% above category average
Inventory tracking8.341 Ratings8.055 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.321 Ratings8.034 Ratings
Location management8.824 Ratings8.031 Ratings
Manufacturing module7.721 Ratings8.017 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.2
46 Ratings
7% above category average
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
9.2
74 Ratings
18% above category average
Pricing8.036 Ratings8.953 Ratings
Order entry7.837 Ratings9.753 Ratings
Credit card processing9.233 Ratings10.050 Ratings
Cost of goods sold9.042 Ratings10.061 Ratings
Order Orchestration7.57 Ratings8.019 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility8.58 Ratings10.022 Ratings
Order exception Resolution7.55 Ratings8.017 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.2 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.6 out of 10
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierQuickBooks Desktop Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(74 ratings)
9.1
(131 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.5
(14 ratings)
10.0
(18 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(25 ratings)
9.7
(38 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(6 ratings)
8.3
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
3.9
(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
I am only going to recommend it because it is currently ubiquitous, and most accountants prefer it at the moment. I do not stand by the company, and will not use the product any longer than I have to. [I believe] the support is lousy, the product is overpriced, but it does the basics of what we need. I'm very happy for all those outside Intuit who make their living supporting QuickBooks Desktop Pro; third-party support is desperately needed. They also doubled their prices for software upgrades this year, and require those who don't pay double what the last upgrade cost, to subscribe every year for $200. If one does not subscribe beyond the first year, one will not be able to use the software beyond the first year. They are moving to a rental model even for those who refuse to use the LOUSY QuickBooks online. They were good company once. Now they just turn out bloatware that everyone uses, so the rest of us have to. I look forward to the day that an honest, better-priced competitor wipes the floor with Intuit.
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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
We've used the program for more than 20 years in our firm both with clients and as our software. For the cost and value of the program it works well for our firms needs and desires for an accounting software program. At this point to switch would not make sense.
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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
It is a great software that does everything a small business needs it to do, but there are just a few bugs and quirks that make additional software necessary. The slowness of the software occasionally might eventually be overshadowed by the quickness of cloud-based software though.
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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
The support team is not always easy to use or able to understand the problems. There are some difficulties understanding [...] the issues the purchaser has and the solutions are sometimes hard to implement. A lot can be avoided if the users have adequate training and security is set up correctly at implementation.
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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
Zoho had great end-user support and it was almost as simple to learn and was as easy to use. But its reports were not as [customizable] as QuickBooks Desktop Pro, and its job cost and department accounting [were] more cumbersome than QuickBooks Desktop Pro was. In addition, while I like an underdog (Zoho) the fact is that it is easier to find staff that [is] comfortable with QuickBooks Desktop Pro than anything else on the market.
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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
  • QuickBooks Desktop Pro is a no hassle accounting solution that ticks a lot of boxes. It almost never disappoints and organizations will usually keep using it for many years. If anything, the only time I've seen an organization migrate away from it is if they have specific accounting needs, or if the organization has grown to the point that they need a more robust accounting solution. Even then, QuickBooks can usually be maintained within another accounting software system for specific functions, like A/R & A/P for example.
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