QuickBooksHelpIntuitMoving from QuickBooks Desktop to Online? A feature comparison
by Intuit•4• Updated 2 months ago
If you are considering moving from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, this guide is designed to help.
As of 2023, QuickBooks Desktop products are no longer available for purchase by new customers in the UK. Moving to QuickBooks Online is the recommended path for accessing the latest features, security updates, and the flexibility of cloud-based accounting.
Use the tables below to compare the features of your current Desktop product with the available QuickBooks Online plans. This will help you select the plan that best suits your business needs.
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Create sales orders and track back orders | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Units of measure (buy/ sell stock in different units) | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Google Desktop search | X | X | X | – | – | – |
| Adjusts VAT for early payment discounts | X | X | X | – | – | – |
| Switch between different editions of QuickBooks | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Open two different company files simultaneously on same machine | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Attach a document to a record | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Income tracker simplifies working with unbilled, unpaid and paid sales | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Flat Rate VAT | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| New insights dashboard on the home page | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Convert to QuickBooks Online | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Batch delete/void transactions utility | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Remove send forms allows you to bulk delete transactions | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Bill tracker allows you to see unpaid transactions status | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Data protection verify/rebuild feature | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Pin notes for a customer or supplier | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Close estimates automatically once you invoice them | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Take a snapshot and add comments or notes on reports | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Send multiple reports | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Lead manager/centre | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Locate an account, report or invoice using QuickBooks search | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Stay on top of your receivables with the collection centre | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Complete transactions with access to customer/supplier balance and transaction history | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Add or edit multiple entries in QuickBooks list from one spreadsheet view | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Send forms with webmail (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo and others) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Track your balance sheet by class | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | ✔ |
| See key customer info at a glance with the customer snapshot feature | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Add Excel customers, suppliers and products data into QuickBooks | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Customise your company snapshot | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Use payment snapshot to view your payment flows in one place | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Create an invoice for multiple customers in single window with batch invoicing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| See almost due and overdue indicators | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Manage reports in the report centre | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Run reports and back up data while others work in the same company file | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Create and email estimates, invoices and reports | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Allow multiple users to work in QuickBooks at the same time | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| Create professional-looking forms with customisation tools | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Email forms as PDFs | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Accept credit card payments in QuickBooks | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Faster reporting | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Sort by data type on bank reconciliation window | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Duplicate sales, purchase transactions and list items | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Delete transactions with right-mouse menu options | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Print receive payments | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Export invoices to Word | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Track bills and set due date reminders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| View contacts and transactions history for customers and suppliers | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Online Banking setup and centre | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Progress invoicing and automatic recharge of expenses | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | ✔ |
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Track stock, set reorder points and create purchase orders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | ✔ |
| Customise columns for lists | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Create delivery notes and shipping labels | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Add multiple delivery addresses | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Generate sales orders from estimates | X | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Generate purchase orders from estimates | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Generate purchase orders from sales orders | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Set prices and determine discounts by customer or job | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Build and track stock bundles to finished goods | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | ✔ |
| Store manufacturer's part number on items | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Track bank and credit card accounts | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Share data with other business applications | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Customise reports and graphs | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Reports centre | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Email reports and export to Excel | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Import/export to and from Word, Excel files and import Outlook contacts | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Track loans, fixed assets and vehicle mileage | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Show short-term cash flow projections | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Create a budget | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | ✔ |
| Allow your accountant to make changes while you work | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Send files to your accountant | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Review business performance with company snapshot | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Set billing rates by employee, customer, client, position or service | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Download currency exchange rates | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| Support for over 140 currencies | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| View exchange rate history calendar | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Create summary reports in home and foreign currencies | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Set multiple foreign sales prices for items | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Credit note exchange rates automatically change to match invoice exchange rates | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Show home and foreign currency totals on invoice templates | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Revalue foreign currency holdings, assets and liabilities using the wizard | X | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Automatically save VAT reports as PDFs during filing for easy audit protection | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| See daily sales book report (net, VAT and gross totals) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| E-file VAT 100 return directly to HMRC | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Report VAT liability on a cash (payment) basis | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Report VAT liability on an accrual (invoice) basis | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| Access to common VAT tasks via the VAT centre | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Add/change new VAT rates using setup wizard | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Track and report EC VAT (includes EC sales list report) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Default codes used to ensure correct VAT calculations | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Create customisable file templates for clients | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Manage files easily | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Accountant centre | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Send journal entires in batches | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Copy and paste transactions from Excel in batches | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Password-protected closing date | X | X | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Reverse journal entries | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| View journal history | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Adjust trial balance and journal entry reports | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Post journal entries directly to retained earnings | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Financial statement designer | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Share report templates | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Retained earnings QuickZoom | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Find and fix errors wizard | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Desktop Pro | Desktop Premier | Desktop Accountant Edition | QuickBooks Online Simple Start | QuickBooks Online Essentials | QuickBooks Online Plus | |
| Track your balance sheet by class | X | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | |
| Set permissions levels to control user access | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” | âś” |
| Allow multiple user access (with purchase of additional copies) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| Multiuser tools (backup and file locking) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |
| QuickBooks Instant Messenger | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | – | – | – |