QuickBooks Desktop Premier vs. Square Payroll

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
Square Payroll
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
Square Payroll is a payroll solution for hourly employees, from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.N/A
Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSquare Payroll
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSquare Payroll
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 PremierSquare Payroll
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Desktop Premier

No answer on this topic

Square Payroll
Chose Square Payroll
We used Quickbooks for a long time. Our payroll/HR person for the past 20+ years retired around the time our company was sold and bought. Her replacement had experience in using Square Payroll. We gave it a shot and liked it. We went live rather quickly and it did take some …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSquare Payroll
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.9
47 Ratings
21% above category average
Square Payroll
7.8
6 Ratings
6% below category average
Pay calculation7.046 Ratings8.96 Ratings
Benefit plan administration10.020 Ratings9.15 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.036 Ratings7.06 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.927 Ratings8.94 Ratings
Reimbursement management9.529 Ratings7.85 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings8.65 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings4.44 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
1.3
20 Ratings
136% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
API for custom integration1.315 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins1.320 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.4
49 Ratings
6% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability4.943 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions10.040 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
6.8
57 Ratings
8% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Dashboards4.948 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports7.856 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports7.854 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.1
60 Ratings
1% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Accounts payable7.058 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable7.059 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash management8.054 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.057 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management6.156 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking5.028 Ratings00 Ratings
Fixed asset management5.139 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support9.018 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-division support7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance1.819 Ratings00 Ratings
Electronic tax filing10.028 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal8.017 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers7.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting9.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Localizations5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations7.014 Ratings00 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting7.16 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework9.93 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes4.37 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
2.9
36 Ratings
79% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking1.735 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering1.015 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management8.019 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing module1.017 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.0
38 Ratings
1% below category average
Square Payroll
-
Ratings
Pricing10.030 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry10.031 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing7.027 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold6.334 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Orchestration10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSquare Payroll
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Score 9.2 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.0 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
3.0
(63 ratings)
4.7
(8 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.3
(12 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(14 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
8.9
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.7
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.1
(12 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.2
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
Square is an amazing platform to have total control over the payroll of all the employees of a company or a specific sector. This platform has a very good functionality to collect exact information on how long each employee works, that is one of its most outstanding characteristics, because it monitors work schedules and overtime and generates detailed reports on the work time of each employee. Square does not allow to schedule payments, that is one of the main problems, however, I consider that it is a very good option for small and medium-sized companies that are looking for a way to have more exact administrative control over the working hours of all their employees. It is a software that works in the cloud, so all the work information that is collected will remain safe without any risk of loss.
Read full review
Pros
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • 1099 contractor payments are easy, and they provide you with the IRS filing as part of the service.
  • Direct deposit/debit from your already connected account to the employee.
  • Reporting and management features are simple yet inclusive.
  • Low cost compared to alternative solutions.
Read full review
Cons
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • It's a bit pricey for larger companies at $5 per person paid per month.
  • Has a bit of a learning curve that seems steeper than necessary
  • reports can be confusing at first
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Usability
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
It could use a mobile-friendly interface. Other than that it's a simple layout and non-cluttered which allows you to get done what you need to get done. No unnecessary dodads or distractions.
Read full review
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!
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Performance
Intuit
It takes forever to load.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
I think they have quick and helpful customer service reps, however, I give them a 9 because I have had to wait on hold for long periods of time before.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
I liked patriot, but I found it to be more confusing than Square and took me too much time to setup. I setup Square Payroll in about an hour. I would also say the Square interface made more sense to me. I also like how Square offers more things like benefits, etc. that can be added on.
Read full review
Scalability
Intuit
They're getting better. Still room for improvement.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
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.
Read full review
Block, Inc (Square)
  • Square Payroll has dramatically reduced the time it takes to process payroll.
  • We could have a faster payroll with the Square POS integration for commission, but that is not something we've implemented yet.
Read full review
ScreenShots