An Accounting System is a computer based software that is used to track all financial records for decision making purposes. Due to high rates of technology advancement, systems have been developed to collect, process and store financial related information. Pastel and QuickBooks are some of the Accounting systems that have emerged and are quiet helpful to both small and medium sized enterprises.

QuickBooks

This Accounting system is mainly used by small- medium enterprises and has two versions the online and the desktop version. This system keeps track of all the expenses, sales, pay bills, create invoices and generate reports among other features. The desktop version is installed on your desktop and one does not need internet access to keep track of their financial records. The online version is cloud based and to keep track of your financial records one has to be connected to the internet. QuickBooks can support both windows and mac but on windows, Windows 7 is no longer supported. QuickBooks desktop is mainly used by companies that do much of selling products whereas QuickBooks online is mainly used by organizations that do not have their employees in the office and need to access their records on the go.

Pros and Cons of QuickBooks Online

  • It is easier to setup unlike the desktop version
  • One can access records anywhere even on their mobile phones as long as they are connected to the internet
  • Unlimited invoices via email which saves time
  • No need for a software to install
  • One can customize their dashboard based on their preferences

Cons

  • The need for internet in order to keep track of what is going on
  • Training costs to train beginners as they may feel overwhelmed

Pros and Cons of QuickBooks Desktop

  • No need to access the Internet
  • It helps with better organization as it has an easy to use dashboard

Cons

  • It does not have a platform for data storage (cloud) hence the organization is exposed to the risk of data loss
  • There is no professional guidance hence the organization has to invest money on maintenance work