QuickBooks programs are amazing. And QuickBooks hosting allows users to make desktop solutions mobile. With cloud hosting, business owners can review their books anywhere on essentially any kind of device. Hosting services are a rising industry, however, and competition for your business is fierce. We’ll examine not only the most important aspects of QuickBooks hosting, but how to choose the best hosting services for your needs.
Why QuickBooks Hosting Matters
QuickBooks hosting through the cloud gives you the opportunity to work anywhere, often on any type of device. This flexibility makes it easy for small business owners to check their books at home instead of being tied to the office. It also allows long-distance collaboration with traveling partners, because when your data is hosted online, everyone sees the same numbers at the same time. It’s a faster, more efficient way to handle bookkeeping.
Hosting online is also more secure, in many cases, than keeping data from your desktop app on a single hard drive. In this day and age, cyber security is more important than ever, and many businesses choose the cloud simply to make things more difficult for hackers. These aren’t the only two benefits, of course, but they are the two most influential reasons businesses of all sizes consider cloud-based QuickBooks hosting.
Official QuickBooks Hosting
As part of its expanded suite of online features and SAAS (software as a service) products, QuickBooks offers hosting. Naturally, this comes with an additional fee that is added to the price of the software itself. This option is most popular for SAAS products, since hosting through QuickBooks itself offers users a little more value in terms of official services and access. It’s important to note, however, that QuickBooks does offer hosting for desktop versions of their software as well. Apart from potential savings as part of a purchasing package, however, hosting through QuickBooks isn’t terribly different from hosting services offered by third parties. The downside is that since this is a brand name service, it’s often more expense than comparable options from the competition.
Third Party Cloud Hosting
One of the most important differences between hosting offered by QuickBooks and hosting offered by third parties is flexibility. Third party QuickBooks hosting services usually offer a greater range of package options. Naturally, this caters to more budgets than the official options do. However, the greatest advantage is that these options frequently include hosting for third party solutions. If you have any degree of customization, hosting with QuickBooks’ official cloud service is impractical. Users get all the benefits of QuickBooks hosting and enjoy greater flexibility while paying lower fees. If brand loyalty isn’t at the core of your shopping habits, and you’d like to get the most out of your budget, it’s probably best to compare options rather than simply going with QuickBooks’ package options. Third parties may not be able to offer SAAS services, but they offer desktop hosting for essentially all QuickBooks programs.
What to Look for in a QuickBooks Hosting Service
QuickBooks hosting services need to be a lot of things. However, first and foremost, they must be secure. Your bookkeeping information contains sensitive data about not only your own business, but also your customers. QuickBooks offers many advanced customer service and analysis tools that include everything from billing information to names and addresses. A data leak could cost your business millions of dollars. Not only would you have to reevaluate your security and hosting situation, but you would also face government fees and customer reparation costs. On top of all that, you would lose significant customer trust.
Hosting services also need to offer ample space to grow. How much data, exactly, can you store with a particular host? If your business grows, can you purchase more storage space, or will you need to find a new host? Make sure to check the costs for these expansions, too. Sometimes hosting services offer a lower rate for basic packages and then wildly inflate their higher tier options. It’s difficult to move your data back from the cloud, so make sure you’re working with a service that will fit your needs and budget comfortably for the long term.
Make sure your chosen hosting service offers good speed as well. Some smaller hosts sometimes take too many customers. And while they can technically host them, they have regular issues with speed. Especially at certain times of day, when multiple businesses need access, you may have trouble getting into your QuickBooks data.
When you choose QuickBooks hosting, you choose a faster, more efficient business model. Make sure the services you work with live up to your standards. There are plenty of good deals to be had, but ensure they offer the storage, speed, and rates you need before you make a commitment.
