What Are the Alternatives to QuickBooks Desktop for Manufacturers and Distributors?

Before you start

• Check your version and edition: press F2 in QuickBooks. If you're on 2023 or older, upgrading comes first.
• List what the file does today: assemblies and how many levels deep, inventory sites, costing method, price levels, sales order volume, users and entities.
• List every app, report and spreadsheet that reads from or writes to the company file.
• Note the Total Targets count in the Product Information window. Intuit's move to QuickBooks Online needs it below 4,000,000.

Our QuickBooks Desktop support end dates guide covers the version check. The migration readiness audit post covers the file inventory in more depth.

The four options side by side

Option 1: Stay on QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

If you're already on Enterprise 24.0, nothing has to change. Intuit calls Enterprise its flagship desktop product and says 24.0 has no sunset date. If you're on Pro Plus or Premier Plus 2024, you can keep renewing. Upgrading to Enterprise keeps you on Desktop, so there's no move to a new system.

Enterprise adds features that Pro and Premier lack. Platinum and Diamond include Advanced Inventory, with inventory sites, bin locations and FIFO costing, and Advanced Pricing. Enterprise also includes a read-only ODBC driver for custom reports in tools such as Excel or Access.

• Fits: products built from subassemblies, stock in several warehouses, customer price levels, and apps or reports built on the Desktop file.
• Fits: sites with a limited internet connection. Intuit says Enterprise suits companies in that position.
• Watch for: Windows upkeep, hosting fees if people work remotely, and one company file per entity.

Prices by level and user count are in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise pricing explained.

Option 2: Move to QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced

QuickBooks Online runs in a browser and needs an internet connection. Plus and Advanced include inventory tracking, purchase orders and sales orders. Plus allows 5 users and Advanced allows 25. You choose FIFO or moving average cost before you create inventory items, and you can't change it later.

Some Desktop features don't exist in Online. Intuit's migration notes list price levels and units of measure as not moving. Desktop assemblies arrive as single inventory items. Intuit says its manufacturing features are currently in Intuit Enterprise Suite. Memorized reports, the audit trail and user permissions don't move either.

• Fits: a distributor that buys and resells finished goods from one stock pool, with simple pricing and a need for remote access.
• Doesn't fit: anyone who builds products from components or depends on customer price levels. Price rules in Online are a beta open only to selected customers.
• Check first: Intuit's Online inventory help doesn't describe stock by warehouse or bin.
• Timing: Intuit's tool has to run within 90 days of starting your Online subscription, or 180 days if your accountant set it up.

The full comparison is in QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online for manufacturers and distributors.

Option 3: Move to Intuit Enterprise Suite

Intuit Enterprise Suite is Intuit's cloud ERP. Intuit says it is not a cloud version of Desktop Enterprise, but a separate product. It manages several entities on one shared chart of accounts and handles intercompany eliminations. Intuit says its manufacturing features, including assemblies and manufacturing orders, are currently in Enterprise Suite.

Desktop assemblies, bills of materials and builds move into it. Pending builds arrive as planned manufacturing orders. But Intuit says multi-level bills of materials with subassemblies aren't supported. For now, Intuit offers data migration at no extra cost to existing Desktop customers, after a consultation, with a sandbox to check your numbers before go-live.

• Fits: several entities that need consolidated reporting, bills of materials one level deep, and a finance team that wants cloud access.
• Doesn't fit: products built from subassemblies, unless you flatten those bills of materials first.
• Price: Intuit builds a bundle and contract for each customer and doesn't publish a list price.

We compare the two in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise vs Intuit Enterprise Suite.

Option 4: Move to a mid-market cloud ERP

A mid-market cloud ERP replaces QuickBooks with a new system and a new data model. The vendor or a partner usually runs the implementation. Capabilities vary widely by product. Check multi-level bills of materials, costing methods, warehouse locations, customer pricing and QuickBooks data import against each vendor's own documentation.

• Fits: companies whose manufacturing or warehouse processes have outgrown all three Intuit options, and that can staff a longer project.
• Doesn't fit: a team that can't spare people to map data, test it, and run the old and new systems side by side for a while.

Our ERP software comparison for manufacturers and distributors covers the main products.

Who should choose which

• Stay on Desktop Enterprise if you build from subassemblies, track stock by site, sell on price levels, or depend on apps built on the Desktop file.
• Choose QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced if you resell finished goods, keep pricing simple and need browser access.
• Choose Intuit Enterprise Suite if you run several entities and your bills of materials are one level deep.
• Choose a mid-market cloud ERP if no Intuit product covers your manufacturing or warehouse processes and you can staff the project.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• Desktop shows what's in the file, not which parts matter. Someone has to list the assemblies, price levels, memorized reports and connected apps a move would touch.
• Intuit's migration tools move data, not habits. Orders that arrive by email still need someone to enter them, in any system.
• Staying put still means keeping Windows, your server or hosting, and every QuickBooks update current.

How Logistify helps

Logistify doesn't migrate company files. It is a managed service for companies that stay on QuickBooks Desktop. The Sales Order Service enters customer orders 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. If you're still deciding, the QuickBooks Desktop migration readiness audit sets out what to check first.