Written by Liquid
Since the first moment it was introduced in 1983, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMB) have flocked to this powerful software solution for many aspects of the project management, accounting and tracking solutions it provides.
Scott Cook and Tom Proulx founded Intuit, the company that created Quickbooks in Mountain View, California after the success of its simpler Quicken software product for individual financial management. They developed Quickbooks as a more robust version with similar services for small business owners.
Modern Quickbooks Offers Many Options
Since those early days, Quickbooks has released many different versions, upgrades and price schemes for business owners. Now, deciding which version of Quickbooks will serve you best has become an important decision in the early stages of any new start-up.
Current versions of Quickbooks handle basic accounting tasks like sending invoices, tracking inventory, and recording transactions. The software can also manage reporting and finances for things like Accounts Payable and Receivable, employee records, and tax filings. Quickbooks Online (QBO) can also allow third-party apps and integrations to further enhance the capabilities of small businesses.
QuickBooks Online is cheaper and comes with more features than the desktop downloadable version QuickBooks Pro. QuickBooks Online also offers several plan options.
Data Security
QuickBooks does continue to update and support QuickBooks Pro and some do prefer it for security reasons, claiming that anything reliant on remote online elements to function or save information is inherently more risky. However, experts have argued that it would be easier to hack into someone’s home or office computer than it would be to hack into Quickbooks Online or to decrypt any of the information securely saved as encrypted blocks of data online.
Cost and Flexibility
QuickBooks Pro is significantly more expensive and lacks the functionality and flexibility that come with QuickBooks Online. Where Quickbooks Pro can cost hundreds of dollars as an upfront cost, Quickbooks Online costs only a handful of dollars each month, which makes cash flow far easier to manage. More than that, the online version is continuously updated with new features and security patches or bug fixes, while the downloaded version relies on intermittent updates that are far less frequent.
As with any online software, Quickbooks Online can be used from anywhere, with files automatically saved to the cloud so teams can collaborate easily and you can always stay connected to the information that matters most. Conversely, the offline version only backs up to your computer and relies on you to manually share backups or reports to individual machines or colleagues on a case-by-case basis.
It’s no wonder Intuit itself actively recommends the online version of their products and repeatedly has warned its own customers that the offline version will not be updated or supported in perpetuity.
So Why Would Anyone Use Quickbooks Pro?
Stated simply, the only entities that should be using Quickbooks Pro are the ones required to do so. There are some companies and governmental entities that are required to maintain offline records and to avoid any use of online software. For those entities Quickbooks Pro may not be the best choice, but it may in fact be the only choice.
What DOESN'T Quickbooks Do?
Most importantly of all, Quickbooks is not a payment service and Quickbooks does not provide any kind of leads for employers or potential gig workers and freelancers to connect with one another. Yes, Quickbooks can be connected to a bank account, but that still limits your payout methods to whatever the underlying bank account allows.
Liquid Fills in all the Gaps Quickbooks Leaves Open
If you use Quickbooks for your accounting and use Liquid to send payments, you can instantly begin issuing payments to workers in more than 145 countries. You can more easily manage important documents like Non-Disclosure Agreements, Individual Work Contracts, Invoices from other entities and more.
Best of all, Liquid connects you to a growing network of employers and workers worthy of your interest as you decide who else you want to work with – and Liquid easily integrates into your existing business operations on a day-to-day basis whether you choose to use Quickbooks or any other accounting platform.
For more information on the many ways Liquid can help you with your Quickbooks and beyond, feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience.
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