QuickBooks Accountant Desktop: Review for Accounting Firms

At Fit Small Business (FSB), we are committed to delivering thorough and dependable software reviews. In adherence to the FSB editorial policy, we seize every opportunity to try the accounting practice software we review firsthand, allowing us to test how the features work in real-world scenarios. This approach allows us to customize our reviews and provide more relevant insights and recommendations tailored to the unique needs of your accounting firm.

As seen in the chart, QuickBooks Accountant Desktop is as equally powerful as QuickBooks Online in terms of accounting practice management and bookkeeping. This similarity isn’t a surprise given that they both belong to the QuickBooks family and are designed to offer the same core feature set.

QuickBooks Accountant Desktop lost in pricing, as it doesn’t have a scalable monthly plan. Jetpack Workflow is more affordable with a starting price of $56 monthly, while QuickBooks Online Accountant, the winner for pricing, is completely free. Additionally, it didn’t do well in ease of use as it’s a locally installed software, which requires initial installation, setup, and maintenance.

As the name itself suggests, the Accountant Toolbox provides extra features and tools exclusively for accountants and bookkeepers to help you review and adjust your client’s books:

• Access the Accountant Center: Your Accountant Center gives quick access to many of the features in your toolbox, such as the ability to batch-enter transactions, write off invoices, and merge vendors.

• Troubleshoot prior account balances: Users can compare the prior-year balances in a client’s QuickBooks file to what they should be, based on the actual prior-year numbers that you input. The system will then prepare a proposed adjusting entry that you can accept.
• Bulk-reclassify transactions: Instead of making a journal entry when a client repeatedly makes a classification error, you can specify criteria to locate the suspect transactions. You can then select the individual transactions to reclassify and perform the bulk reclassification with one click.
• Bulk write-off invoices: You can specify criteria to generate a list of invoices to review. After reviewing, perform a bulk write-off by indicating the appropriate invoices and clicking one button.
• Fix incorrectly recorded sales and payroll taxes: You can find and correct instances where your client recorded tax payments incorrectly.
• Merge vendors: If clients create duplicate vendor accounts accidentally, you can merge all of their transactions into a single vendor.
• Batch enter transactions: You can input numerous transactions quickly using a spreadsheet-like interface. This is much quicker than entering checks or other transactions through the regular screens.

Clients create an Accountant’s Copy to share their QuickBooks data. They specify a dividing date, usually the end of the most recent period. Only the client can work on transactions after the dividing date, and only the accountant can work on transactions prior to the dividing date. You can import their Accountant’s Copy, make the necessary changes, and then export your changes. When the client imports your changes, the dividing date they set will be unlocked.

This provides specialized tools to detect and correct common data entry errors, such as incorrectly recorded sales tax payments invoices written off in bulk instead of individually. It also lets you reclassify multiple transactions in one go, troubleshoot inventory problems, and detect changes made to your lists in QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Desktop Accountant lets you toggle between all the industry-specific editions of Premier: General Business, Retail, Professional, Contractor, Nonprofit, and Manufacturing and Wholesale.

To switch to another edition, select File from the top menu bar, click Toggle to Another Edition, and then select the edition you want to switch to as demonstrated in the GIF below.

• Categorize transactions with improved bank feeds: Categorize bank transactions automatically with more detail by using enhanced rules, batch editing, and improved matching.
• Send statements automatically: Automate regularly sent statement emails tailored to different customer needs.
• Customize payment receipts: Customize payment receipt formatting, including logos, for a professional and consistent look across your customer communications.
• Create customer groups: Create rule-based customer groups based on fields like customer type, status, location, and balance so that you can manage and communicate with customers easily.
• Access QuickBooks Desktop Manager: Use one management tool to find and install all of your QuickBooks products.
• Access QuickBooks Tool Hub: Fix common problems and errors with a hub containing easy-to-use troubleshooting tools.

QuickBooks Accountant Desktop allows you to enter and pay bills directly from within the platform. It also keeps track of all outstanding bills and shows you what you owe. To help you stay organized, QuickBooks Accountant Desktop enables you to categorize expenses, such as rent, utilities, and supplies. You can also set up partial payments, schedule recurring transactions, and create A/P reports so that you can better track and manage your payables.

With QuickBooks Accountant Desktop, you can create invoices, send them to clients, and track payment receipts. It also lets you track customer balances, payment due dates, and outstanding receivables, helping you better manage your cash flow and follow up on overdue payments. You can also generate A/R reports to gain insights into your customers’ payment behavior and aging receivables.

You can connect your bank and credit card accounts to QuickBooks Accountant Desktop so that you can automatically download your transactions and categorize them for easy tracking. The program provides the tools you need to reconcile accounts and identify errors or missing transactions.

QuickBooks Accountant Desktop allows you to run various standard reports, such as profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and more. You can also create customized reports to meet your specific business needs.