FreeAgent is an cloud-based accounting system designed for small businesses and freelancers. FreeAgent supports many core accounting features and bank reconciliation, payroll, tax management, project level accounting, and multiple currency support. It is mobile-accessible, and integrates with many apps.
$13.50
per month
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is a widely-used accounting package designed for small to mid-sized businesses. It is the top of the QuickBooks line. Pricing starts at $3,000 for five users, and goes up depending on the number of additional users. They also offer an Advanced Inventory module for $999 / year.
Our clients use all of the above software providers, some of them using Xero, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, QuickFile, Kashflow, Wave App etc. FreeAgent is best one for me among the free software available as it does everything and we would not even need additional software for …
Xero is a product I have only used for Payroll, but which it does very well. It is more complex to use compared to FreeAgent though and in that regard harder to learn.
As a free software for Mettle users it is excellent choice and great value for money especially for micro businesses. It does the needed bank imports and reconciliations, however compared to more advanced products like Xero or QuickBooks it lacks the flexibility of those …
I have used and tested out many other systems. I was looking at Xero for my accounting system but at the time I chose FreeAgent because of the way it handles the recording of dividends and the inbuilt time recording. The others I trialed were good and many of them cheaper. …
FreeAgent was really the first product we looked at based on a personal recommendation and since we found it to be almost perfect we didn't look at the alternatives.
We did start the business using Kashflow. It is good but isn't as full service as FreeAgent and does require a bit of knowledge of some accounting terms which FreeAgent doesn't.
Support. Any questions gets a fast and detailed response. Helpful, knowledgable and friendly people provide detailed explanations and answers to not only teach but help understanding.
I used Fresh Books for about three years prior to switching to FreeAgent. It was the accounting functionality that made the difference - in the past two years I've not regretted the switch. Fresh Books is good, but its the UK accounting features that make FreeAgent …
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Quickbooks is better in all aspects of my business.
Quick Books Desktop Enterprise as it's pros and cons. Pro's is that is much more user friendly and intuitive to learn than other products. It does much better to revise or adjust retroactively to prior period when coding issues or even allocations issues are discovered …
Sage Intacct would be the best, but the cost is prohibative of clients. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is used more as it is syncs outside systems better.
QuickBooks seems to be more focused on the accounting side of the business than FreshBooks. I've also tried Peachtree software. Peachtree seemed more restrictive. The user had to adapt their procedures to the methods of the software rather than the reverse. I tried …
It's a great compliment to these tools and works in conjunction to provide an end to end solution to run a consulting/project based business where there is a lot of volume and billable labor hours to track and maintain margin on.
Thomson Reuters CS Professional Suite is a very good alternative to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. It is installed and web-based at the same time, taking a load off the server computing power. I think it also is very much more user friendly. As mentioned, QuickBooks Desktop …
There were instances that clients do provide their books with using Xero and QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. When we export data from each other, they do compliment with the data and it's not far from analyzing each of them to see any difference from each sheets. You may need to …
Xero is too basic and not a very good general ledger system. I found Peachtree (Sage 50) to be very good. Reconciliations and look ups were more logical because it is more of an accounting document.
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise vs. Frontier: Frontier's UI/UX is very old compared to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is far more advanced in terms of features and UI/UX. QuickBooks is one of the most widely used accounting software programs for …
We have selected this product as it is affordoable in terms of pricing and features too. Our clients is geeting lots of benefits by using this product. By using QuickBooks desktop client also manage the information realted to financials and also get the clear picture for the …
These other options are quite a bit more complex, customizable, and provide lots of options for creating custom integrations. However they all come with an exceptionally high yearly price tag and would require additional programming time to setup those additional features. …
For micro and small business it is a great solution. The new requirements for MTD for landlords could also be met with this software. Groups and more complex businesses could not use the accounts and tax returns features, however they still could use it for bookkeeping and then export the data to other tax and accounts production software.
QuickBooks Enterprise is great for managing our inventory, purchases and income as we receive it. We use it to help budget and plan our monthly purchases, as well as keep each location on track when it comes to their expenses. It's also used for payroll and timekeeping at each store.
Recurring invoices with automated follow-up is fantastic for helping to get paid on time
Automated bank transfers are the easiest way to ensure that I can reconcile my accounts with ease
Support is fantastic
Built-in Time tracking for projects/tasks (integration with Basecamp to get this info) is fantastic, it allows us to accurately track what we are working on and get paid for it!
Reporting on financials, time tracking and project status is a little poor. It's adequate for what what we need, but would be great to see more advanced features.
API is quite closed so cannot integrate with our other project management tools.
I would like to see more ways to customize reports and have that process be more user friendly.
I would like to see the process of creating year end giving statements be made more user friendly. Since I only do it once a year, I have to figure the process out every year.
We have used Freeagent for many years now and it serves us well for our needs. To change it would mean a lot of work, and this would most likely only happen if the cost became prohibitive to us.
While QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise has been an amazing tool for many years, it seems it is getting phased out for QuickBooks Online. Intuit is decreasing the level of support it offers for QuickBooks Desktop in lieu of stronger support for QuickBooks Online. Although the desktop version is robust and helpful, it seems QBO is the way of the future for bookkeeping with QuickBooks.
It is a great software that does everything we need for small business clients. It allows to keep the books in a cloud from bookkeeping to accounts production and tax returns, all in one software. There are no major drawbacks and I would highly recommend it for most of our clients.
QuickBooks provides all staff immediate access to the data in whatever form each person wants it. The balancing on entries prevents incorrect data entry on payables/receivables. Reports are easy to customize and save for future use. The records are easy to audit.
Rating: 7 out of 10 We rate QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise's availability a 7 out of 10. For the most part, the software is dependable and available when we need it. When hosted on a properly managed local server or through a reputable third-party cloud provider, uptime is generally consistent, and routine day-to-day operations run smoothly. However, availability challenges do arise, particularly when accessing QuickBooks remotely or during periods of high system demand. Because it's a desktop-based solution, availability is highly dependent on our internal IT infrastructure. If our network goes down, a server needs maintenance, or if there’s an issue with a remote desktop connection, access to QuickBooks can be temporarily disrupted. These outages aren’t necessarily caused by QuickBooks itself, but they do impact our experience with availability. Additionally, we’ve occasionally experienced application errors, especially after updates or when working with large company files. While Intuit support is usually helpful in resolving these issues, they can still lead to frustrating delays—especially during critical periods like month-end closing or grant reporting deadlines. Planned maintenance, while infrequent, also affects availability, especially when using a hosted environment. Coordination with IT or hosting providers is sometimes needed to minimize downtime. Overall, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is a reliable tool, but its dependence on local infrastructure introduces more potential points of failure compared to cloud-native solutions. Enhancements in cloud-based access or hybrid models could significantly improve both accessibility and uptime. That said, with strong internal IT support or a reliable cloud hosting provider, the availability can easily rise to an 8 or 9.
I rate QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise's performance a 5 out of 10, mainly because while it’s functional for most routine tasks, it can lag significantly when handling complex operations, large data files, or during multi-user sessions. As our organization has grown, we’ve noticed that report generation—especially for customized or multi-dimensional reports—can be slow, sometimes taking several minutes to load or refresh. This impacts productivity, particularly during key financial cycles like audits, monthly closings, or grant reporting. Performance degradation is especially noticeable when multiple users are active in the system at the same time. Even with a solid server setup, there’s often a drop in responsiveness when more than a handful of users are generating reports or entering transactions concurrently. We’ve also experienced some slowdowns in third-party integrations, particularly when syncing with Vena Solutions or exporting data for use in external tools. While the integrations are valuable, they occasionally stall or require workarounds, adding friction to our workflows. In short, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise delivers the basics well, but its performance limitations become more apparent in high-volume or complex use cases. It would benefit from better optimization for large datasets and faster processing for advanced reporting. Upgrades in system architecture—such as deeper support for cloud hosting or more efficient data handling—could significantly improve the user experience and move this rating closer to an 8.
Very rare do I call the Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions support staff and I get a customer service associate quickly. On average, my wait time is near an hour, and at times even longer. After spending the first three minutes discussing my problem, they then begin to poke and prod around, sometimes the questions continue. But 80% of the time, the problem is over their head and they have to escalate the issue. The only problem is this escalation arrives usually after spending forty-five minutes poking and proding around but learning nothing. In short, my experience is rarely all that well, let alone great
The in-person training for QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise received a 9 out of 10 based on feedback from my manager, and this rating reflects the overall effectiveness and value of the experience. The training provided a hands-on, interactive environment where staff could immediately apply what they were learning to the system, which made the process much more practical and engaging. One of the standout features was the personalized support provided by the trainer, who was able to address specific questions and scenarios tailored to our organization’s unique needs. This was particularly helpful for areas like nonprofit accounting and grant management, where we had more specific requirements that could have been difficult to grasp in a standard training setting. The trainer’s expertise and clear explanations allowed the team to gain a deeper understanding of QuickBooks’ more advanced functions, ensuring that everyone could use the software effectively. The small group size also facilitated a collaborative learning environment, where participants could share insights and learn from each other. However, the training wasn't perfect. Some minor logistical issues—such as coordinating schedules and ensuring all staff could attend—were factors that slightly impacted the overall experience. Despite this, the quality and effectiveness of the training made it an extremely valuable part of the implementation process.
easy to learn system, specially with some kind of support. Just like with any other system, things get lot easier if you have guidance to lead you in your search for answers. having said that, QB is very easy to use and very easy to teach. you wont spend much time memorizing where to click.
If you're loading QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions onto a computer that you're going to directly log into, you should be able to do it yourself. If you are going to connect to a server through a network or remote connection, you should probably have a professional IT person set it up for you.
I used Fresh Books for about three years prior to switching to FreeAgent. It was the accounting functionality that made the difference - in the past two years I've not regretted the switch. Fresh Books is good, but its the UK accounting features that make FreeAgent indispensable to my business.
QuickBooks seems to be more focused on the accounting side of the business than FreshBooks. I've also tried Peachtree software. Peachtree seemed more restrictive. The user had to adapt their procedures to the methods of the software rather than the reverse. I tried Peachtree a number of times but always came back to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise.
I would rate QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise a 7 out of 10 for overall scalability. The product offers solid scalability features, particularly for small to mid-sized organizations like ours that are growing and need reliable multi-user access, enhanced data capacity, and cross-departmental functionality. It handles increasing transaction volumes and user growth quite well, especially with its support for up to 40 users and the ability to manage large lists (customers, vendors, accounts, etc.)—a significant improvement over QuickBooks Pro or Premier. Its role-based permissions system also allows us to assign tailored access by department or user level, which is essential for maintaining control and security across teams like finance, HR, and program management. Additionally, features like advanced reporting, inventory management, and class tracking have helped us better manage multiple programs or sites within one system. That said, the scalability still has some limits. For example, deploying the software across multiple physical locations or for remote teams requires additional IT infrastructure—such as hosting it on a third-party cloud server or setting up a VPN—which introduces cost and complexity. Also, while QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise can technically handle a high volume of data, performance can decline as the file size grows over time unless regular maintenance and optimization are done. In summary, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise scales well within its designed range, particularly for growing nonprofits and NGOs. However, organizations with distributed teams or very large, complex operations may eventually find the system’s desktop-based architecture less agile compared to cloud-native ERP platforms. With enhancements to cloud integration and remote accessibility, this rating could easily increase.
Memorized transactions save time and can prevent errors.
Improved accessibility saves time- multiuser, multi-companies open at once.
Annual audit with CPA firm is easier being able to export whole file to them.
Worry about bookkeepers who claim they know QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise and accounting but in reality do not. Doesn't require really knowing debits from credits. Big worry.
