Thinking About Switching?
You now have the option to integrate either QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop with Smart Service, but which one is best for you? Take a look through this article to see the benefits of each version and what changes you will notice when compared to your current version of QuickBooks. Our Content Marketer wrote a great summary comparing these different QuickBooks suites, you can read it here.
When reviewing Online vs. Desktop remember that these are two different products made for two different kinds of businesses. It is best to read a few articles similar to this one and take into account what is, and is not a priority for your company’s future.
As always, we have a few great links for you to check out before reading how each version impacts Smart Service directly. Visit QuickBooks here to see what plans and pricing are available. We also found a great article from Merchant Maverick which compares the base QuickBooks Desktop version to QuickBooks Online.
During our research of this subject, we also found this article directly from Intuit highlighting the differences between their different products. If you choose to make the switch, not all of your QuickBooks Desktop data will come over to QuickBooks Online, and a list of the limitations is here.
What is QuickBooks Online?
QuickBooks Online allows on-the-go users to access their financial accounting information without needing 3rd party programs for remote access. These versions are much simpler to use than their desktop-based counterparts, but this also means less overall features. If your company demands mobility for your office personnel, QuickBooks Online is a good place to start.
What is QuickBooks Desktop?
QuickBooks Desktop has been around for a while in several different forms since its initial release. These versions of QuickBooks offer a vast collection of features and industry specific versions. For those who have staff working in an office, this may be the right version for you.
Impact on Smart Service
So how does all of this change your experience with Smart Service? We have narrowed this down to a few key points any company interested in switching should be aware of. Some of these features may, or may not be important for your type of business, and some will be provided in Smart Service whether or not they exist in QuickBooks Online yet.
We would also like to point out that switching to either QuickBooks Desktop OR Online will cause some changes to your backend data, which we need to compensate for in Smart Service. If you make a switch of this magnitude without us, your Smart Service database won’t be functional until the necessary data conversion is complete.
You can reach out to our data conversion team by emailing us at Support@smartservice.com and let us know your company name and which QuickBooks you’ll be switching to.
Smart Service allows you to track your technician’s hours for the day and their time spent on each job. We will store this information in our reporting section, but depending on your version of QuickBooks, you may have additional options.
If you’re looking for payroll options, QuickBooks Desktop is the only option which supports payroll items. Both version of QuickBooks support service items, which you can use to charge the customer for your time on the job.
QuickBooks Online offers a payroll service, which will help you with cutting checks for your employees, which you can view here.
QuickBooks desktop will allow you to factor payroll and item cost into your job costing reports, which are features not yet available in QuickBooks Online. You can check out this article to get started with job costing in QuickBooks Desktop.
Job Types are available in QuickBooks Desktop only. You would use this type to categorize types of services your customers request.
If you choose to go with QuickBooks Online, Smart Service has been designed to store and manage this type regardless of your QuickBooks preference.
Both versions of QuickBooks will allow you to create and maintain progress invoices, which is a great feature for any business.
QuickBooks Desktop also offers invoice batching, if you’d like to bill multiple clients at the same time. This should not be confused with “Batch Invoicing” from Smart Service.
Unlike QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online does not have or support payment line items, which is now an outdated method to receive payments. However, you are able to create a service item in QuickBooks Online and write in a negative amount to accomplish the same task. Just make sure you’re assigning that item to your undeposited funds account.
We now offer the ability to integrate credit card processing through Smart Service and Ifleet using our offered merchant service. Smart Service can send payment records to QBO in an identical fashion to QuickBooks Desktop. If you’d like to learn how to take a payment via Smart Service or iFleet, visit our article here.
The ‘Customer PO’ field which is available in QuickBooks Desktop has not yet been added to QuickBooks Online. Therefore, Smart Service cannot push data to this field.
You would use this field if your customer provides a work order or PO number that they will need to see referenced on their invoice in order to pay you. QuickBooks Online’s current recommendation is to create a User-Defined Field, which is something Smart Service cannot communicate with due to API limitations.
Smart Service does not have the ability to work with or create ‘Projects’ from QuickBooks Online.
Smart Service generated invoice numbers won’t be able to send over to QuickBooks Online unless ‘Customer Transaction Numbers’ is enabled in QuickBooks Online. This feature is disabled by default. It can be enabled under Settings > Sales in QuickBooks Online.
One last note for users switching from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, this is a one-way switch per Intuit support. While they can provide you with exports of your data from QuickBooks Online, they won’t be able to assist you in converting your information from Online back to Desktop.