QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise vs NetSuite for Manufacturers and Distributors

Side by side

How is each priced?

Intuit publishes Desktop Enterprise prices; NetSuite doesn't. Intuit's pricing page lists Gold from $2,210 a year and Platinum from $2,717 a year for one user. NetSuite's pages describe an annual license made of a core platform, optional modules and the number of users, plus a one-time implementation fee, and ask you to contact NetSuite.

Several NetSuite features a manufacturer or distributor would want are separate modules. Its pages list OneWorld, WMS and Work Orders and Assemblies as add-on modules, and MRP as part of the Demand Planning module. Inventory and order management are included in the platform license. Budget for the modules you need, not just the core. For Intuit's full price table, see QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise pricing explained.

Which handles several companies better?

NetSuite, if you need consolidated books across subsidiaries. NetSuite OneWorld, an add-on module, runs several subsidiaries in one system with 190 currencies, 27 languages and multi-book accounting. It posts each transaction at the local and headquarters level for consolidated statements.

Desktop Enterprise keeps each company in its own company file. Intuit lists multi-company management in every level and says Enterprise can open two company files at once. Platinum and Diamond add intercompany transactions between your entities. If you need several entities in one Intuit cloud system, compare QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise vs Intuit Enterprise Suite too.

Which is better for manufacturing?

NetSuite has more production planning; Desktop Enterprise is simpler. NetSuite's work order pages describe multi-level bills of materials, work orders, backflushing, WIP costing, routings and shop floor tools. Its MRP plans components and subassemblies from demand. Desktop records production as builds.

• Desktop Enterprise: an Inventory Assembly item holds the bill of materials, with up to 500 components. Build Assemblies uses up the parts in one step. A short build can be marked pending, and subassemblies can be built automatically.
• Intuit's Desktop help that we checked describes builds and pending builds. It doesn't describe work orders, routings or MRP.
• NetSuite: Work Orders and Assemblies is an add-on module, and is also part of its WIPs and Routings and Advanced Manufacturing modules.
• NetSuite's manufacturing page notes that some capabilities it describes need partner integrations.

If your products are built in one step from components, Desktop's builds may be all you need. See How to Set Up a Bill of Materials and Build Assemblies.

Which is better for warehouses and distribution?

Both track stock by location, bin and lot; NetSuite goes further inside the warehouse. Desktop Enterprise does this with Advanced Inventory in Platinum and Diamond. NetSuite includes multi-location inventory in its platform license and sells WMS as an add-on for mobile, scanner-directed receiving, putaway and picking.

• Desktop Enterprise: inventory sites with their own reorder points, transfers between sites, bins, lot and serial numbers, and FIFO from a chosen date. Intuit says mobile barcode scanning and cycle counts are part of Advanced Inventory.
• Desktop Enterprise also has sales order fulfillment, and pick, pack and ship with a barcode scanner, which Intuit's product pages list for Platinum and Diamond.
• NetSuite inventory: lot and serial tracing, bins, demand-based reorder points and cycle counts that don't freeze transactions across the whole location.
• NetSuite WMS: putaway and picking strategies, wave release, and single- and multi-order picking on a mobile device.
• NetSuite's wholesale page also lists dropship and back orders with available-to-promise dates, and vendor and customer portals.

For the Desktop setup, see Advanced Inventory in QuickBooks Enterprise.

Which handles customer pricing better?

Both handle customer-specific pricing and volume breaks. Desktop Enterprise uses price levels, up to 750 of them. With Advanced Pricing in Platinum and Diamond, it adds price rules by customer, item, class or sales rep, with date ranges and quantity discounts.

NetSuite's pricing page describes price levels with quantity breaks, prices set per customer and per currency, and a rules-based engine for date-effective, customer group and cost-plus pricing. It also lists a promotions engine and a rebate and trade promotions SuiteApp.

What does switching involve?

Moving to NetSuite is an implementation project; moving up within Desktop isn't. NetSuite charges a one-time implementation fee and offers SuiteSuccess, with preconfigured, fixed-fee packages and editions for manufacturing and wholesale distribution. NetSuite's pages we checked don't say which data moves from a QuickBooks Desktop company file, so ask NetSuite.

Staying on Desktop Enterprise keeps your file, your trained staff and the apps connected to it. Intuit says Enterprise connects to more than 200 apps. If you're weighing other systems as well, see the alternatives to QuickBooks Desktop.

Who should choose which

• Stay on QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise if you run one or a few companies, build products in one step, and want published prices without an implementation project.
• Stay on Desktop Enterprise if your team, reports and connected apps already run on the company file and its limits aren't holding you back.
• Choose NetSuite if you need several subsidiaries or currencies consolidated in one cloud system.
• Choose NetSuite if you need work orders, routings, WIP costing or MRP, or scanner-directed putaway and picking in the warehouse.
• Choose NetSuite if you expect to add modules over time and can fund the license and the implementation.

What Logistify does and doesn't do

If you stay on QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, Logistify is a managed service that takes on work around the company file. The Sales Order Service enters customer orders that arrive by email, PDF or paper into QuickBooks Desktop as sales orders, with a person reviewing exceptions. The Accounts Receivable Service matches payments in your bank file to open invoices and records them. The Procurement Service follows up with suppliers on open purchase orders.

Logistify doesn't sell QuickBooks licenses. It doesn't set price levels or price rules, or choose inventory sites, bins or lot numbers on sales orders. It doesn't pick, pack, ship or receive, approve or pay bills, or build reports.