QuickBooks Desktop Premier vs. SumTotal (legacy)

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
SumTotal (legacy)
Score 7.9 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
The SumTotal Talent Expansion Suite included SumTotal (LMS), and was supported by Skillsoft since the October 2014 acquisition. Acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand in 2022, it is a legacy product, and Cornerstone recommends upgrading to their modern platform.N/A
Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSumTotal (legacy)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSumTotal (legacy)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSumTotal (legacy)
Features
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSumTotal (legacy)
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.5
54 Ratings
12% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Pay calculation9.252 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration8.425 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.242 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.433 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.436 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.5
24 Ratings
1% below category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
API for custom integration8.017 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins7.024 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.4
58 Ratings
2% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability8.550 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.349 Ratings00 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
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Dashboards8.858 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports8.468 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports7.766 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.8
72 Ratings
2% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Accounts payable8.470 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.671 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash management8.765 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.869 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management8.868 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking7.535 Ratings00 Ratings
Fixed asset management6.249 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.623 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-division support8.239 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance8.224 Ratings00 Ratings
Electronic tax filing7.936 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal5.923 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support6.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers7.014 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting8.017 Ratings00 Ratings
Localizations7.76 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.825 Ratings00 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting8.413 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.015 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework7.410 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.415 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.0
43 Ratings
9% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking8.342 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.321 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management8.825 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing module7.722 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.2
47 Ratings
9% above category average
SumTotal (legacy)
-
Ratings
Pricing8.037 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry7.838 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing9.134 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold8.943 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Orchestration7.58 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility8.59 Ratings00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution7.56 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
8.2
2 Ratings
12% above category average
New hire portal00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
8.8
1 Ratings
18% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
8.2
2 Ratings
18% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings7.92 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
7.0
1 Ratings
3% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
7.8
2 Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.92 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings6.52 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
-
Ratings
SumTotal (legacy)
6.5
1 Ratings
8% below category average
Course authoring00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Course catalog or library00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Player/Portal00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Assignments00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Compliance management00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Learning administration00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
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QuickBooks Desktop PremierSumTotal (legacy)
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Score 6.1 out of 10
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Score 7.5 out of 10
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Zoho Books
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Score 9.1 out of 10
Engagedly
Engagedly
Score 8.5 out of 10
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Score 7.5 out of 10
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Score 10.0 out of 10
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User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSumTotal (legacy)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(75 ratings)
7.5
(9 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.5
(14 ratings)
6.0
(5 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(26 ratings)
2.0
(2 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
4.0
(13 ratings)
3.0
(2 ratings)
Online Training
1.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.2
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop PremierSumTotal (legacy)
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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Discontinued Products
Very good for learning and development and training of employees. For Applicant tracking, recuirement, onboarding, and enablement, I prefer SAP SuccessFactors or Skillate. I also found that the SumTotal app is not very friendly on android and crashes sometimes and it is not optimized for mobile. Hence I end up never using it.
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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.
Read full review
Discontinued Products
  • Assign complete learning plans to users so they don't have to spend time searching for courses.
  • Export learner's transcripts so managers can easily see their employee's progress.
  • Embed Social Media feeds that are relevant to their business.
Read full review
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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Discontinued Products
  • Reporting
  • Mass importing of manual checks to be issued in California
  • Ability to fund pay cards immediately
  • Perform gross-up calculations within the payroll system automatically
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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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Discontinued Products
I have transitioned from a position who supported the product to a position where I use the product. I continue to be impressed with the robustness of the product and how efficient it is. It is a user friendly software that can be used to navigate and accomplish tasks to meet organizational requirements.
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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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Discontinued Products
I do not find SumTotal to be intuitive. I feel we need to adjust our needs to meet the functionality available in the tool.
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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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Discontinued Products
No answers on this topic
Performance
Intuit
It takes forever to load.
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Discontinued Products
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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Discontinued Products
We have our own IT support to assist in SumTotal issues, however, we have had to log in cases directly. Support is mediocre at best.
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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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Discontinued Products
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.
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Discontinued Products
When I came to my company, they had been using a "light" LMS called Articulate. It was cheap and bare bones; i.e. not a lot of features, really just a platform to launch eLearning from and not real interface for student to utilize. When I began to overhaul the training department, this was one of the first things I changed. Articulate would only run courses built in their software, and the software was not 508 compliant. In addition, we had no ability to create learning plans, house transcripts, customize the interface, or manage the students. I made the choice to select and LMS that was a true LMS with all of the features that were critical to our clients' needs. Thus far, SumTotal has been able to support all of our needs, except one; mobile learning that is media rich
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Scalability
Intuit
They're getting better. Still room for improvement.
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Discontinued Products
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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Discontinued Products
  • Clean front-end user interface for easier course catalog management.
  • Reporting has been more difficult than previous LMS.
  • Audience building has more variables making it more difficult to manage.
  • Slower overall client turnaround due to admin side interface.
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ScreenShots

SumTotal (legacy) Screenshots

Screenshot of SumTotal Learning Management: Deliver the learning your organization needs including skilling/upskilling/reskilling, career planning & development. All delivered with our engaging learner experience across all modalities (desktop, tablet & mobile) and in the flow of workScreenshot of SumTotal Onboarding: Foster learning before day one with our robust onboarding solution. Build culture, complete necessary paperwork and begin the path to productivity for all your new and returning employees.Screenshot of SumTotal Performance: Performance management that meets the needs of today’s forward-thinking organizations. Align the goals and performance of your entire workforce with those of the broader organization for better business outcomes.Screenshot of SumTotal Succession: Make succession planning an organizational strength. SumTotal allows you to better understand your workforce now and better plan for your future with our intuitive succession planning tools.Screenshot of SumTotal Recruiting: A modern recruiting solution that delivers a powerful candidate experience, recruiter productivity, job matching and internal mobility.Screenshot of SumTotal Compensation: SumTotal makes compensation planning easier and less time consuming. Build a pay for performance culture that meets your organizations goals and objectives while keeping you competitive in the ever-changing marketplace.