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Intuit offers both a “self-hosted” and “hosted” option version of Quickbooks Enterprise. The self-hosted option, as its name suggests, allows certified personal accountants, small business owners and other like-minded professionals to manage their own hosting; thus, providing a greater level of freedom over features and settings. However, hosted Quickbooks Enterprise is more hands-off, with the respective hosting company handling all of the maintenance and security updates.

Servers

Server costs are included in the price of Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise. In self-hosted Quickbooks Enterprise, server costs are not included. Server costs vary depending on the size and specifications, but opting for Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise is a smart move that will ultimately save you money in the long run.

Security and Maintenance

As previously stated, all security and maintenance updates are performed by the respective hosting company in Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise. If a new security vulnerability is identified, the company’s IT team will take action to rectify it immediately.

On the other hand, self-hosted Quickbooks Enterprise requires the user to perform their own security and maintenance updates, leaving the server and all of its Quickbooks files vulnerable in the time being.

Backups

Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise automatically performs backups of software and tape library to  prevent the loss of data. By default, Hosted Quickbooks performs a full backup every night, although this frequency can be adjusted depending on the user’s specifications.

Backups are available through self-hosted Quickboks, but the user must manually perform the operation or set up the server to perform them automatically. Backups are a fundamental component of Quickbooks and should be ran routinely to reduce the risk of data failure.

Network Licenses

Another area where Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise shines above its self-hosted counterpart is network licenses. All network licenses — Terminal Server and Windows Client Access — are included in the hosted version. In self-hosted, the user must pay extra for these licenses.

Setup

Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise is more of a hands-free approach to managing a Quickbooks environment. The hosting company performs all of the required setup operations to get the user’s Quickbooks up and running. In Self-Hosted Quickbooks, the user must set up his or her own account.

As you can see, Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise will save you time, money and labor. It may cost slightly more upfront, but you’ll end up saving money in the long run by opting for Hosted Quickbooks Enterprise.