Accounting is one of the lifelines of a successful business. As a business grows, so do its demands to meet its then-current needs. These needs can vary from revenue, staffing, marketing, customer support, quality assurance, and of course, accounting. 

To make sound business decisions, businesses need to assess the data they currently have at hand and plan accordingly. These data points can prove vital as one wrong number or symbol can make a decision detrimental to a company’s growth. This proves true in the case of business accounting, where analytics becomes a huge factor in creating fiscal policies.

Businesses often find the need for an accounting software solution that works best for their current situation. The benefits that these software solutions bring can be a big boon in expense tracking, invoicing, payments, payrolls, audits, and financial reporting.  

Undoubtedly, these benefits are great for businesses, especially those that are growing. Still, the critical question here is, what’s the best accounting solution software for your current business situation?

In this article, we’ll be looking into two distinct accounting software solutions - NetSuite vs. QuickBooks. These two software solutions have different personalities and traits that you might find interesting. 

With that said, let’s grab a closer view into both NetSuite and QuickBooks. Read on to see which of these two software programs works best for you. 

What Is NetSuite?

Often, spreadsheets and piece-meal accounting software won’t work for businesses that have already reached a certain growth point. Some companies need something that is an all-in-one accounting software solution to meet their needs. That is where NetSuite comes into the picture.

NetSuite has been in the game for quite some time; it’s a well reputable software solution and has been used by more than 26,000 growing companies all over the globe. NetSuite offers an ERP system that manages many core functions such as accounting, finance, sales, inventory management, and even procurement. 

It’s a system that is an all-in-one solution since it also covers Human Resource Management in organizing payroll, tracking personal records, performance management, and service automation. This is all done through a single universal database that records all information provided to the system. 

NetSuite is a swiss army knife capable of solving many problems that a growing business has. Each of the tools it brings to the playing field is a tool that is well polished to execute its customer’s needs flawlessly. 

What Is QuickBooks?

Some businesses don’t need a vast set of tools to run their day-to-day accounting operations. This is mainly because having these extra tools may not seem cost-effective for their current situation. This is where QuickBooks comes into play.

QuickBooks is a suitable accounting software for medium and small businesses. It’s the solution that works for companies that are comfortable in their current zone of control. 

QuickBooks is a COTS accounting software that covers almost all financial needs of any small growing business out there. It also has its own market with over 7,000,000 clients globally. That’s a considerable number, and it’s a testament to the reputation that QuickBooks brings to its client base. QuickBooks is an accounting solution that offers various tools, including income and expense tracking, financial statement reports, P&L (profit and loss) statements, balance sheets, and many more. 

QuickBooks is a one-trick specialist and has made a name by executing that trick very well with ease for its clients. It’s no doubt that QuickBooks is one of the leading accounting software for growing businesses and startups looking to automate and streamline accounting for their company. 

Comparing NetSuite and QuickBooks

NetSuite and QuickBooks have their own unique sets of traits that distinguish them from each other. While they both serve the same purpose and cater to the same clients, they do have a difference in how they implement these tools to their users. 

Now that you’ve had a brief introduction to what NetSuite and QuickBooks are let’s talk about specific capabilities so you can make the right choice for your business. 

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Reporting

NetSuite - NetSuite reporting primarily focuses on giving its users powerful finance and accounting tools to create financial statements accurately. NetSuite offers its users maximum flexibility when it comes to making their financial reports with different layout options featuring a report builder and business intelligence tools to combine info sets and analyze the data quickly and effectively so that they can move forward to global information sharing among the users of the business. 

NetSuite offers a multitude of reporting and analytical tools for its users, such as NetSuite Project Reporting and Analytics Software, NetSuite SuiteAnalytics, and NetSuite Financial Reporting. These are all different methods in creating report documents that can range from project profitability, financial statements, and dashboard solutions to compressing all the data from all other areas into one single report. 

QuickBooks - QuickBooks financial reporting is pretty diverse, with over 200+ built-in reports that can easily be modified through their wide variety of filters, data points, and custom fields. QuickBooks also has report templates for sales graphs, profit & loss statements, the cost to complete reports, assembly shortage reports, and many more. 

One thing great about QuickBooks is that it automates most tasks through the many templates provided. This ensures that you don’t have to spend more than 5 minutes each time or do virtual meetings with your accountants to create different expense reports. That’s a lot of time you can save if you think about it. 

QuickBooks primarily focuses on providing businesses an excellent grasp on their financial reports with these many diverse ways of customization. Whatever data you have inputted on the QuickBooks system can be compiled, analyzed, and reported. This applies to many things, such as gathering data from multiple businesses that you might own and putting them all together into one extensive datasheet. 

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Inventory management

NetSuite - NetSuite offers its customers an in-depth inventory management system with its software solution. The NetSuite Inventory Management tool features an automated inventory tracking tool that is highly effective compared to the traditional spreadsheet and manual tracking methods. 

NetSuite also doubles as a global inventory management system that can easily canvas and track inventory stock in real-time. In addition, it can cover company-wide inventory visibility through multiple warehouses, retail stores, shops, drop shippers, and more. 

QuickBooks - QuickBooks Enterprise offers its users many ways to automate inventory management accurately. QuickBooks Enterprise offers pretty much similar tools to NetSuite, however at a minimized scale. You can still easily organize your products, run reports, get inventory insights and real-time inventory values. QuickBooks Enterprise, however, cannot easily mix in inventory from different retailers, warehouses, shops, and other areas. 

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Ease of use

NetSuite - For ease of use, NetSuite is quite complicated to grasp. Being a swiss army knife full of different unique tools has its own set of drawbacks that is quite hard to shake off. It is a powerful piece of software, no doubt, but with its vast customization, it can be overwhelming for businesses that are not used to operating at this scale. 

To start using NetSuite, one must invest a lot in learning the ins and outs of the program. It is also a given that there can be quite a bit of downtime at first before actually managing to make good use of the software, as there can be a lot of tweaking, learning, and experimenting to do with how each tool works and integrates with each other. 

QuickBooks - QuickBooks, on the other hand, is a testament to ease of use. As the scope is smaller and focuses on one specialty, it’s pretty easy to grasp the reigns of how the system works. In addition, QuickBooks is as intuitive as it gets, with its design and user interface being user-friendly most of the time. 

While it is true that if you are new to the accounting world and are a stranger to financial concepts, there are still quite a few steps to hop over. Still, if you are already familiar with these sorts of things, you will be surprised to learn how easy it can be to start using QuickBooks as your accounting software. 

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Price

NetSuite and QuickBooks, when it comes to pricing, are just like apples to oranges. They have too much of a big difference in how they are priced as QuickBooks is generally cheaper. At the same time, NetSuite is a whole significant investment for businesses to risk.

NetSuite - NetSuite is a significant investment for businesses to dive in as a base license. Access to their software costs $999 per month with an add-on of $99 access cost per user every month. NetSuite is primarily on a subscription model, and licenses can be renewed annually or even on longer timetables if you see it doing good for your business and can imagine using their services in the foreseeable future. 

There are multiple bundled versions for the software that you can take advantage of and packages containing different software that you might see as valuable. Thus, there is plenty of freedom when choosing the planned modules you want; however, it also comes at a price. 

QuickBooks - On the other hand, QuickBooks is amazingly affordable for plenty of businesses with three simple plans for clients to enjoy. 

• Simple Start - This is the most affordable and basic package that QuickBooks offers at a rate of $8 - $16 per month. The features that you can enjoy at this package are tracking income & expenses, custom invoices and quotes, tracking VAT, and connecting your bank account. This package is preferably only for one user, including an accountant. 
  

• Essentials - Essentials is for the growing businesses that have started to gain extra capital to fund more in-depth tools. This package comes at a rate of $12.50 - $25 per month. The features that you can enjoy in this package are all the tools mentioned above in the previous package, plus insights & reports, management of multiple employees, and multi-currency use. This package can be used by three users, including an accountant. 
  

• Plus - Plus is for well-established businesses in their prime. ​​This package comes in around $17 - $34 per month. The features that you can enjoy in this package are all the tools mentioned above in the previous packages, plus recurring transactions, inventory tracking, project & location tracking, and budget management. This package allows for five users, including an accountant.
  

QuickBooks also has a 30-day free trial which you can use to check the feel or even learn the software first before attempting to invest, making QuickBooks plan subscriptions convenient options. If you are a small-time solo digital preset seller, then maybe QuickBooks is the best bang for your buck as you surely won’t be needing to manage millions of individual globalized sales for your products. 

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Customer support

NetSuite -  NetSuite customer support is pretty responsive; however, they can still be hard to contact and work with as the software itself is a maze of instructions and complexities to navigate through. The customer support team is pretty helpful and accommodating throughout the process of any questions you might have. The only inconvenient thing is the lengthy instructions users have to follow to solve a problem.

QuickBooks - QuickBooks online has excellent customer service, although at times can be pretty disorganized, as some users have experienced. Most of the time, there are a lot of insightful answers given to users through the forums that QuickBooks hosts. Their customer support service can accommodate both live chat and phone calls. It can also assist with any problems that users might encounter. 

NetSuite vs. QuickBooks: Tool integration

NetSuite - Integration is possibly one of the critical features that NetSuite can provide. There are plenty of tools that can be integrated into the software itself. NetSuite tool integration is in itself a money-saving venture as you won’t have to rely on other programs when you can simply incorporate them into your current license. 

If you are looking for some great NetSuite integrations, then look no further; here are some great tools to try out. 

• Salesforce - CRM system integration for sale tracking 
• Shopify - eCommerce NetSuite data integration
• Fyle - Spend management/expense management
• Jirav - Financial planning & analysis cloud software
• FloQast - Close management software for accountants
  

QuickBooks - For QuickBooks, you also have a unique set of integrations that you can utilize for their system. This ultimately automates workflows, bookkeeping, invoicing, and many more. 

Here are QuickBooks tool integrations you can look forward to if you decide to grab a QuickBooks plan subscription. 

• Bill.com - Bank integration & workflow customization
• SOSInventory - Inventory, order, and manufacturing management 
• Fathom - In-depth analysis and metrics solution
• Insightly - Time management application
• Quickbooks Online Integration for Magento 2 - Sales & inventory management tracking tool 
  

3rd party integrations are a great way of maximizing the use of NetSuite and QuickBooks. These integrations can provide better organization, in-depth analytics, and t an overall more flexible experience in accounting and financial management. 

Benefits of Using NetSuite and QuickBooks

There’s no doubt that NetSuite and QuickBooks are powerful productivity tools that you can use for your businesses. However, the benefits that they both bring can be different depending on what your business needs. However, these two software solutions are the best place to go for general accounting solutions. 

If you add them up with any research tools that you are using to analyze important accounting data, implementing your accounting solutions will surely be a lot easier in the long run. However, it’s not just that; NetSuite and QuickBooks can significantly affect other aspects of your business, such as email marketing. 

Take, for example, an abandoned cart email strategy that you might want to pull off with your clients through your e-commerce website. NetSuite can automate this entire process. It can also help you optimize, manage, and track your current campaigns. You can also check ROIs to see what works best for your business. 

With its Marketing Automation Solution, NetSuite can greatly help with any ongoing marketing strategies that you are implementing. 

Here’s a summary of the benefits that you can quickly get with using both NetSuite and QuickBooks as your go-to accounting software:

• Centralizing your business processes
• Better accounting transparency
• Inventory tracking
• Financial tool integrations
• Enhanced bookkeeping 
• Safe record keeping
• Transaction automation
• Multi-currency capacity
  

And many more, so NetSuite and QuickBooks are great solutions for the same market; however, they vary with your current business requirements. 

If you are a huge or growing company planning to scale, NetSuite might be the best solution for your needs. However, if you are a business with limited accounting needs, QuickBooks is the best solution for you. 

Conclusion

Accounting is an essential part of running a business. Grabbing a solution such as NetSuite and QuickBooks can be a great asset in operating sales, financing, inventory management, workflow management, automation, and many more. 

The flexibility that these software solutions provide are essentially good business practices to go with for accounting purposes, and operating them for the long run will also benefit you in the end as both software scales along with business growth.