Advanced Accounting Software

Pros

As someone who used Quickbooks Online prior to using this version, Desktop Pro is definitely more advanced. It's user-friendly; however, it's a more established software so it's better for companies that's been open longer and has an accounting team. For startup businesses that's learning about accounting, I would recommend Quickbooks Online instead. If I were to compare this to photoshop softwares, it would be like Quickbooks Online is equivalent to Pixlr and Desktop Pro would be Adobe Photoshop. For companies with more than 50 people, I would highly recommend this software. It's a lot faster than QBO and more features.

Cons

There were some times where the serve had issues so we had to log out/in at the small business that I used to work at. But that happened every once in awhile.

Great product, support is lacking

It's affordable for small business compared to the big accounting suites. (ADVICE: Unless you are not up on payroll and other law changes each year, there is no reason to upgrade yearly. I upgrade every 4 years.) I only wish they would stop asking me to switch to the online version because it has far less features and costs a lot more to run, especially if you only upgrade every few years as I do.

Pros

Quickbooks has countless features, many I am still discovering after using it 12 fiscal years. I am not an accountant but I have done my own bookkeeping for years and found it very easy to learn. I particularly like the bulk input for transactions, which is a huge time saver. The layout editor for forms allows me to customize my invoices, estimates, and receipts. Inventory is easy to track. I also appreciate the customizable fields for customers in the address book, unlike some other programs.

Cons

The support team used to be decent but last year I found it to be awful. I needed to convert some data and made an appointment, I kid you not, 8 times and each time the support person didn't call me until days later. Eventually they stopped even replying. This is a big red flag to me when a company's support drops. (And this was well before Covid, so they cannot use that excuse.) They could also have much better functionality for importing CSV and other data to spare me entering it manually. Lastly, the limitation to be locked into one currency forever is frustrating. The tax payment functionality is very buggy and I had to start my own wiki to navigate the various menus as they are not at all intuitive. Ideally they would allow vendor bills to be entered but to delay inventory items in the system should a vendor require payment up-front before goods are shipped. This has caused inventory quantity issues many times. The pressure to switch to the online version is ridiculous. They even removed the automatic foreign currency rate adjustments/updates in an attempt to force us to move to a new version. Not cool! If the functionality was there, why cancel it? Lastly, be prepared to deal with a random data corruption issue every couple years. This is scary as heck when Quickbooks won't open or reconciliation numbers are damaged and no longer add up. Support is useless helping with this but I have found tricks on my own to repair it.

Great product from a satisfied user

Pros

Intuit is a proactive company and quickbooks desktop is a solid performer. Logic is fluid, able to customize fields for greater use in my industry, links to bank, professional documents for estimates, invoices, etc... Large selection of report templates and easy to customize.

Cons

I have been a loyal desktop user for years and in the past I was able to use my license on my tablet and smartphone which allowed me greater use while in front of prospects and customers. Inuit/Quickbooks then went to stand alone one time purchase desktop fee or monthly online/cloud based subscription. They are trying to force desktop users to monthly subscription since they limit functionality to force upgrade. Cost per year for desktop is starting to climb higher than monthly cloud based version. I also had used intuits credit card processing in the past but switched to square due to costs, intuit will break out net cost and credit card discount fee for bookkeeping on their product and not on other credit card transactions for processing. There are third party apps for that but with a monthly cost.

The investment is worth the time and convience

Regardless overall, as a small business owner or not the utilization of using QuickBooks especially for a financial software is very easy to use. It has all the basics pretty much could anything I need on it. I haven't had an issue with QuickBooks I just recommend certain things like higher security as such.

Pros

The easy of use, not complicated at all to utilize. it's also good with third-party applications and integrations, makes it much more easier. Price wise it is affordable since I would say it's worth the money it's for. It also has a very large support Network. Personally best software to keep financial records, especially for small businesses

Cons

The security on it does lack, there isn't a two-step authentication. And there was a limitation to the number of products in the list especially for inventory purposes. There are also file size issues that need to be addressed, and personally I also believe there needs to be more utilization into e-commerce.

Excellent Accounting Software for Small Business!

My overall experience with QB is fantastic. I was lucky enough to have used it for many years and even learned to convert the Chart of Account structure in order to do business with the Government. Our control system plus the software enabled us to pass DCAA's accounting system audit to perform on CPFF contracts. We have also used data from QB and external reporting to submit Incurred Cost Submissions to varies Government agencies. Highly recommend to small businesses!

Pros

I used this software for over 20 years with several small businesses. I've used it daily for many years for all accounting cycles, such as AP, AR, GL, bank reconciliation, financial reporting, etc. I love its flexibility (mistakes can be easily fixed), complexity (can even accommodate DCAA compliance), intuitiveness (to me at least), and many report functions including drill downs. It also works very well with ICAT, so that QB data can be used to calculate indirect cost rates.

Cons

Cons are very few. Because I haven't been a daily user for a few years, a couple of issues I remember are: 1. Interfacing with a 3rd party payroll seems to not work well, we ended up having to make a large summarizing journal entry (however, this is not an issue at the current company b/c payroll is handled by Intuit). 2. Too few characters are allowed in the PO and Invoice Number field. Our bookkeeper still currently have to be creative in order to have everything fit.