QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing & Wholesale Review

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale, an industry-specific version of QuickBooks Desktop Premier, is designed specifically for manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors. It has robust inventory management features, including the ability to manage bill of materials (BOM)—which is essential for manufacturers.

The Manufacturing and Wholesale edition is priced at $799 per year for one user, which is the same as the general business edition. It may be affordable for a single individual but can get costly for two to five users. Discover if it’s worth the price through our in-depth QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing review.

Is QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Right For You?

Is Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale the Best Accounting Software for You?

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Alternatives & Comparison

Comparison Use Cases

	Starting Price	Maximum Users	Deployment Method	BOM Cost Tracking	Cost Flow Method	Location and Bin Tracking	Fixed Asset Management
QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing & Wholesale	$799 per year	5	Desktop	✓	AVCO	✕	✕
QuickBooks Online	$38 per month	25	Cloud	✕	FIFO	✕	✕
	Visit QuickBooks Online
Xero	$20 per month	Unlimited	Cloud	✕	FIFO	✕	✓
	Visit Xero
QuickBooks Enterprise	$1,410 per year	40	Desktop	✓	FIFO	✓	✕
	Visit QuickBooks Enterprise

QuickBooks Desktop Premier Reviews from Users

4.40 / 5

We didn’t find any specific QuickBooks Premier and Manufacturing and Wholesale review, but we came across user feedback on the general business edition. These may provide you with helpful insights.

One user who left a positive review mentioned that it is simpler to use than their previous software and that it’s easier to correct client errors. We agree that for professional accountants with many clients, Premier is a great tool that helps you identify and fix client errors.

Some like that it allows them to customize reports, while others explain that their favorite features are bank reconciliation and the ability to memorize reports. The reports in Premier are very customizable, can easily be saved for future use, and can even be tagged as a “favorite” to make them easy to find.

Meanwhile, those who shared negative feedback complained that it’s a bit expensive and that its customer support is not that reliable. We agree that Premier is expensive for multiple users compared to the alternatives. We also know that the quality of customer service is going to depend on the individual customer service rep.

As of this writing, QuickBooks Desktop Premier earns the following ratings on top review websites:

• Capterra^[1]: 4.4 out of 5 based on 100 reviews
• TrustRadius^[2]: 8.2 out of 10 based on over 400 reviews

Fit Small Business Case Study

Given that QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale essentially offers the same core features as the general business edition, they earned the same ratings in our case study. For a detailed analysis and complete score breakdown for each category, please read our review of QuickBooks Desktop Premier.

Meanwhile, we conducted a comparative case study to see how QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale stacks up with our recommended alternatives. See the results in the chart below.

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Vs Competitors

Touch the graph above to interact Click on the graphs above to interact

• QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale From $799 per year for one user
• QuickBooks Online From $30 per month
• Xero From $13 per month
• QuickBooks Enterprise From $1,410 per year for one user

Where QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Won

We found that Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale’s biggest strengths are banking, inventory, and project accounting. It is on par with the other QuickBooks products—QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Enterprise—but beats Xero in these categories. All QuickBooks products allow you to reconcile bank accounts without bank feeds, something you can’t do with Xero.

Where QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Lost

Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale lost to Xero in pricing because it’s a bit expensive, especially for up to five users; Xero has affordable plans that start at $13 monthly only. Another weakness is its mobile app, which is not as functional as that of QuickBooks Online.

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition Pricing

1.00 / 5

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale garnered a poor score in our evaluation because of its pricing structure. As you add users beyond one, the cost rises significantly—making it potentially expensive for small businesses with up to five users.

The table below provides a detailed breakdown of the QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition pricing structure.

If you need payroll, you can purchase the QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll an add-on for $50 a month, or $500 a year, plus $5 per employee, per month.

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale New Features for 2023

• Inventory categorization: QuickBooks Premier 2023 lets you classify your inventory by groups or categories, which can help you find the products you need easily.
• Cash Flow Hub: This allows you to generate cash flow forecasts, track working capital key performance indicators (KPIs), and monitor the cash conversion cycle. It uses your bank accounts and relevant bank activity to help you predict your cash flow, helping you make detailed action plans.
• Contactless payments: This lets you accept digital payments from a single card reader, and the payments will be entered into QuickBooks automatically. You can use Apple Pay, Google Pay, EMV chips, and credit and debit card payments.
• Batch payment reminders: You can send multiple reminders in one go to customers who are behind on their payments.

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition Features

In addition to the general accounting features covered in our QuickBooks Desktop Premier review, QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition offers industry-specific tools—such as BOM cost tracking, PO and SO management, and custom pricing.

Inventory Management

When setting up an inventory item, you can choose the type of item you want to create, whether it’s an inventory part, noninventory part, or assembly. The item will track the average cost per unit to be used if the item is either sold or consumed in an inventory assembly. You can also designate a default sales price. The item screen allows you to designate a reorder point and provides information about units on hand, POs, and sales orders.

BOM Cost Tracking

Manufacturing companies usually need to use and track inventory and supplies to build a product. QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale lets you track the BOM cost of each product, including the labor, overhead, and costs of subassemblies. When it detects a change in the cost of a specific part or component, it will update the labor and material costs automatically, eliminating the need for manual data entry.

As part of the inventory assembly item, you specify a BOM showing the exact items, including labor, and quantities that go into the manufactured product. The BOM will provide a total cost for manufacturing the product.

Build Assembly

You can specify the number of products to manufacture in the Build Assembly screen, and the program will remove the items on the BOM automatically from their respective inventory counts and add them to the manufactured products inventory. The screen also provides helpful information, such as the quantity available for all needed items and the maximum number of products you can manufacture based on the inventory availability.

POs

PO tracking is important for manufacturing businesses as it helps them simplify the purchase of products and materials needed for their production. The PO form in QuickBooks Desktop tells your vendors what products or items you want to order from them. You can then track your orders and know how much you have to pay for them.

Sales Orders

As orders are received, you can create sales orders that will remove inventory items from the quantity available so that you know when to reorder or increase the production of manufactured products. Using the Sales Order feature, you can create pick lists, shipping labels, packing slips, and invoices.

Invoicing From Sales Orders

When orders are fulfilled, an invoice can be generated from the sales order and either printed or emailed to the customer. You can create an invoice directly from the sales order item by clicking on the Create Invoice button at the top of the sales order form.

Custom Pricing

You can create customized pricing for different customers. For example, you might charge high-volume customers a lower rate on particular products or orders. You can create either a custom price level that specifies a special price item-by-item or a pricing rule that adjusts the default price by a specified percentage.

Industry-specific Reports

In addition to the standard powerful reports that can be generated by the general business edition of QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale has some industry-specific reports, including:

• Sales by rep detail: This will show a list of invoices by sales representative for the specified period, which may be useful when determining compensation or bonuses.

• Sales by customer type: You can create custom classifications for your customers. For instance, you might separate your customers into homebuilders, end users, and retailers. This report will allow you to see total sales separated by the customer classifications.

• Profitability by product: This provides the actual revenue and cost for the period, separated by each product sold. You can use this to identify profitable products and which product areas need changes.

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Mobile App

0.50 / 5

I don’t recommend QuickBooks Premier (or any industry-specific edition) for mobile accounting. Although the version offers a mobile app, it is limited to capturing expense receipts and tracking business mileage. Many modern businesses require features, such as invoicing and payment processing on their mobile devices, which are not fully supported by QuickBooks Premier’s app.

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Ease of Use & Customer Service

3.90 / 5

Since it’s desktop-based software, it isn’t as easy to use as cloud-based programs. However, after you learn where features are located, you’ll find the platform easy to navigate. For instance, from the Manufacturing and Wholesale menu, you can access a wide range of functions to help you complete transactions easily, such as receiving payments, making deposits, and creating sales orders, estimates, and invoices.

QuickBooks Premier is a very comprehensive and powerful program, so you need to devote time to fully learn how to use its features. You can seek help through its in-software help center, live chat, knowledge base of guides, and getting started information, blogs, and community forums. You can talk to a live agent over the phone after you submit a call request.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bottom Line

QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale is a powerful industry-specific version of QuickBooks Premier. In addition to all the bookkeeping features of Premier, it allows you to better control inventory and provides more flexibility to customize pricing. While it’s great desktop software, it’s complicated and will require a dedicated and experienced bookkeeper to harness its power.

User review references:

^[1]Capterra
^[2]TrustRadius