What Is QuickBooks Workforce?

QuickBooks Workforce is Quickbooks Online's alternative to QuickBooks Desktop, and it offers a compelling combination of features for both small and medium-sized businesses.

If you currently use QuickBooks Desktop and find it somewhat complicated or not quite powerful enough to meet your needs, QuickBooks Workforce might be able to scratch that itch by providing the same QuickBooks Online experience you love, only via a desktop version.

Is QuickBooks Workforce Right for You?

QuickBooks Workforce isn't Quick Books Online's only alternative to QuickBooks Desktop. It's also available as part of the QuickBooks Enterprise suite, which is Quick Books Online's highest-tier product and designed for those who need maximum scalability and stability. QuickBooks Enterprise is suitable for larger companies with more complex accounting needs, but QuickBooks Workforce is Quick Books Online's smaller, simpler option with fewer features.

If your company falls in between QuickBooks Enterprise's target range of 100-300 employees and QuickBooks Workforce's 0-100 employees, the full QuickBooks Online subscription might be a better fit for you. QuickBooks Workforce is only designed to support 0-100 employees, many QuickBooks Online features are excluded, and QuickBooks Enterprise offers more advanced capabilities.

If there's no chance QuickBooks Enterprise will work for your business, QuickBooks Workforce is worth considering. QuickBooks Desktop can't compete with QuickBooks Online for ease of use, but QuickBooks Workforce can.

QuickBooks Desktop's pricing starts at $150 per year for QuickBooks Pro and jumps to over $500/year for QuickBooks Premier, while QuickBooks Workforce is free. QuickBooks Desktop will cost you more in the long run if you ever need any of QuickBooks Desktop's advanced features, while QuickBooks Workforce is Quick Books Online without all the bells and whistles.

QuickBooks Workforce performs the same functions as QuickBooks Online, but in a desktop application that can be accessed by multiple users at once. The software itself is web-based, which means you'll need an internet connection to access QuickBooks Workforce at all, but you won't need to worry about patching and updating the software like you do with QuickBooks Desktop. QuickBooks Enterprise and QuickBooks Online also update automatically, but QuickBooks Workforce does not.

QuickBooks Workforce is very similar to QuickBooks Online, but there are still some differences. QuickBooks Workforce can help you manage QuickBooks Online users, send quotes to customers, manage QuickBooks Inventory items, and connect QuickBooks Desktop data.

QuickBooks Workforce does not offer payroll services like QuickBooks Online's QuickBooks Payroll service for between $20-$40 per month , Quickbooks Enterprise also offers automated payroll options at additional cost QuickBooks Workforce also lacks QuickBooks Online's QuickBooks Payments service and QuickBooks Capital, which lets you raise money for your business, while QuickBooks Enterprise offers QuickBooks Payment Solutions and QuickBooks Capital at additional cost.