QuickBooks: To Desktop? Or Not To Desktop? That is the question.
Deciding between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop (or any of the other 68,532 QuickBooks options) for your WooCommerce store shouldn’t be as complicated as a Shakespearean moral dilemma.
THE BASICS
QuickBooks is the go-to accounting software for businesses of all sizes for a reason. It’s easy to use, affordable and saves businesses time and money. It’s stable and customizable, and its slew of automatic functions make sharing data, creating reports, invoicing and receiving payments a breeze.
Unfortunately, the one thing QuickBooks doesn’t make simple is choosing the right version for your WooCommerce business. The list of offerings alone can be intimidating:
- QuickBooks Online Self-Employed
- QuickBooks Online Simple Start
- QuickBooks Online Essentials
- QuickBooks Online Plus
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro
- QuickBooks Desktop Premier
- QuickBooks Enterprise Silver
- QuickBooks Enterprise Gold
- QuickBooks Enterprise Platinum
So, what’s a bustling eCommerce store to choose? Read on, online entrepreneur, read on.
WHEN TO OPT FOR ONLINE
The first step in choosing a version of QuickBooks is to consider what it is you sell and the size of your business. While WooCommerce is mostly used for the sale of online goods, you may be a small, services-based shop. If so, your best bet is going to be one of the QuickBooks Online options. Since you most likely don’t require complicated invoices, the inventory tracking and accounting functions provided in the Online versions should meet your needs.
The same goes for smaller goods-based eCommerce shops. While the inventory and reporting aspects aren’t as nuanced as some of the advanced Desktop versions, you most likely won’t miss them.
Pro Tip: Try out QuickBooks Online for free for 30 days or forego the trial and take advantage of discounted pricing for a month or two. If you find that QuickBooks Online isn’t quite enough for your eCommerce business, you can easily switch versions or even upgrade to QuickBooks Desktop at any time.
As for the rest of you – medium to large services, retail and wholesale shops – you’re going to appreciate the added functionality of QuickBooks Desktop.
DESKTOP’S EXTRAS AND ADVANTAGES
Selling a lot of goods requires inventory, and with inventory comes the hassle of inventory management. QuickBooks Desktop allows WooCommerce stores to track inventory across multiple locations with two different tracking options: the average cost method and the FIFO method.
For medium to large eCommerce businesses, the Enterprise version goes a step further by helping you track serial and lot numbers, bin locations and FIFO valuation, and allows you to set and manage inventory reorder points. You can check order status in real time with Enterprise’s Sales Order Management, and employees can fill orders quicker than ever before.
Do you ever offer temporary promotions? How about volume discounts for wholesale buyers? The Desktop versions have you covered. What about offering different pricing for different customer types? QuickBooks Desktop does that too. Enterprise even allows you to customize, control and automatically update pricing right in QuickBooks.
To make your business accounting even easier, the entire Desktop suite simplifies invoicing with its batch invoicing feature and allows you to receive payments right in QuickBooks.
QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise also provide over 150 industry-specific one-click financial, sales and tax reports, as well as industry-specific menus, sample files, and accounts charts. The two versions automatically forecast sales and expenses and can help you create a business plan that further grows your business.
WOOCOMMERCE INTEGRATION
WooCommerce is the best of the best in online retail. And QuickBooks Desktop is the ultimate accounting partner. The only problem? Like Romeo and Juliette, the platforms come from two different worlds. They weren’t designed to communicate.
That’s why a reliable WooCommerce to QuickBooks integration plugin is so vital to any online business. A plugin that seamlessly connects the two platforms saves both time and money by eliminating manual double-entry, human error and time costs.
As great as QuickBooks is, its accounting is only as good as the data it’s provided. Plugins that automatically sync inventory, pricing, customers and promotions take advantage of the best features of both WooCommerce and QuickBooks and virtually allow your eCommerce shop to run on auto-pilot.
A RECAP
So, to quickly sum it all up:
Smaller services-based and goods-based WooCommerce stores are usually best served by QuickBooks Online.
Medium to large services-based and goods-based stores benefit from the advanced features of QuickBooks Desktop, particularly the superior inventory tracking and industry-specific reporting features in Enterprise.
Finally, no matter what QuickBooks version you choose for your eCommerce shop, do yourself a favor and use a plugin that automatically syncs WooCommerce to QuickBooks. You won’t regret it, I promise.
