Which Is Better: QuickBooks Premier or QuickBooks Enterprise

Out of its many software packages, QuickBooks Enterprise and QuickBooks Premier are one of the most widely sought business solutions from Intuit. They both boast tremendous functionalities and are capable enough to handle different business needs successfully.

However, they both have different function sets, which may or may not make it ideal for every business operation. You can be under-utilizing your current QuickBooks software or have outgrown your current QB version.

Also, if you are beginning your research, you may be caught up in one of the most general questions: which one is better?

To answer your question, we did a detailed comparison of their features and the functionalities they offer.

So, before you decide which one is better for your business, let’s have a look at their detailed analysis:

1. Pricing

Although both QuickBooks Enterprise and QuickBooks Premier are different versions of QB, they differ considerably on the price front. While the QuickBooks Premier is a one-time purchase with lifetime access, QB Enterprise can only be availed on an annual subscription. You must renew it every year for continuous usage. However, the functionalities they offer also differ as QB Premier is suited more for daily accounting tasks, and QB Enterprise is an end-to-end business solution to businesses.

2. License Support

The number of users that can use a single software license varies among the QuickBooks packages. QuickBooks Enterprise can support up to 40 user licenses, which is eight times that of the QuickBooks Premier (5 users only).

3. Business Size

Another area where both QuickBooks packages significantly differ is in their business capacity. QuickBooks Premier can easily cater to different industrial requirements of small businesses, non-profits, manufacturing firms, contractors, and wholesale companies. However, for medium or large-sized businesses, QuickBooks Enterprise is the perfect choice for handling all the organizational needs like advanced reporting, inventory management, lot tracking, and more.

4. List Management

Since both QuickBooks software are meant for different business sizes, the number of list entries for customers, vendors, employees, and other names that you can manage varies significantly. QuickBooks Premier supports up to 14,500 data entries, while the QuickBooks Enterprise has a much larger base and allows more than 100,000 entries.

5. In-Built Barcode Scanning Facility

Barcodes carry numerous benefits. They are easy to print, inexpensive, significantly reduce human errors, and help in tracking items easily. Although both QB Enterprise and QB Premier support barcode facilities, you need to integrate an add-on in the Premier version. QuickBooks Enterprise has an in-built barcode functionality and doesn’t require any third-party integration.

6. Multiple Company Files

Unlike QuickBooks Premier, you can easily manage two company files with a single license in QuickBooks Enterprise. So, suppose you are a business owner who manages more than one company or is looking to expand your business into multiple branches. In that case, you can conveniently consolidate the parent company and its subsidiaries and manage your organizational operations with QuickBooks Enterprise.

7. Inventory Options

Both QB packages have the Inventory Center feature that lets you simplify multiple inventory tasks into a single interface and rapidly identify all the transactions involved with a particular inventory item. However, QuickBooks Enterprise has much wider inventory options like FIFO inventory costing, multiple inventory site management, and inventory aging reports for easy handling of complex operations.

8. Predefined User Role

Without proper end-user visibility control, your employees could easily access your sensitive data. This is the reason why data must be thoroughly protected from insider activities too. While QuickBooks Premier has only ten user security and permission settings, QuickBooks Enterprise has over 115+ user settings for controlling data visibility.

9. QuickBooks Statement Writer

One of the greatest features of QuickBooks Enterprise that is missing from QB Premier is the QuickBooks Statement Writer (QSW). With QSW, you can easily integrate Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel data and create customized financial reports. The generated statements are synchronized with your QuickBooks and follow the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).

10. Fixed Asset Tracking

QuickBooks Enterprise has an exclusive fixed asset tracking module for a business that needs to manage its extensive fixed-asset deployment. You can easily devise policies for asset capitalization, depreciation method, and their useful life left.

QuickBooks Enterprise can automatically depreciate assets based on pre-set values, adjust your tax statements, and comprehensively manage your fixed asset list. Whereas QB Premier lacks this feature, and you have to complete these tasks manually.

11. Customer Service

While QB Premier offers good quality customer support, availing of the Enterprise version takes it to another level. With QuickBooks Enterprise, you are entitled to the services of QuickBooks Priority Circle. It is an exclusive round-the-clock service with US-based customer service that offers premium technical expertise. Apart from the premium technical expertise, you can freely access QuickBooks webinars and seminars online (that cost over $3000) and easily use your QB.

12. Intuit Data Protect

Since data is an important asset, it must be regularly backed up. While you can always create local backups, they can be easily compromised due to environmental and human-made interventions. QuickBooks offers Intuit Data Protect for safely backing up your data online. It comes integrated with the Enterprise version, but you need to pay extra to avail it for QB Premier.

13. Variable Data Range

Different businesses have different size ranges for their data. While the data size of some businesses may only extend into a few megabytes, the file size for some can even reach up to a few gigabytes. Thus, QB Enterprise and QB Premier both have different file size capacities. The former can easily handle file size up to 1 GB of data while the latter is only limited to 150-200 MB.

14. Report Generation

Reports are an essential part of managing a business. They help you get a clearer insight into your organizational operations and better manage your resources. Both QB Enterprise and QB Premier offer 150 industry-specific reports for their users. However, with QB Enterprise, you can easily customize reports with ODBC-compliant solutions and handle mass data for complex reporting.

Conclusion

There is no direct answer to which is better: QuickBooks Premier or QuickBooks Enterprise. You should carefully analyze your business requirements and then come to a final decision. If yours is a company that needs advanced and custom reports, QB Enterprise might be a better fit for you. However, if you need an application that does most of your daily accounting tasks seamlessly, you should go for QB Premier.

Want to know which QB version is suitable for your business? Get in touch with our Solutions Consultant at 855-363-0916.