Every business has its financial management to worry about. According to recent reports, US-based small businesses experienced a 22% drop in revenue in 2020, with the recreation industry being hit the worst with 33%. Properly tracking, managing, and analyzing finances is one of the most important aspects of running a business.

With the right QuickBooks Desktop Edition, you will be able to do that more effectively and easily than ever before. But which version of QuickBooks Desktop Edition should you go for? What’s the difference between the different versions of the platform, and how will you know which one is suitable for your business? We’ll address those questions and more in the following segments.

Differentiating the Available QuickBooks Desktop Editions

QuickBooks is a set of platforms created by Intuit and many different versions of QuickBooks fall under their umbrella. This is why it can be confusing for financial management novices to choose the right tool and QuickBooks training for their business. When it comes to desktop editions of QuickBooks, there are currently three different platforms to pick from:

  • QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus 2022
  • QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus 2022
  • QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 22.0

While each of these desktop editions shares a similar set of features, the later ones are far more complex and expansive. There are several important factors which you should take into consideration when choosing the best version of QuickBooks Desktop Edition for your needs. Let’s try to make that choice a bit easier.

Consider the Size of Your Business

The first element to consider when choosing the right QuickBooks Desktop Edition for your business concerns its size. Do you operate like a small startup, a small business, or a large enterprise? Different versions of QuickBooks Desktop Edition support various numbers of concurrent users who can use the platform simultaneously.

In practice, this means that QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus won’t allow you to work with 5 people at the same time. However, QuickBooks Premier Plus will do that for you. QuickBooks Enterprise is even more versatile in this regard, allowing up to 40 people to work concurrently with advanced workflow management features. If your business is too small to take advantage of enterprise-level features, you can settle for QuickBooks Pro Plus for the time being.

Consider the Industry you Operate In

Businesses that operate in different industries and niches also need to use different versions of QuickBooks Desktop Edition. This is because QuickBooks Pro Plus doesn’t feature industry-specific features which can expand on your business project and client management.

Your business can belong to any number of industries, including IT, shipping, online service outsourcing, and retail to name a few. If your clients are students who are always looking for a good writing service to work with, you need to choose tools carefully. Students can use a thesis writing service to get academic writing done by professional writers in a short time frame to hand in assignments on time. If your clients are indeed college students and academics, for example, choosing QuickBooks Premier Plus or Enterprise might be a good idea.

Consider your Forecasting Requirements

Your product and service portfolio will determine whether or not you need advanced forecasting features in your financial resource management platform. Solo entrepreneurs and small startups may not need forecasting based on previous business performance if the company is in its infancy.

However, as your business grows and more clients approach your company, you may need to expand your back-end finance management. QuickBooks Premier Plus and QuickBooks Enterprise both feature forecasting features that can create financial analysis reports for you. These will allow you to make more informed decisions on future business expansion, which clients to work with, and how to minimize operational costs. In this instance, going for enterprise-level features in your QuickBooks Desktop Edition may be the safest option.

Consider the Scale of your Inventories

Businesses in the retail, shipping, eCommerce, and other sales-oriented industries need to consider inventory management when choosing their QuickBooks Desktop Edition. While all three versions of QuickBooks for desktop allow for inventory management, only QuickBooks Enterprise offers advanced inventory management features.

Moreover, mobile inventory barcode scanning is also an exclusive feature in QuickBooks Enterprise, a feature that would make your inventory management far more manageable. In short, it would help your warehouse managers prioritize shipments more efficiently, scan and operate inventories in real-time, and automatically track inventory counts. These features go beyond financial management, but they are an essential point of consideration for large-scale shipping businesses.

Consider your Shipment Processing Workflow

Businesses with large-scale shipment processing operations need to consider this factor when choosing the right version of QuickBooks. End-to-end sales order fulfillment and tracking are only available with QuickBooks Enterprise as it allows for full-scale inventory management. Your staff will be able to fully control the flow of goods to clients who ordered them with only a few clicks. Moreover, major shipment carriers are integrated into QuickBooks Enterprise out of the box, so the process of shipment management is even quicker and more manageable.

While QuickBooks Pro Plus and QuickBooks Premier Plus don’t offer these shipping features, small-scale businesses may not need them whatsoever. Again, the best way to choose the QuickBooks edition suitable for your business is to start with going over your business portfolio and product line-up.

Choosing the Right QuickBooks Desktop Edition for your Business (Conclusion)

QuickBooks can be a valuable addition to your software line-up if you choose the right edition for your business. There are numerous ways to use QuickBooks to advance your business, manage your finances, and track how well your company is performing.

Explore your QuickBooks desktop options thoroughly, and consult a financial advisor if you can’t decide. Any finance professional will be quick to point out how useful and user-friendly QuickBooks is for businesses of all scales – don’t sleep on it.

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