Quickbooks customers have typically had to install and run the application on their own devices. While this approach works well for very small businesses, as you scale up, it becomes harder to share information and access the application from other devices.
To improve flexibility, customers can install and run Quickbooks from a server hosted in the cloud, and then access the application via a web browser or desktop client.
This can be achieved in two ways:
- Using a hosting solution and run Quickbooks Desktop in the Cloud
- Using Quickbooks Online, a cloud-native variant of the same software provided by Intuit
Why Host Quickbooks in the Cloud?
Hosting Quickbooks in the cloud has numerous advantages compared to running it on a local device. These include:
Improved security
Running Quickbooks on a local device has some security risks, such as compromising the data if the device is lost or stolen. By hosting Quickbooks in the cloud, this risk is eliminated. Cloud hosting entails the application running from a highly secure data center. With adequate access management controls, hosting Quickbooks in the cloud offers customers much better data security.
Better accessibility
When hosting Quickbooks in the cloud, you access the application via the internet. Users need to log into the hosting solution with a username and a password. The application can be accessed from any location and any device with an internet connection. In addition, the application can be accessed and used by multiple users regardless of their timezone and location, enabling businesses to work remotely without any friction.
Ensured reliability
If you run Quickbooks on your device, the application is dependent on the health of the device. In case of hardware failure, the application cannot generally be accessed or recovered. Cloud-based hosting offers availability of >99.9% and some hosting solutions perform regular backups, such that in the case of a failure, the data can be restored.
Quickbooks Cloud Hosting vs Quickbooks Online
Intuit offers two different flavors of Quickbooks. The first one, Quickbooks Desktop, is a mature and comprehensive application that is typically installed and run on a local device. Quickbooks Desktop can be hosted in a cloud using a solution from one of the vendors listed below. The second flavor, Quickbooks Online, natively runs on a cloud/remote server that is managed by Intuit. However, Quickbooks Online and Desktops have different features, with Online having more limited features.
| Quickbooks Cloud Hosting | Quickbooks Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Available from anywhere | Yes | Yes |
| Available from anywhere | Yes | Yes |
| Data secure hosted off-device | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in Security | Yes | Yes |
| Industry-specific features | Yes | No |
| Sales Orders | Yes | No |
| Complex Accounting | Yes | No |
| Multiple licenses available | Yes Pro, Premier, and Enterprise | No Quickbooks Online only |
With Quickbooks Cloud Hosting, you get both the flexibility of Quickbooks Online as well as the features of Quickbooks Desktop.
RightNetworks
Highlights: good range of additional services for the accounting industry
RightNetworks is a cloud hosting solutions provider with an extensive focus on Quickbooks hosting. They offer three tiers of Quickbooks hosting:
- QuickBooks Desktop Cloud – starting from $62.99/user per month, QuickBooks Desktop Cloud is a simple hosting solution which runs the application from a cloud environment and offers 5GB of storage.
- QuickBooks Business Cloud – for $73.99/user per month, Quickbooks Business Cloud offers 10 GB of storage, additional features and productivity applications such as expense management and tax compliance.
- QuickBooks Application Cloud – for $83.99/user per month, the top-range service offers 50GB of storage and access to RightNetwork’s application ecosystem, which includes Microsoft Office.
For all their plans RightNetworks offer capabilities such as a US-based tech support team, 90-day data backups and automatic software updates.
V2 Cloud
Highlights: lowest cost, highest flexibility
V2 Cloud offers enterprise-grade reliability and support to host Quickbooks in the cloud.
V2 Cloud offers a flexible pricing structure based on three feature Quickbooks hosting plans:
- Basic – with prices ranging from $25 to $43 per month per user depending on the number of users, this plan 50 GB of NVME storage, unlimited data transfers and multi-factor authentication
- Business – ranging from $35 to $60 per user per month, this plan includes off-site daily backup snapshots with 7 days history, MalwareBytes Business Antivirus, connections to on-premises hardware via virtual private networks, and access to APIs.
- Enterprises – with pricing available on request, this bespoke plan offers additional advanced functions for you Quickbooks hosting such as multi-region continuous replication and active-active disaster recovery solutions.
In addition to providing secure Quickbooks hosting solutions, V2 Cloud can also host other types of applications and offers a range of additional services such as desktop-as-a-service solutions, a case management console, integrations with single-sign-on providers, and storage, backup and disaster recovery services.
ACE Cloud hosting
Highlights: offers both dedicated and shared hosting options
Ace Cloud Hosting is an application hosting provider with headquarters in Florida, USA. ACE offers hosting solutions across multiple industries, including accounting, construction, real estate, legal, and several others.
Ace Cloud Hosting offers three types of plans for Quickbooks hosting:
- Essentials – starting at $50 per user per month, this plan hosts a Quickbooks Desktop in the Cloud and provides multi-user access and a client portal. This plan only uses Ace Cloud Hosting’s Tier 3 and Tier 4 datacenters.
- Business – for $60 per user per month, clients get 10GB of storage per user with quick SSD storage, business continuity and disaster recovery plans, and security events monitored using a SIEM solution.
- Premium – with prices available on request, the top plan includes multi-factor authentication and unlimited Quickbook files storage using NvME drives.
Additionally, Ace Cloud hosting also offers a Quickbooks dedicated server, which means that the hardware used by the vendor to run your instance of Quickbooks is not shared with any other customer. Prices range between $75 per user to $419 for a maximum of 10 users.
The provider offers free trials for their Quickbooks hosting solutions and also provides a 45-day rolling backup service.
Summit Hosting
Highlights: excellent security, simple pricing model
Summit Hosting provides cloud-based QuickBooks hosting solutions across the U.S. and Canada. Compared to other providers, Summit Hosting only offers dedicated servers, which means that with any of their services, the infrastructure used to host your applications are not shared with any other customer.
Summit Hosting offers a simple pricing model. Customers can host their Quickbooks solutions on Summit’s dedicated infrastructure for $55 per user per month. Customers can then add additional modules such as software updates, multifactor authentication and the Summit Secure Workspace for an additional cost.
While the dedicated infrastructure model provides additional security and removes the issue of noisy neighbors (i.e. other tenants using up all resources and impacting your performance), the Quickbooks cloud hosting solution also has lower flexibility, as any scaling up or down of the infrastructure needs to be manually provisioned.
Final Takeaways
Hosting Quickbooks in the cloud offers numerous advantages compared to running it on your local device. These advantages hold true regardless of your vendor of choice or any additional features. However, just as a locally hosted Quickbooks application depends on the device you are running it on, so is a cloud hosted Quickbooks application dependent on your solution provider.
We recommend assessing Quickbooks hosting solution providers for their levels of technical support, security (especially user access), and flexibility. Hosting Quickbooks in the cloud comes at an additional cost, so making sure the cost is proportional for your needs is also a big determining factor.
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