QuickBooks Premier vs. QuickBooks Pro
We work with a lot of job costing clients (contractors, builders, architects, engineers, nonprofits that have grants, etc.) and though they love the additional reports that come with the Contractors, Professional Services and Nonprofit editions it's the little things that make them switch.
The biggest, and most surprising, reason – you can turn estimates and sales orders into purchase orders with a click of a button. It's hidden under the Create Invoice button, but once they discover it they're in heaven. No more double-entry, no more data entry errors. Speaking of sales orders, that's another reason why they switch – you don't get them in Pro (note: you can also turn Estimates into Sales Orders). They also really like the Invoice for Time & Expenses feature. Yes, you can do the same thing on individual invoices by clicking Add Time/Costs, but they often forget to check all the tabs and if you're using job costing correctly there will likely be billable expenses on the Items tab.
You can also assign price levels by item to customize prices for different groups of customers or jobs. If you have inventory, you can create inventory assemblies, bill of materials and units of measure. For this reason, all business that have all but the most basic inventory should be using QuickBooks Premier or Enterprise.
If you work with an accountant, and you should, they'll love the adjusting journal entries and the reversing entries. Premier also keeps a record of all your previous bank reconciliations which helps them find discrepancies.
Premier also has forecasting and business planning tools, including 5-year financial projections and What-If Analysis. It also comes with 1 year of remote access instead of 6 months for Pro.
Best of all, the price difference on Amazon isn't all that dramatic. Pro usually settles in at around $100 and Premier at $200. It's a little higher now because 2010 was just released, but prices should stabilize soon.
This article is provided for informational purposes and is not intended to be construed as legal, accounting, or other professional advice. For further information, please consult appropriate professional advice from your attorney and certified public accountant.
Written by +Ruth Perryman, CMA, CFE, CFM, MBA





Ruth is the president of The QB Specialists, an Intuit Premier Reseller that offers huge savings and expert advice on QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise. She is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a member of Intuit’s Trainer/Writer Network. She is also certified in QuickBooks POS and QuickBooks Enterprise and has provided expert QuickBooks help to thousands of businesses all over the world since 1996.
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I am trying to decide which quickbooks to purchase. My business is a/c refrigeration maintenance for restaurants. I also do repairs. My concern is my accountant wants the information for sales tax monthly. So I have to provide invoices billed, bank statements and sales receipts monthly. My clients want invoices to be emailed. Prospective clients want proposals. What do you think?
Hi Melvin,
All versions of QuickBooks can handle what you’re looking for.
You use estimates for proposals and here’s more info about setting up sales tax:
http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/Support/pages/inproducthelp/core/qb2k12/contentpackage/core/sales_tax/task_sales_tax_turn_on.html
I am new to using the quickbooks programs and right now I am using QuickBooks Premier 2010 and will be changing to QuickBooks Pro 2013 soon, but I am not sure how to go about transferring my company information, check register and vendors to the new quickbooks when I get it. Can you help me please!
Hi Barbara,
After you install QuickBooks 2013, browse to your QuickBooks 2010 file and open it. It couldn’t be easier.
Trying to decide which would be best for a psychotherapy office, for billing invoices, tracking insurance billings, etc..
Thanks
Hi Dennis,
Here’s a comparison chart:
https://intuitcorp.quickbase.com/up/bfnmbge5d/g/rwk/eh/va/QuickBooks%20Comp%20Chart.pdf
Keep in mind that QuickBooks is not HIPAA compliant so be careful what you enter for the insurance billings. You may want to use specialized insurance billing software that is HIPAA compliant and just use QuickBooks for general accounting.
Ruth
I was wanting to know which would be best for our business. We are currently using Quickbooks Pro 2012 and would like to upgrade to a more business specific program.
We are an excavating company and will be cost coding as well as job costing.
What is the difference between QB Premier 2013, QB Acountants Premier 2013 and the QB Contractors Premier 2013.
Calvert
Hi Calvert,
Intuit doesn’t have an official comparison chart for the different versions of QuickBooks Premier, but I just emailed you a comparison chart of differences I’ve discovered.
However, you don’t need to use QuickBooks Premier to handle cost coding. You need to start using service items on all your transactions including your purchases.
Here’s a 4-part series we wrote in 2009 about how to setup QuickBooks for job costing:
Ruth