Originally designed for very small businesses that desired easy online access, web based QuickBooks Online has evolved into a solid small business accounting application that is easy to use and can be quickly accessed from any location on any type of device. But aside from cloud access, there are other differences between the two applications that we’ll talk about next. While many QuickBooks Online aficionados cite anytime/anywhere access as one of the main benefits of going with QuickBooks Online, keep in mind that QuickBooks Desktop can be hosted on a virtual server if you’re looking to combine the reliability of a desktop application with easy cloud access. While both provide easy access to a variety of features and functions, only you can decide which one will work best for you.

When you do, you’ll notice the difference immediately as QuickBooks Online offers a streamlined user interface, while QuickBooks Desktop relies on a flow-chart based interface. Whether you’re thinking about converting to QuickBooks Online or switching from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, your first step should be to take a long look at both applications. QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are both excellent small business accounting software applications, both offering complete double-entry accounting as well as automatic processing of closing entries. Join us as we compare QuickBooks Online to its desktop counterpart in an effort to help you decide between these two popular small business accounting applications. While people may assume that QuickBooks Online is simply the cloud version of QuickBooks Desktop, in reality, the two products are very different.

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