The Best QuickBooks Version for Your Business Part 1: Overview
Help Choosing the Right QuickBooks Version
Welcome to the first in this series of posts about choosing the best QuickBooks software for your small business. This series will:
- Outline each versions unique feature
- Go into detail on each of the main QuickBooks versions, including:
- QuickBooks Online
- QuickBooks for Mac
- QuickBooks Pro
- QuickBooks Premier
- QuickBooks Enterprise
- Highlight the features, benefits, and drawbacks of each version
- Weigh the pros and cons relative to each versions cost
- Describe the situations when QuickBooks may not be the best fit
This post is an overview of the different QuickBooks options available from Intuit.
Why You Should Set up a Financial System
Very few people enjoy doing accounting and bookkeeping tasks like I do! However these tasks are a necessary part of running your small business efficiently. Setting up your accounting correctly from the start and keeping it regularly updated will end up saving you a tremendous amount of time and effort.
No one want to be stuck in April trying to piece together a year’s worth of financial data in a rush, and worse, for no other purpose than to get your taxes done! Tax preparation is only the most basic reason to set up an accounting system. There are so many other purposes, such as:
- Tax preparation
- 1099 preparation
- Reduce tax bill
- Accounts Payable/Bills
- Accounts Receivable
- Invoicing
- Statements
- Collections
- Create effective credit policies
- Budgeting
- Inventory control and tracking
- Investment opportunities
- Marketing research
- Payroll requirements
- Reduce costs and improve profits
- Theft control and shrinkage reduction
- Reporting
- Cash flow projections
- Financial statements, such as Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss
- Track how your business is growing from any angle
Your QuickBooks Options
Aware of all the great reasons above, you may settle on giving Intuit QuickBooks a try. This is a great choice but deciding which version to try can be difficult – there are at least 6 basic options to choose from and the differences may seem small.
QuickBooks Product Comparison Chart
Let me help break down your different options so you can make the best selection for your specific needs. Here are the basics:
QB Online | QB Mac | QB Pro | QB Premier | QB Enterprise |
$15-$80/mo | $229.95 | $229.95 | $399.95 | $3,000.00 |
Basics | ||||
Data Import/Export | Data Import/Export | Data Import/Export | Data Import/Export | Data Import/Export |
3-5 Users | 5 Users | 3 Users | 5 Users | 30 Users |
– | QB Search | QB Search | QB Search | QB Search |
– | Multiple Currencies | Multiple Currencies | Multiple Currencies | Multiple Currencies |
Recommended |
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Each edition of QuickBooks has it’s own special considerations, with unique features and different advantages and disadvantages:
Options & Features | QB | QB | QB | QB | QB |
Accounting | |||||
Accept credit cards | • | • | • | • | • |
Batch Invoicing | • | • | • | ||
Change Orders | • | • | |||
Purchase Orders | • | • | • | • | • |
Partial Purchase Order Receiving | • | • | • | ||
Progress Invoicing | • | • | • | • | |
Inventory | • | • | • | • | • |
Advanced Inventory (FIFO, location, etc.) | FIFO | • | |||
Track time | • | • | • | • | • |
Forms | |||||
Customizable Forms | • | • | • | • | • |
Email forms (invoices, etc.) | • | • | • | • | • |
Reporting | |||||
Class Tracking (Balance Sheet) | • | • | |||
Class Tracking (P&L) | • | • | • | • | • |
Collections Center | • | • | • | ||
Industry Specific Reports | • | • | |||
Job Costing | • | • | • | • | • |
Reports | 20-80+ | 100+ | 100+ | 150+ | 150+ |
Intuit Product Comparison Charts
Here are a couple more detailed charts if the feature or option you are researching happens not to be listed above:
- Intuit QuickBooks Product Comparison
- Intuit Online QuickBooks Product Comparison
- Long for Success QuickBooks Comparison Charts