QuickBooks Enterprise is available in four subscription plans: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. We recommend exploring Silver, the entry-level plan, to see if it covers your basic accounting needs. However, if you have employees and can file taxes effectively on your own, you may upgrade to Gold. If you require more specialized features like advanced inventory management and advanced pricing, Platinum might be suitable for you. Finally, to unlock the full features and benefits of QuickBooks Enterprise, get Diamond.
Here are specific scenarios where we recommend each QuickBooks Enterprise plan:
- QuickBooks Enterprise Silver: Best for midsized businesses with simple inventory accounting needs and no employees
- QuickBooks Enterprise Gold: Best for businesses that require basic payroll management features
- QuickBooks Enterprise Platinum: Best for businesses with extensive inventory management workflows and complex pricing structures
- QuickBooks Enterprise Diamond: Best for larger businesses seeking assisted payroll, additional user capacity, time tracking, and Salesforce CRM integration
QuickBooks Enterprise Plans Comparison: Pricing & Features
When deciding which QuickBooks Enterprise plan to purchase, start with assessing the entry-level plan, Silver; if it’s insufficient, then evaluate the next option. Do this with each subsequent tier until you find the one that includes all the features you need.
QuickBooks offers free product tours to help you explore each plan’s offerings. Alternatively, you may contact the provider directly for more information about each option.
Which QuickBooks Enterprise plan is best for you?
QuickBooks Enterprise Silver vs Gold
Silver | Gold | |
|---|---|---|
Pricing (Cost per Year) | ||
Scalability | Up to 30 users | |
Access All Core Features of QuickBooks Enterprise | ✓ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll | ✕ | ✓ |
When Silver Is Sufficient
If you are primarily focused on the standard features offered by QuickBooks Enterprise, then Silver is enough. It has all the core features of Enterprise, including basic inventory management, basic pricing management, Priority Circle membership, and advanced reporting. Another reason you may prefer Silver is if you handle payroll tasks outside of QuickBooks or already use a different payroll system to pay your employees since the entry-level plan excludes the payroll option.
If you already have QuickBooks Premier and are considering upgrading to Enterprise, you can evaluate the additional features you’ll get through our QuickBooks Premier vs Enterprise comparison.
If you want to learn more about the core accounting features of Enterprise, head to our detailed QuickBooks Enterprise review, where we discuss when to use it, its features, and when it’s best to use an alternative.
You Pay & File Taxes on Your Own
We recommend the Gold version for businesses that want to process their own payroll and can effectively file and pay payroll taxes on their own. The only difference between QuickBooks Enterprise Silver vs Gold is that the latter includes free access to QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll.
It’s a self-service option that handles payroll tasks, such as calculating paychecks, managing tax withholdings, and generating tax forms. With Enhanced Payroll, you can enter employee hours, make necessary deductions, and generate paychecks or direct deposits.
It also helps with filing and paying payroll taxes and generating tax forms such as W-2s and 1099s. It even provides access to payroll reports. However, note that you are responsible for paying and filing your own taxes.
If you’re looking for an easier-to-use and scaled-down accounting software, you should check out our top recommendations for the best small business accounting software.
QuickBooks Enterprise Gold vs Platinum
Gold | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|
Pricing (Cost per Year) | ||
Scalability | Up to 30 users | |
Advanced Inventory Management | ✕ | ✓ |
Advanced Pricing Management | ✕ | ✓ |
Bill & PO Workflow Approvals | ✕ | ✓ |
When Gold Is Sufficient
Apart from those who can file their own taxes confidently, QuickBooks Gold could be sufficient for businesses with one location and those operating with relatively low inventory levels.
Your Business Relies Heavily on Inventory Management
Whether you are a retail chain with multiple locations or a manufacturing firm dealing with serialized items, Platinum offers inventory management features beyond those found in Gold. Platinum lets you perform advanced inventory management tasks, like the ability to use serial and lot numbers to track items, monitor inventory across multiple locations, assign bin locations to items, and use barcode scanners.
You Have Sophisticated Pricing Structures
Businesses with complex pricing structures, such as those with tiered pricing, volume discounts, and seasonal pricing adjustments, should consider upgrading to Platinum. All Enterprise plans allow you to set up basic pricing, but Platinum takes it one step further by allowing you to create pricing rules based on various criteria.
For example, you can create rules that offer discounted prices for bulk purchases and promotional periods. You can also set up rules for special pricing for preferred customers and implement automatic price adjustments based on cost fluctuations.
You Have Complex Procurement Processes
Another reason to upgrade to Platinum is that you want to streamline your accounts payable (A/P) processes with bill and PO approval workflows. This feature enables you to set up custom rules and permissions to assign team members responsible for reviewing and approving bills or purchase orders before they are processed.
QuickBooks Enterprise Platinum vs Diamond
Platinum | Diamond | |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | ||
Scalability | Up to 30 users | Up to 40 users |
QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll | ✕ | ✓ |
QuickBooks Time Elite | ✕ | ✓ |
Salesforce CRM Connector | ✕ | ✓ |
When Platinum Is Sufficient
If you are satisfied with the features offered in Platinum and don’t require any specialized features or additional user capacity, then you likely don’t need Diamond, the highest QuickBooks Enterprise tier. We believe that Platinum is sufficient for most businesses, unless they require enhanced scalability or additional assistance filing payroll tax returns and have complex processes that require integrations.
You Require Assisted Payroll Tax Filing
If you don’t have the time and expertise to handle your own taxes, then we recommend going with Diamond. While both the Gold and Platinum plans include Enhanced Payroll, Diamond offers an even more advanced payroll option, Assisted Payroll.
With Assisted Payroll, you can offload the entire payroll process to QuickBooks. This means it will take care of all the tasks involved in payroll processing, including paying and filing taxes. To help you understand how it differs from Enhanced Payroll better, read our QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll vs Assisted Payroll comparison.
You Require Advanced Time Tracking Features
Diamond includes free access to QuickBooks Time Elite, the advanced version of QuickBooks Time. Besides basic time tracking features—like clock-in and clock-out, time-off management, and employee scheduling—Elite has advanced tools, such as mileage tracking, geofencing, and project tracking. You can learn more about its features in our detailed review of QuickBooks Time.
You Use Salesforce as Your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
If you rely on Salesforce and want to integrate it with QuickBooks, you’ll need to upgrade to the Diamond plan. The Salesforce CRM Connector in the Diamond plan syncs customer and sales data between the two platforms. This allows you to better track customer interactions, including sales orders, invoices, and payment history—helping you improve reporting and forecasting.
How We Evaluated QuickBooks Enterprise Plans
We evaluated the QuickBooks Enterprise plans based on several factors, including:
- Pricing: QuickBooks Enterprise plans are priced differently, with the cost per user increasing as you move up to higher tiers. However, all plans offer tiered pricing for additional users, so as you add more seats, the price per cost is reduced.
- Ease of Use: QuickBooks Enterprise has a learning curve, but we find the higher plans more difficult to use primarily due to the advanced features included.
- Scalability: The Diamond plan allows you to add up to 40 users, whereas you can only add up to 30 across all the other lower plans.
- Advanced Features: We evaluated the additional services included in higher-priced plans, such as advanced inventory, advanced pricing, and assisted tax filing. We believe these advanced features are essential for large businesses with complex business processes.
- Integration Capabilities: We considered each plan’s ability to integrate with other business applications. While QuickBooks Enterprise typically has a few integrations available, Diamond has a strong focus on CRM integration with its Salesforce CRM connector.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The key differences lie in the cost and the features offered. Higher-tier plans provide additional advanced features, such as advanced inventory management and advanced pricing, and specialized services, such as Assisted Payroll.
The plan for you depends on several factors, such as your budget, the size of your business, and the features you need. If you have a limited budget and only need standard features, such as inventory tracking and advanced reporting, Silver is great. If you have more complex requirements, you may upgrade to a higher plan that offers the additional features you need.
Yes, but it requires a hosting service. If you purchase cloud access through QuickBooks hosting, you’ll be able to access and use your QuickBooks Enterprise software and files online.
Yes, QuickBooks Enterprise offers discounts for each additional user added to the plan.
Bottom Line
When deciding between QuickBooks Enterprise Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, you must carefully assess your business needs, budget, and desired features. Choose a plan that provides the right balance of functionality, value for money, and scalability to support your business’s growth and unique business requirements.
