QuickBooks is a great start for a small business. As a company grows, with more people, more stock and more than one entity, many US businesses move to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Akkomplish is a US-based Business Central partner headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, and we help companies make that move. We sell Business Central, so we’re not neutral, but this page also says when QuickBooks is still the right choice.
Business Central vs QuickBooks at a glance
| Business Central | QuickBooks Online | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Full business management (ERP): finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, warehousing, projects, and manufacturing with Premium | Accounting software for small businesses |
| Users | Licensed per user, with no fixed upper limit | Up to 25 billable users on the Advanced plan |
| Multiple companies | Many companies in one environment, with intercompany postings and consolidation | One company per subscription |
| Inventory and warehouse | Multiple locations, bins, lot and serial numbers, warehouse picks and assembly | Basic inventory tracking; warehouse needs usually mean add-on apps |
| Manufacturing | Production orders, bills of materials, routings and capacity planning (Premium) | Not included; needs add-on apps |
| Reporting | Dimensions on every transaction (department, location, project and more), Excel and Power BI | Standard reports; custom reports on Advanced |
| Microsoft 365 | Works inside Outlook, Excel and Teams, with Copilot | Exports to Excel; connects through integrations |
| Cost (US) | Essentials $80, Premium $110, Team Members $8 per user/month, paid yearly (Microsoft US list prices), plus implementation | Lower monthly subscription per company; see Intuit’s website for current plans |
Signs you have outgrown QuickBooks
- You run several companies or locations, and consolidating them takes days.
- Inventory, purchasing or warehouse work lives in spreadsheets or a separate tool.
- You need approvals, detailed user permissions and an audit trail.
- Reports are exported to Excel and rebuilt every month.
- You’re close to the user limit, or adding apps to cover gaps.
When QuickBooks is still the right choice
If you’re a small team with simple services, little or no inventory and one company, QuickBooks is usually enough, and cheaper. We’d rather tell you that than sell you a system you don’t need yet.
On QuickBooks Desktop?
Intuit stopped selling new US subscriptions to QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus and Mac Plus after September 30, 2024 (Desktop Enterprise is still sold). If you’re on Desktop, this is a good time to decide where to go next: QuickBooks Online or Business Central.
What moving to Business Central involves
Microsoft provides migration tools for both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online. Customers, vendors, items, your chart of accounts, opening balances, on-hand inventory and open invoices come across, and we check every balance with your accountant before go-live. Read the details on our QuickBooks to Business Central migration page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Business Central much more expensive than QuickBooks?
Licenses cost more per user, and there is a one-time implementation. Companies that switch usually save time on month-end, inventory and reporting, and can drop some add-on apps. Use our Business Central pricing calculator for an estimate.
Can we keep our QuickBooks history?
Balances, open items and master data move over. For older detail, we agree on what to keep, for example a read-only QuickBooks file or archived reports.
Can we start small?
Yes. Many companies start with finance and inventory, then add more later. See Akktitude, our rapid Business Central setup.
Why US companies choose Akkomplish
- Microsoft partner focused on Dynamics 365 Business Central: implementation, migration, integration and support.
- US headquarters in Rockville, Maryland (Akkomplish USA LLC), and a member of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.
- 200+ businesses guided through ERP, cloud and AI projects.
- Real Business Central projects: see our NAV 2009 to Business Central migration and our quality assurance add-on for Business Central.
Talk to a Business Central partner about QuickBooks
Call +1 980 347 3323, contact us, or book a free Business Central demo built around your data.
Related: Business Central vs NetSuite | Business Central vs Sage Intacct | Business Central implementation