Nearly every guide frames this as cloud versus desktop, then treats "access from anywhere" as something only the cloud can give you. That framing is out of date. Here is a fair account of what cloud accounting does well, what you hand over in exchange, and the third arrangement that gets skipped.
We sell locally installed accounting software, so we have an obvious stake in this. We have tried to write the page we would want to read as a buyer anyway — including the parts where cloud software is genuinely the better answer.
These are real advantages, and any comparison that skips them is selling you something.
No install, no updates to apply, no machine that has to stay switched on. The vendor handles the infrastructure entirely.
Redundant, off-site, automatic. A great many small businesses never set up a reliable backup on their own, and this removes that failure mode.
Any browser, any device, anywhere, from the moment you sign up. No network configuration to think about.
Adding a remote bookkeeper or an outside accountant is an email invitation, with nothing for either party to install. Self-hosted software can give your accountant access too, but it is a one-time setup rather than a single click — here is how that works.
We would rather you choose the right tool than choose ours. If you have no interest in owning any part of the setup, and the recurring cost is comfortable, a hosted product is a reasonable purchase and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
The trade is less obvious, because most of it shows up later rather than at signup.
None of this is hypothetical or unique to one vendor — we went through the arithmetic in detail in The Hidden Costs of Cloud Accounting Software.
Here is the part the binary framing hides. "Installed on your computer" and "reachable from your phone in a coffee shop" are not opposites. They have not been for years.
BizBooks Pro installs on one machine you control and then publishes its own interface across the network, the same way any web application does. Your other devices open it in a plain browser. There is no companion app to install, no per-device charge, and no second subscription layered on top.
Any phone, tablet or laptop on the same WiFi reaches it at a local address. Nothing to configure.
Add the free Tailscale client and the same install answers from a client site, an airport, or your accountant's desk over an encrypted private link.
Save it to a home screen and it opens in its own window, without a browser bar.
Every one of those routes terminates at your own computer. Your ledger is never sitting on a vendor's server.
You can have the access pattern people buy cloud software for without the arrangement where a vendor holds your books and decides what reaching them costs next year. That is not a compromise position between cloud and desktop — on access it matches the cloud, and on custody and cost it matches local software.
Most tables in this category have two columns. The third is the one worth looking at.
| Cloud (QBO, Xero) | Traditional desktop | BizBooks Pro (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use it from any device | ✓ Yes | ✗ One machine | ✓ Yes, via browser |
| Works away from the office | ✓ Anywhere | ✗ No | ✓ Anywhere, via Tailscale |
| Who holds your database | ✗ The vendor | ✓ You | ✓ You |
| Billing shape | ✗ Per user, monthly | ~ Varies | ✓ One flat annual price |
| Cost of adding a user | ✗ Raises the bill | ~ Often a new licence | ✓ Included |
| Getting your accountant in | ✓ Email invite, instant | ✗ Send them a copy of the file | ~ Share the machine once, revoke anytime |
| Keeps working offline | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes, on the host machine |
| Backups handled for you | ✓ Automatic | ✗ Your job | ~ Built-in tools, you own the schedule |
| Zero maintenance | ✓ Nothing to run | ~ Occasional updates | ~ A machine must be on to serve others |
| If you stop paying | ✗ Access ends | ✓ Files remain | ✓ Database stays on your disk |
Note the three amber marks in our own column. A self-hosted setup asks you to keep a machine running for other devices to reach it, it puts the backup schedule in your hands rather than a vendor's, and bringing your accountant in is a one-time piece of setup instead of an instant invitation. Those are real obligations, and for some businesses they are the deciding factor.
If you are trying to put numbers to the first question, our five-year cost calculator compares a recurring per-user subscription against a flat annual licence at your own headcount.
Arguments about software are less useful than the software. BizBooks Pro runs in a browser tab with a sample company already loaded — no download, no signup, no card. If the interface feels like something you would work in every day, the rest of this page is worth taking seriously. If it does not, you have lost ninety seconds.
It is accounting software that runs on the vendor's servers and is used through a web browser. You do not install the program or hold the database — the vendor does both — and you pay a recurring fee, usually monthly and usually per user, to keep reaching your own books.
It depends which trade matters to you. Cloud wins on zero maintenance, automatic backups and instant setup. Local software wins on long-run cost, on custody of your records, and on still working when the internet or the vendor is having a bad day. The framing that treats "access anywhere" as cloud-only is the part that is genuinely outdated.
Yes — that is what self-hosting means. BizBooks Pro installs on a machine you control and serves its interface to your other devices over your own network, or over an encrypted Tailscale link from anywhere. Same convenience, different custody.
Access usually ends when the billing period does. Most vendors provide an export window, but exports tend to be reports and lists rather than a working file, so detail and audit history may not come with you. With a local install the database is on your own disk and stays readable.
It is a different security model, not a weaker one. A hosted vendor patches for you but is also a much larger target; your records being on your own machine means they are not caught up in anyone else's breach. In exchange, backups and the machine itself are your responsibility. Remote access over Tailscale is encrypted end to end and is not exposed to the open internet.
No more than installing any desktop program. Same-network access needs no setup at all; remote access means installing a free app on both devices and signing in. Our step-by-step guide covers it.
For other devices to reach it, yes — the same as any server. Most businesses leave it running through the working day. If nobody at your company wants that obligation, this is a genuine reason to prefer a hosted product.
It is licensed annually, as one flat price rather than a per-user monthly charge, and reaching your books from additional devices is not billed separately.
The demo is the whole application, running in your browser, with sample books already loaded.