Based on 819 reviews and ratings
Based on 43 reviews and ratings
Highlights
Quickbooks Desktop Pro and Quickbooks Self-Employed are both accounting software designed to handle financial data, invoicing, and reporting. Both versions of Quickbooks share a lot of features, but Quickbooks Desktop Pro is designed for businesses with employees, whereas Quickbooks Self Employed is built for freelancers or very small businesses. As a result of these design decisions, Quickbooks Desktop Pro is a popular choice for small to mid-sized businesses while Quickbooks Self-Employed is used almost exclusively by very small businesses.
Features and Limitations
Quickbooks Desktop Pro and Quickbooks Self-Employed both offer the same suite of essential features for financial management. These features include income and expense tracking, downloadable transaction information, and automated data backup. Despite these similarities, there are also a few key differences between the products.
Quickbooks Desktop Pro includes features for tracking employee timesheets and payments, and also allows for multiple users. These features are essential for businesses with employees to manage or multiple accountants that need to access financial data. Quickbooks Self-Employed lacks these features but allows for the separation of personal and business expenses, which can save time for users.
Pricing
Both Quickbooks Desktop Pro and Quickbooks Self-Employed offer 30-day free trials for users to try out the product before purchasing. After the free trial, Quickbooks Self-Employed costs $7.00 per month. Quickbooks Desktop Pro is priced at $299.95 per workstation. This pricing makes Quickbooks Self-Employed an affordable option for businesses without employees while Quickbooks Desktop Pro is ideal for small to medium businesses.
Provided by the TrustRadius Research Team
Published on May 15, 2020
Feature Set Ratings
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro ranks higher in 2 feature sets: Payroll Management, Reporting & Analytics
- QuickBooks Self-Employed ranks higher in 5 feature sets: Customization, Security, General Ledger and Configurable Accounting, Inventory Management, Order Management
Payroll Management

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Pay calculation

Benefit plan administration

Direct deposit files

Salary revision and increment management

Reimbursement management

Customization

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
API for custom integration

Plug-ins

Security

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Single sign-on capability

Role-based user permissions

Reporting & Analytics

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Dashboards

Standard reports

Custom reports

General Ledger and Configurable Accounting

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Accounts payable

Accounts receivable

Cash management

Bank reconciliation

Expense management

Time tracking

Fixed asset management

Multi-currency support

Multi-division support

Regulations compliance

Electronic tax filing

Self-service portal

Global Financial Support

Primary and Secondary Ledgers

Intercompany Accounting

Localizations

Journals and Reconciliations

Enterprise Accounting

Configurable Accounting

Centralized Rules Framework

Standardized Processes

Inventory Management

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Inventory tracking

Automatic reordering

Location management

Manufacturing module

Order Management

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Pricing

Order entry

Credit card processing

Cost of goods sold

Order Orchestration

End-to-end order visibility

Order exception Resolution

Attribute Ratings
- QuickBooks Self-Employed is rated higher in 3 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Usability, Support Rating
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro and QuickBooks Self-Employed are tied in 1 area: Likelihood to Renew
Likelihood to Recommend

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Likelihood to Renew

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Usability

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Availability

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Support Rating

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
In-Person Training

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Implementation Rating

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Product Scalability

QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Likelihood to Recommend
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Pros
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
- 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.
QuickBooks Self-Employed
- QuickBooks Self-Employed does keep a running total of your income and estimated taxes. Of course, this requires that your entries are accurate.
- The mileage feature is particularly helpful. One just needs to either use the phone app in conjunction with QuickBooks Self-Employed, or keep a log of all mileage.
- When tax time comes around, it's easy to use TurboTax software and import your data from QuickBooks.
Cons
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
- 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.
QuickBooks Self-Employed
- Doesn't integrate with Mint, which I use for my home expenses. I think this would be a nice addition to the program, so I could keep track of my whole financial situation.
- A Windows 10 app would be a nice addition to the program, so I could access it securely from my desktop.
Pricing Details
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
Starting Price
—QuickBooks Self-Employed
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
Starting Price
—Likelihood to Renew
QuickBooks Desktop Pro

QuickBooks Self-Employed
Usability
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Reliability and Availability
QuickBooks Desktop Pro

QuickBooks Self-Employed
Support Rating
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
In-Person Training
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Implementation Rating
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Self-Employed
Alternatives Considered
QuickBooks Desktop Pro

QuickBooks Self-Employed
Return on Investment
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
- 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.
QuickBooks Self-Employed
- Overall, tagging expenses and mileage has saved me thousands in taxes, for a relatively low cost of around $8/mo.
- QuickBooks allows me to get invoices to clients quickly and accept online payments, which helps with cashflow.
- The app has stopped tracking mileage automatically on my device, so I worry that sometimes I am not tracking business miles effectively, which could end up costing me at the EOY.