If you are considering an upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise, the odds are good that you are already using either a lower-level version of QuickBooks, such as Pro or Premier, or a comparable accounting suite. Making a final decision may be as simple as realizing how much you have to gain. Let’s consider some of the key benefits included with QuickBooks Enterprise.
The first is the scale available with Enterprise, which will be an important consideration if your business is growing (or has already outgrown its existing accounting solution). Enterprise is able to handle far more customers, vendors, employees, and inventory items, with a total capacity of up to one million names and one million items. Compared to the maximum of three users available in QuickBooks Pro or five in Premier, Enterprise can handle up to 30. The user count is also scalable from 1 to 10 (or the maximum of 30), so you don’t have to pay for capability you don’t need.
User permissions are also highly customizable. Although there are 14 predefined roles, you can edit the permissions associated with those roles or create your own. Up to 115 activities can be controlled with full, view only, or no access. Another helpful feature of Enterprise is its enhanced database management, which means the lag other users experience when someone is running reports in other versions disappears.
If you are managing multiple companies, Enterprise has two valuable benefits. First, a single user can work in two companies simultaneously, which is particularly helpful if you need to enter or reconcile intercompany transactions. Second, you can automatically consolidate financial reports from multiple companies into a single Excel spreadsheet or CSV file. This alone will be joyous news to anyone who has been having to manually consolidate financial statements.
To eliminate the need for third-party data backup, Enterprise includes online backup and protection of your QuickBooks company files. You can also go a step further—or a giant leap, really—and choose a hosted solution. In addition to eliminating worries about data security and backup, QuickBooks Enterprise with Hosting gives you and your staff access to your accounting system from anywhere with an internet connection—and on any device, including a phone, tablet, or Mac.
Although it’s just as easy to use as Pro and Premier, QuickBooks Enterprise includes unlimited access to technical support from a U.S.-based team, along with access to product experts and automatic upgrades as new versions of Enterprise are released. This level of service is only available at an additional cost for Pro and Premier.
Finally—and we’re not trying to cheat here—there are some additional benefits that, while they are add-ons to QuickBooks Enterprise (and so not technically “included”), are only available in Enterprise. Advanced Reporting was in the past an optional add-on, but it’s now included with Silver-level subscriptions and above. Other add-ons include Advanced Reporting, Advanced Inventory, Advanced Pricing, and Enhanced Payroll. Enhanced Payroll is included with Gold-level subscriptions and above, and Advanced Inventory and Advanced Pricing are included with Platinum-level subscriptions. The Intuit Field Service Management module is also available for businesses that need it. If you want to accept credit card payments directly in QuickBooks, you’ll receive preferred rates as an Enterprise subscriber.
These are some of the key benefits available with an upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise. If you need further convincing, Intuit offers a free “test drive” so that you can see for yourself exactly what you’ve been missing—and what you stand to gain with an upgrade.
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