QuickBooks currently enjoys an 80% market penetration within the small business markets — with more than 29 million small businesses in just the United States.
There are four different QuickBooks Desktop products:
- QuickBooks Pro
- QuickBooks Premier
- QuickBooks Enterprise
- QuickBooks Accountant
Today, we are going to compare some of the different costs, features and support options of each product. Additionally, we will look at which product is going to provide the best services for different types and sizes of businesses.
Which Edition is Right?
Who It’s Designed For
| QuickBooks Pro | Businesses having annual revenues of less than $1 million, 3 users |
| QuickBooks Premier | Retail, professional services, contractors, manufacturing/wholesale, nonprofits |
| QuickBooks Enterprise | Businesses (small to medium-sizes) having annual revenues of more than $1 million with 20 to 250 employees |
| QuickBooks Accountant | Accountants/bookkeepers who provided bookkeeping/accounting services |
All four of these editions have the core features expected to be in any accounting software. These features include creating invoices/estimates, recording payments/deposits, and generating reports. Basically, the differences of the versions are the number of users, industry-specify reporting, advanced inventory tools, forecasting tools, and data capacity.
A Brief Look at Pricing and Features
| QuickBooks Pro | QuickBooks Premier | QuickBooks Enterprise | QuickBooks Accountant | |
| Price | $299.95 | $499.95 | $1,100 / year | $349/year |
| Max Number of Users | 3 | 5 | 30 | 5 |
| Manage Sales Tax | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Manage Inventory | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Industry-Specific Versions | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Sales Order Creation | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Create Bill of Materials | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Accountant Toolbox | 3 | 3 | ||
| Toggle to Other Editions | 3 | |||
| Batch Void/Delete Transactions | 3 | |||
| Manage Fixed Assets | 3 | 3 | ||
| Detailed Reports | 100+ | 150+ | 150+ | 150+ |
QuickBooks Pro
Best Choice for Businesses with up to $1 million in Annual Revenue
QuickBooks Pro has the feature set that best suits businesses with revenues of up to $1 million per year, fewer than 20 employees, and only need three or fewer users accessing financial data.
What It’s Missing
QuickBooks Pro is limited to just three users, so it may not be a good fit for manufacturing businesses needing to create a bill of materials. Additionally, QuickBooks Pro will not allow you to create sales orders.
QuickBooks Premier
Best Choice for Niche Market Industry Businesses
QuickBooks Premier is designed for small and mid-sized businesses with revenues under $1 million per year and fewer than 20 employees and requires only five user access.
QuickBooks Premier feature industry-specific tools/reports for five specific industries
- Manufacturing/wholesale
- Contractors
- Professional services
- Nonprofits
- Retail
What It’s Missing
In addition to the five-user limit, this version cannot hold as much data as QuickBooks Enterprise. Additionally, Premier cannot do subsidiary and parent reporting.
QuickBooks Enterprise
Best Choice Businesses with Revenue over $1 million per Year
QuickBooks Enterprise is best for larger companies with more than $1 million in revenue a year, and employing between 20 to 250 people. This version also allows for up to 30 users. It also applies to the same industries as QuickBooks Premier.
What It’s Missing
The main thing missing from Enterprise is the option to pay for the software once. Rather, it is priced as an annual subscription that must be renewed each year.
QuickBooks Accountant
QuickBooks Accountant is designed for bookkeepers, and contains all the features of Pro and Premier, with the additional Accountant’s Toolbox. This version allows the user to have two company files open simultaneously.
What It’s Missing
QuickBooks Accountant does not have payroll functions; however, it can be purchased as a separate add-on.
In Part 2, we will examine the benefits of moving to an online version of QuickBooks.
