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If you’re having a difficult time choosing between Microsoft Dynamics 365 and QuickBooks, then it’s a good idea to compare the features of each. Both are rated high for overall performance. When you’re ready for more than basic accounting software, then either option deserves a closer look.

It is critical to have a clear outline of your business objectives and requirements. You want to look at both for scalability, TCO, flexibility, and ease-of-use. Thankfully, there are other options for financials and more besides QuickBooks.

 

Click here to download our free ebook on Dynamics 365 and get answers to your questions!

 

The good news is we’ve researched both Dynamics 365 and QuickBooks to see how they stack up against each other. Keep reading to learn more.

 

QuickBooks overview

In 1983, Intuit introduced “Quicken,” the first iteration of QuickBooks. Part of the overall QuickBooks solution package includes on-premise and cloud-based accounting applications in addition to options for managing and paying bills, payroll and accepting business payments. There are also various versions including:

  • QuickBooks Online Plus
  • QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Platinum
  • QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Gold
  • QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Silver

 

Where QuickBooks can improve

QuickBooks’ offerings target small and medium-sized businesses. Still, QuickBooks is suited as accounting software for startups and small businesses.

QuickBooks isn’t often considered on the enterprise scale or for startups on an accelerated growth path. Furthermore, QuickBooks lacks a wide range of options needed by growing companies. We’ve listed a few of QuickBooks’ weaknesses.

  1. Limited reporting options–growing businesses are frustrated that QuickBooks offers only basic reporting options. There are not deep analytical capabilities or customer insights reporting.
  2. Weak user permissions–QuickBooks handles financials. It’s too easy for any user to have access to sensitive data.
  3. Poor security–Related to weak user permissions and roles, it’s too easy to make mistakes. And, this could be detrimental to growing companies trying to prevent data breaches.
  4. Inconsistent audit trails–With QuickBooks, there isn’t an option to record changes to master records, logins or logoffs. And, for compliance and regulatory legislation, audit trails are essential.

Then, there is the topic of scalability. If you are a startup on a growth track or planning to grow, you will find QuickBooks insufficient in this area. To illustrate, when you have over 1,000 transactions each month, or many users are accessing the system simultaneously, the software gets continually slower.

If you have employees throughout the world, you’ll also run into issues since QuickBooks does not have multi-lingual features. Accountants find there are limited functionalities for billing different client locations and third parties. These are significant limitations for accounting features, which are at the core of QuickBooks offerings.

Moreover, you can’t work with deferred expenses or revenue in QuickBooks. In essence, QuickBooks works for startups needing basic accounting features. Beyond that, a more robust financial and customer management solution is necessary.

 

Learn more on how to manage your business with Dynamics 365

 

Dynamics 365 Overview

With Dynamics 365, you can choose from various modules such as:

Dynamics 365 has offerings for multiple business departments. We will focus here on the Finance and Operations, Business Edition. In contrast to QuickBooks, Dynamics 365 is a relatively new product. If you want a pure accounting application, Dynamics 365 isn’t on par with QuickBooks’ ability to process payroll and receive credit cards.

 

Where Dynamics 365 may fall short

Although Dynamics 365 does offer PayPal integration, Dynamics 365 is a strictly cloud-based and SaaS application. Startups who don’t have the option of managing their own private cloud would most likely need an on-premise solution.

 

How QuickBooks attracts a loyal customer base

Now that we’ve gone through some weaknesses of each solution, we will discuss strengths. QuickBooks does have the advantage of longevity. Many SMB accountants and startups have relied on QuickBooks to support their small business financials.

The community knowledge of QuickBooks and support is palpable. As a result, you don’t have to spend much time on training or associated costs. Plus, setup for QuickBooks is relatively easy and straightforward. And, QuickBooks offers the convenience of payment processing and payroll.

 

How Microsoft Dynamics 365 sets itself apart from the competition

Now, let’s look at the strengths of Microsoft Dynamics 365. It has one outstanding strength–over 600 features that QuickBooks Online does not offer. Moreover, for growing startups, Dynamics 365 can address all of QuickBooks’ strengths.

Dynamics 365 beats expectations regarding reporting and scalability. Consider the Microsoft stack. The majority of businesses–SMB, startup or enterprise–use Microsoft documents and Microsoft Office.

Another notable advantage is that Microsoft Dynamics 365 smoothly integrates with Microsoft Office, Excel, Outlook and any other Microsoft product. The data flows easily between Microsoft applications. This isn’t something you can get with QuickBooks or any other comparable application.

Think of it this way: when you combine Dynamics 365 with Office 365, you have a completely integrated and scalable business solution. Yet, there’s more: Dynamics 365 offers these features, which QuickBooks does not:

  • Contact management
  • Opportunity management
  • Interaction management
  • Contact classification
  • Mail logging for MS Exchange
  • Dynamics 365 for Sales integration
  • Vendor management
  • Purchase line discounting
  • Item substitutions
  • Job management
  • Capacity management
  • Workflow
  • Budgets/estimates
  • Multiple languages
  • Integrates with Power BI
  • Barcode use and scanning
  • Quantity discounts
  • Shows discounts on customer invoices
  • Shows last-sold price

To make the right choice, you must determine your exact business requirements and growth objectives.

 

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Total cost of ownership: which pricing structure is right for you?

With QuickBooks, you get three pricing plans. They are designed to meet varying needs. The plans are charged on a monthly basis:

  1. Simple Start

  • $10.36/monthly
  • Works on any device
  • Create invoices and estimates
  • Downloads bank transactions
  1. Essentials

  • $18.86/monthly
  • Multiple users
  • Includes all Simple Start features
  1. Plus

  • $23.97/monthly
  • Includes all Essentials features
  • Manage inventory
  • Fill out and print 1099s

Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers several versions. For the Business Edition, you get full access to all functionalities starting at $40 per user/per month. If you only need access to basic processes and light tasks, you can get started at $5 per user/per month.

 

Resell Dynamics 365 Like an Expert with Sherweb

 

Final thought

For a growing startup, basic accounting software may or may not be enough. Both QuickBooks and Microsoft Dynamics 365 come with unique strengths and weaknesses. QuickBooks offers longevity and brand recognition in the accounting world.

On the other hand, Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers 600 additional features, is backed by Microsoft and effortlessly integrates with the Microsoft suite of applications. So, the choice is yours.

Written by The Sherweb Team Collaborators @ Sherweb