QuickBooks Premier Retail Edition, an industry-specific version of QuickBooks Premier desktop accounting software, is designed to support the needs of retailers. It helps retail businesses manage accounting functions, such as sales, inventory, and invoicing. It includes all the features of QuickBooks Premier, plus additional inventory tools and industry-specific reports. Pricing starts at $799 per year for one user.

Overall Score: 4.1 / 5

What We Like

Integration with QuickBooks Point of Sale
Record daily sales summaries quickly
Can automate and customize product pricing
Choice of desktop-only software or cloud-hosted (for a fee)

What's Missing

Requires installation and setup
Can’t access data from the web unless you pay for cloud hosting
Requires a third-party add-on for first-in, first-out (FIFO) accounting for inventory cost
Must purchase an additional license for each simultaneous user (maximum of 5)

Retailers using QuickBooks POS: QuickBooks POS integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Retail Edition to make tracking sales and inventory easier. Read our QuickBooks POS review to learn more.
Retail stores with a cash register: If you use a cash register to track and summarize sales, you can enter the day’s sales quickly using the Enter Daily Sales feature.
Retailers with an on-site bookkeeper: QuickBooks Retail is ideal if you have an in-house bookkeeper working on a single computer—you can check and review books with them personally instead of sharing files online.
Retailers tracking individual sales: You can record sales to individual customers as either sales receipts if paid immediately or invoices if the customer will pay later.
Retailers using average-cost to calculate cost of goods sold (COGS): QuickBooks Premier calculates and records your COGS every time you sell a product using the average-cost method of tracking inventory costs.

Business owners who want to manage their own books: Since files aren’t stored in the cloud, you can’t share them with your accountant in real-time. QuickBooks Online is easier to use and allows your accountant to access important data in real-time.
Retail businesses that need fixed asset management: QuickBooks Retail has no fixed asset manager. If fixed assets are a large part of your retail business, we recommend Xero.
Retail businesses with multiple locations: If you’re operating multiple retail stores and require access for multiple users at different locations, you might want to consider cloud-based retail accounting software like QuickBooks Online.
Businesses that need last-in, first-out (LIFO) or FIFO inventory costing: QuickBooks Retail will only use the average-cost method to calculate the cost of inventory sold. You can upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise, a more powerful program with LIFO or FIFO inventory accounting built-in.

Visit QuickBooks Desktop Premier

Are you looking for something different? If you want to explore other comprehensive accounting platforms for business owners, check out our guide to the best small business accounting software.

QuickBooks Retail Edition Deciding Factors

Supported Business Types	Small and medium-sized retail businesses that need inventory accounting and options to customize pricing
Pricing	$799 per year for one user to $1,999 per year for five users
Money-back Guarantee	60 days from the purchase date
Standout Features	Track inventory by item Set up and customize prices for each inventory item Create purchase orders (POs) when ordering inventory Run retail-specific reports, such as inventory valuation summaries
Customer Support	Phone support (you wait for a call from QuickBooks), live chat, chatbot, and online self-help resources

QuickBooks Retail Edition New Features for 2023

Inventory categorization: You can now group item lists by categories so that you can manage your stock better and access them easily.
Contactless payments: If you’re using QuickBooks Payments (payment gateway), you can now accept contactless payments, with the data being recorded in QuickBooks Premier automatically.
Cash Flow Hub: Just like the standard business edition, QuickBooks Premier Retail now has a Cash Flow Hub that you can use to track incoming and paid invoices, payments, sales receipts, and credit memos.

QuickBooks Retail Edition Alternatives


Visit QuickBooks Online	Visit Xero	Visit QuickBooks Enterprise
Best for: Retail stores looking for cloud-based accounting software	Best for: Retail stores that want fixed asset management	Best for: Retail stores with more than five users and that need advanced inventory, including FIFO costing
Starts at: $30 per month	Starts at: $12 per month	Starts at: $1,740 per year
Read our QuickBooks Online review	Read our Xero review	Read our QuickBooks Enterprise review

QuickBooks Retail Edition Pricing

QuickBooks Retail charges on a per-user basis, with a limitation of five users.

$799 per year for one user
$1,099 per year for two users
$1,399 per year for three users
$1,699 per year for four users
$1,999 per year for five users

All QuickBooks Desktop versions, including the Retail Edition of Premier, come with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Pricing: QuickBooks Retail Edition vs QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Retail Edition is affordable for a sole user—you get industry-specific bookkeeping software for $799 a year. You can even use the software for the bookkeeping of an unlimited number of companies. In contrast, QuickBooks Online Plus, which doesn’t have a retail-specific edition, costs $85 per month. You must get a separate QuickBooks Online subscription for each company that you prepare books for.

The QuickBooks Online Plus subscription includes up to five simultaneous users while the QuickBooks Retail Edition only allows one user—unless you purchase additional licenses. Read our comparison of QuickBooks Online vs Desktop to learn more.

Fit Small Business Case Study

We formulated an internal case study to create a more comprehensive review of the top accounting software on the market. Each is evaluated using a rubric and then earns a score based on how it performs against several metrics. Since the Retail Edition and the standard business edition have the same general accounting features, both are rated similarly. You can see the details of how we derived the following case study scores in our QuickBooks Premier review.

Categories	Score (Out of 5)
Pricing	1.00
General Features	4.50
Accounts Payable (A/P)	4.80
Accounts Receivable (A/R)	4.80
Banking & Cash Management	5.00
Project Accounting	5.00
Sales Income Tax	4.00
Inventory	5.00
Reporting	4.80
Ease of Use	3.90
Mobile App	0.50
User Ratings	4.30
Overall Score	4.10

QuickBooks Retail Edition Features

In addition to the general functionality of QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Retail Edition has some industry-specific features and reporting capabilities that are particularly useful for operating retail businesses.

Dashboard

The dashboard in QuickBooks Premier Retail is similar to the standard business edition, only that you’ll see a Retail menu on the top of the homepage. This is where you access features useful for retailers, such as Enter Daily Sales, Pay Bills, and Vendor Returns.

Dashboard in QuickBooks Retail Edition

Enter Daily Sales

QuickBooks Premier Retail Edition lets you record daily sales summaries by using sales receipts. If you have an immediate sale, you can quickly create a sales receipt by using the Enter Daily Sales feature under the Retail menu on your QuickBooks Desktop homepage. The information is recorded in QuickBooks, which is useful when creating financial reports.

Enter Sales Receipts form in QuickBooks Desktop

Inventory Management

QuickBooks Retail Edition has strong inventory management features, such as the ability to:

Set up inventory by item: You can set up each of your products as a separate inventory item. You can indicate a standard cost and sales price per item that will populate purchase orders (POs) and invoices automatically, but you can still make changes on those forms if the price varies.

QuickBooks Retail Edition sample inventory item.

Sample inventory item in QuickBooks Retail Edition

Specify price levels: You can set special price levels for individual inventory items or set a special price level rule that will be applied to all inventory items. For instance, you might enter a special Family and Friends price level that reduces the sales price of all inventory items by 10%. After you create a custom price level, you can choose to apply the standard price or custom price level when creating invoices and sales receipts:

QuickBooks Retail Edition's setting up price levels.

Setting up price levels in QuickBooks Retail Edition

Create purchase orders when ordering inventory: The units on POs will show in the inventory item screen so you know there are more units on the way. To create a PO, go to the Vendors menu and click on Create Purchase Orders. Complete the Create Purchase Orders form, and click the Save & Close or Save & New button.

Sample image of QuickBooks Retail Edition in creating a new purchase order.

Create a new purchase order in QuickBooks Retail Edition

Adjust inventory shrinkage: Shrinkage is an inevitable part of retail sales. You can record shrinkage by entering either the amount of the adjustment―for instance when you know an item was broken―or actual units of inventory on hand. QuickBooks will make an adjustment to record the shrinkage expense based on the average cost per unit.
Create sales orders: Creating sales orders will help QuickBooks ensure you have sufficient inventory. Inventory needed to fulfill open sales orders is subtracted from units on hand in determining the units available. When available units drop below the minimum you specify, QuickBooks will notify you that it’s time to reorder.

Image of QuickBooks Retail Edition in creating new sales order.

Create a new sales order in QuickBooks Retail Edition

Invoicing

You can create an invoice from scratch, a sales order, or an estimate. When creating an invoice, you need to enter important information, such as the customer name, date, item descriptions, and amount.

QuickBooks Retail Edition lets you choose from different invoice templates, with the ability to change colors and add a logo of your brand. However, invoices in QuickBooks Retail Edition aren’t as good-looking as those in QuickBooks Online. Below is a sample invoice created in Retail.

Sample invoice in QuickBooks Retail Edition

Reports

In addition to all the usual accounting reports and financial statements like the balance sheet and statement of profit and loss (P&L), retailers will find these QuickBooks Retail reports useful:

Gross Margin by Inventory Item: This breaks down the sales of inventory by inventory item and reports the quantity sold, average sales price, COGS, gross margin (or profit), and gross profit percentage. It’s very helpful in determining which of your products are the most profitable and deserving of prime floor space (or website placement for online stores):

QuickBooks Retail Edition sample gross margin report.

Sample Gross Margin by Inventory Item report in QuickBooks Retail

Inventory Valuation Summary: This not only shows you the quantity of inventory you have on hand but also the total cost and total retail value:

QuickBooks Retail Edition Sample Inventory Valuation Summary report.

Sample Inventory Valuation Summary report in QuickBooks Retail

Inventory Stock Status by Item: This is very helpful for determining when to reorder inventory. It provides, by inventory item, not only the units on hand, on sales orders, and on POs, but also the average weekly units sold.

Example image of QuickBooks Retail's inventory stock status by item.

Sample Inventory Stock Status by Item report in QuickBooks Retail

Mobile App

QuickBooks Premier has a mobile accounting app, but it’s limited to capturing expense receipts. If mobile accounting is important to you, then you might stick with QuickBooks but switch to QuickBooks Online. You might also want to consider Zoho Books, our overall best mobile accounting app.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is QuickBooks Retail Edition right for my business?

If you’re a small or medium-sized brick-and-mortar retailer needing specialized tools for inventory, pricing management, and industry-specific reporting, then QuickBooks Retail Edition is right for you.

Is QuickBooks Retail Edition easy to use?

QuickBooks Retail Edition is a bit difficult to use, compared to cloud-based software like QuickBooks Online. If you’re familiar with a QuickBooks Desktop product, then you should be able to use Retail easily as its interface is essentially the same.

What are the other editions of QuickBooks Premier?

QuickBooks Premier is available in five industry-specific editions: Retail, Manufacturing and Distribution, Professional, Contractor, and Nonprofit.

Bottom Line

QuickBooks Retail Edition is a powerful, industry-specific version of QuickBooks Premier. It can help you manage your inventory better and adjust product prices and price levels easily, allowing you to leverage promotional pricing for your business. Although it’s a powerful desktop application, it’s best if it’s used by an experienced in-house bookkeeper. Once you purchase QuickBooks Premier, be sure to download the QuickBooks Retail Edition at no additional cost and start using its industry-specific features.

QuickBooks Premier Retail Edition Review: Features & Pricing 2023