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QuickBooks Desktop Pro vs. QuickBooks Online Advanced vs. Spreadsheet Server

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    QuickBooks Desktop Pro

    Score7.8 out of 10
    N/AQuickbooks 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

    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

    Spreadsheet Server

    Score7.6 out of 10
    N/AThe Spreadsheet Server platform is designed to work as a Microsoft add-in to provide live reporting data and analysis from the user’s ERP solution into Excel. The vendor aims to help users eliminate the hassle of re-keying or downloading any data into spreadsheets make that spreadsheet an integral part of their business environment.N/A
    Pricing
    QuickBooks Desktop ProQuickBooks Online AdvancedSpreadsheet Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    QuickBooks Desktop ProQuickBooks Online AdvancedSpreadsheet Server
    Free Trial
    NoYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——Prices can be different for any company interested in Spreadsheet Server depending on size and who should be involved. Feel free to contact us for a free demo to see if it is the right reporting tool for you.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    QuickBooks Desktop ProQuickBooks Online AdvancedSpreadsheet Server
    Considered Multiple Products
    Intuit
    Chose QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    Quickbooks Desktop Pro is much simple and easier to use, so it fits better to the ticket of our small non-profit organization needs. The other options are either, or both, more pricy and complicated. For example, the implementation for QuickBooks Desktop Pro was simple enough …
    Incentivized
    Intuit
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Quickbooks online advanced is much simple and easier to use, so it fits better to the ticket of our small non-profit organization needs. The other options are either, or both, more pricy and complicated than the QuickBooks Online Advanced. For example, the implementation for …
    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
    QuickBooks Online Advanced is way more intuitive and can be used by multiple users simultaneously. The backup feature saves having a separate company provide that service to you. In addition, the assistance from QuickBooks Online Advanced is very good and reassuring when you …
    Incentivized
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    Except for limited needs, the desktop program is much better and less costly before Intuit changed to a subscription model for desktop.
    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
    Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
    QuickBooks Online Advanced is a highly powerful tool and provides the backbone for any accounting/finance department; however QB Enterprise is a much more robust product with more features. However, QB Enterprise requires a much higher investment in software and hardware to …
    Incentivized
    Insightsoftware, Inc
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    88%
    Would buy again
    29 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    154 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    28 Answers
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    138 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    32 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    157 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    20 Answers
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    127 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    25 Answers
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    135 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    QuickBooks Desktop ProQuickBooks Online AdvancedSpreadsheet Server
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online Advanced and Spreadsheet Server
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    6.6
    69 Ratings
    14% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    -
    Ratings
    Spreadsheet Server
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation6.364 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration6.338 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files6.656 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management6.352 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management7.754 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online Advanced and Spreadsheet Server
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    5.7
    43 Ratings
    28% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    7.9
    118 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Spreadsheet Server
    7.0
    6 Ratings
    8% below category average
    API for custom integration6.535 Ratings7.797 Ratings00 Ratings
    Plug-ins5.039 Ratings8.0103 Ratings7.06 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online Advanced and Spreadsheet Server
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    8.5
    101 Ratings
    4% above category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    8.4
    212 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Spreadsheet Server
    7.0
    7 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Single sign-on capability8.482 Ratings8.4186 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions8.695 Ratings8.3208 Ratings7.07 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online Advanced and Spreadsheet Server
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    8.5
    117 Ratings
    8% above category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    8.2
    227 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Spreadsheet Server
    6.7
    6 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Dashboards8.4100 Ratings8.3214 Ratings6.06 Ratings
    Standard reports8.9117 Ratings8.5227 Ratings8.06 Ratings
    Custom reports8.1114 Ratings7.7218 Ratings6.06 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online Advanced and Spreadsheet Server
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    7.5
    124 Ratings
    2% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    8.2
    235 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Spreadsheet Server
    -
    Ratings
    Accounts payable9.3119 Ratings8.4221 Ratings00 Ratings
    Accounts receivable9.2121 Ratings8.5221 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cash management9.2107 Ratings8.5195 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation9.7119 Ratings9.1225 Ratings00 Ratings
    Expense management9.4108 Ratings8.5207 Ratings00 Ratings
    Time tracking7.451 Ratings7.7111 Ratings00 Ratings
    Fixed asset management5.669 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency support6.931 Ratings6.557 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-division support8.958 Ratings7.297 Ratings00 Ratings
    Regulations compliance8.342 Ratings8.3104 Ratings00 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing8.355 Ratings8.8127 Ratings00 Ratings
    Self-service portal5.941 Ratings7.9122 Ratings00 Ratings
    Global Financial Support4.217 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers7.240 Ratings8.298 Ratings00 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting7.943 Ratings8.0100 Ratings00 Ratings
    Localizations4.219 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations8.876 Ratings8.4201 Ratings00 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting6.838 Ratings7.989 Ratings00 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting7.647 Ratings8.4112 Ratings00 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework5.427 Ratings8.887 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standardized Processes8.555 Ratings8.4153 Ratings00 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online Advanced and Spreadsheet Server
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    5.8
    59 Ratings
    23% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    6.2
    91 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Spreadsheet Server
    -
    Ratings
    Inventory tracking6.056 Ratings6.291 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automatic reordering6.035 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location management6.032 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Manufacturing module5.218 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Online Advanced and Spreadsheet Server
    Feature
    QuickBooks Desktop Pro
    6.8
    77 Ratings
    8% below category average
    QuickBooks Online Advanced
    6.8
    152 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Spreadsheet Server
    -
    Ratings
    Pricing7.555 Ratings6.8111 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order entry8.555 Ratings6.5100 Ratings00 Ratings
    Credit card processing7.251 Ratings7.2131 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold8.063 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order Orchestration5.220 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility6.123 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution5.218 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    QuickBooks Desktop ProQuickBooks Online AdvancedSpreadsheet Server
    Small Businesses
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    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
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop ProQuickBooks Online AdvancedSpreadsheet Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.5
    (135 ratings)
    7.9
    (237 ratings)
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (19 ratings)
    9.7
    (21 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (42 ratings)
    8.4
    (16 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    8.3
    (2 ratings)
    8.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.2
    (29 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    7.4
    (10 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    8.5
    (22 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    QuickBooks Desktop ProQuickBooks Online AdvancedSpreadsheet Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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.
    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
    Insightsoftware, Inc
    Spreadsheet Server is a set it and forget it type of thing. However, if you are wanting to change up the data you get on a regular basis, this may not be the product for you.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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.
    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
    Insightsoftware, Inc
    • It's easy to use and learn how to create new spreadsheets.
    • Spreadsheet Server makes it easy to create custom financial statements for your company. It is a great tool to use with Vista by Viewpoint.
    • We can create custom graphs and KPI's in Spreadsheet Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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.
    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
    Insightsoftware, Inc
    • The only issue that we came across, is that not all of our companies have the same financial structure as each other. So the GLs we use for one report, would not necessarily work for all the other companies. We did not want to create separate reports for each company either. We did find a workaround in that we created a lookup tab with GLs to use for each category for each company, then used v-lookup to pull those GLs over. This workaround worked great, but it would have been nice to have something built in to cover this.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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.
    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
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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    Very easy to use and user friendly.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    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.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    Easy to use and flexible.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    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
    Incentivized
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    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
    Insightsoftware, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    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
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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Insightsoftware, Inc
    Customer Relations reaches out to me periodically.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    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.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Insightsoftware, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    The online training is good enough.
    Incentivized
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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
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    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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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    Vista did not offer reporting that met our needs. We were not able to easily customize the standard reports to fit our company needs. We are able to create different reports depending on management's needs and level. It is easy to create reports for auditors as well in Spreadsheet Server.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Intuit
    No answers on this topic
    Intuit
    Software is very flexible
    Incentivized
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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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
    Incentivized
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    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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    Insightsoftware, Inc
    • Allows us quick access to cash flow statements which assist in decision making
    • Provides accurate reporting for our banking needs
    • Provides accurate information to our insurance and bonding vendors
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Spreadsheet Server Screenshots

    Screenshot of Income Statement with Spreadsheet ServerScreenshot of Sales Dashboard with Spreadsheet Server