Is QuickBooks Enterprise Online or Desktop?

QuickBooks, an Intuit product, is a recommended accounting software created for accounting professionals and small businesses. One of its popular products, QuickBooks Enterprise, is an accounting solution with various advanced features like report generation, batch invoicing, and stock tracking, which are beneficial to SMBs, accounting professionals, and CPAs.

Coming to the question of whether QuickBooks Enterprise is available online? QuickBooks Enterprise is a desktop application with no online version. It has to be installed on the local systems, which poses some restrictions to the accountants.

The users who want to work remotely feel restricted when using the desktop version of QuickBooks Enterprise. Also, the users are not able to work in real-time with their clients and have to send their files via emails, which in itself is a very time-consuming process.

With there being no online application of QuickBooks Enterprise, the accounting professionals are not able to utilize the functionalities of the software to the maximum.

However, a solution to this is hosting QuickBooks Enterprise on the cloud. QuickBooks Enterprise cloud hosting is helpful for the user as it not only gives them the mobility and ability to work from anywhere at any time, it also saves loads of time and revenue and offers easy collaboration.

Here are some benefits of hosting QuickBooks Enterprise desktop on the cloud.

1. Remote Working

QuickBooks Enterprise Cloud enables individuals to explore a completely new way of managing the business. The capability to operate QuickBooks Enterprise and access the critical data files via the Internet allows the users to work from anywhere with no time restrictions.

The QuickBooks Enterprise cloud solution can be accessed through portable devices like smartphones and tablets.

Businesses in which employees are mobile and work remotely or those businesses with multiple locations benefit the most as they get centralized access to the data.

2. Advanced Security

Security is one of the factors that can make or break a business, especially the accounting firms. With an increased threat of data breach and cyberattacks, accounting firms have become very conscious about the security of the critical data. However, data on local hardware are the most prone to such data breaches.

Data breach or leak might happen due to carelessness in implementing security protocols in the network, or an external malware or ransomware attack.

However, when hosting QuickBooks Enterprise on the cloud, the accounting data is completely protected from such kinds of risks. With various service providers hosting their cloud infrastructure in secure data centers along with taking multiple backups of accounting data regularly, the users will be worry-free for the security of their data.

Moreover, the major cloud providers offer security features like data encryption, firewalls, multi-factor authentication, and antimalware ensuring that data is completely guarded.

3. Easy Collaboration

One of the major challenges that users of QuickBooks Enterprise Desktop face are collaborating with the other team members. It becomes troublesome to send files by emails or uploading them on drives continuously.

However, with cloud-hosted QuickBooks Enterprise, this problem gets eliminated as cloud offers a single platform for all the users to share, view, or edit QuickBooks Enterprise files.

With centralized availability of critical documents and no limitations of location, it enables multiple users to work on the same files in real-time at any time from anywhere. Moreover, the accountants can also collaborate with their clients by giving them access to the data.

According to Forbes, users collaborating in the cloud with the ability to work simultaneously has played an important role in the success of businesses.  With hosted QuickBooks Enterprise, there is no confusion with the file updates happening in real-time, which leads to a streamlined workflow.

4. Cost Cutting

Cost is one thing that every business tries to minimize and save as much revenue as possible. With QuickBooks Enterprise cloud hosting, businesses save a lot of money as the users have access to a much more scalable service.

The business has the full freedom to select the kind of service they want and don’t have to spend on the local IT infrastructure.

Also, the expense of maintaining staff for the management of the IT infrastructure gets eliminated as the whole setup right from software installation to updates to maintenance is taken care of by the cloud service provider.

5. Disaster Recovery

Given the critical nature of the accounting data, every firm needs its data protected from every possible crisis or disruptive event.

With QuickBooks Enterprise on the cloud, the data of the user is backed up in redundant servers stored in multiple geographic locations. This ensures that the data is always available whether there is a power outage or a major natural disaster such as an earthquake.

Thus, the businesses can access their QuickBooks Enterprise software and data under all circumstances.

6. Business Advantage

The cloud technology is getting popular at a rapid pace. However, there are still many businesses which are reluctant to adopt the cloud technology. This gives the business who have adopted the cloud technology the first mover advantage.

Also, with there being no need of in-house servers, the money saved can be pumped into other processes, thus, increasing the efficiency of the business.

8. 24/7 Availability

The renowned QuickBooks Enterprise hosting providers offer a guaranteed uptime of 99.99% which ensure that the QuickBooks Enterprise is available to the user at all times and the downtime is negligent.

As long as the user has a good Internet connection, one can access and work on QuickBooks Enterprise files from anywhere at any time.

9. Quality Check

Irregular, inaccurate, and unreliable reports can often lead the businesses towards a downfall.

QuickBooks Enterprise hosting ensures that all the necessary files and documents are saved in a single format eliminating any risk of human error. It also maintains consistency as the same data is available to everyone concerned.

On the other hand, handling information manually might lead the users to unintentionally create and save different version of the same file, which might result in confusion.

10. Impact on The Environment

With the rise in global warming and climate change, everyone has to do their bit to save the planet. Businesses who adopt cloud technology not only prevent wastage of paper and resources but also help in reducing the carbon footprint.

Which Way to Go Now? Cloud Is the Answer

If businesses are on a lookout for an accounting solution which offers the ability to work remotely with high scalability and advanced security, hosting QuickBooks Enterprise on the cloud would be the correct choice.