BizBooks Pro comes in two editions of the same software: installed on your Windows computer, or hosted for you and opened from a browser. Your ledger, reports and screens are identical either way, and you can move between them whenever your situation changes.
| BizBooks Pro Desktop | BizBooks Pro Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your books live | On your own Windows computer | On our servers in the United States (New York), each customer in its own database and application |
| Getting in | The installed program on that computer, plus your other devices and offices over your own encrypted private network (Tailscale VPN), while that computer is on | Any modern browser, from anywhere, whether or not your office computer is on |
| Updates | You approve each new version when it's offered | Automatic, overnight in your time zone, with no interruption to your work. If you report a problem, the fix is usually applied to your books within about an hour |
| Backups | Your own backups, on your schedule | Nightly encrypted off-site backups, hourly attachment copies, and restore to any point in the last 7 days |
| Accountant / fractional CFO | Invite from Accountant Access; reachable while your computer is on | Invite from Accountant Access; reachable any time, and they don't use one of your seats |
| Devices | Installs on a Windows computer; phones, tablets, Macs and Chromebooks then open it in a browser over your private network | Any modern browser: Windows, Mac, Chromebook |
| Cost | Your BizBooks Pro annual subscription | Your BizBooks Pro annual subscription, plus hosting at $144 per year including 2 users ($12 per year for each additional user) |
Moving is built into BizBooks Pro (System Admin → Backup & Restore). Before anything moves, it checks every company's trial balance on both sides and shows you the comparison; only then do you confirm. Your licence moves with your books, and the copy you left becomes read-only so the two can never drift apart.
This is the biggest reason to choose the cloud. Books kept on your computer can only be opened while that computer is on and connected, however your accountant or fractional CFO connects. If you switch it off at night, travel with it, or it simply goes to sleep, they're locked out until it's back. Cloud books are reachable at any hour, so your accountant can reconcile on a Sunday and your CFO can prepare the board pack before you're in, without you leaving anything running.
When several people share the books, the office computer that holds them becomes a single point of failure: if it's off, being updated or out for repair, nobody can work. In the cloud, everyone signs in from their own browser and nobody waits on one machine.
The desktop edition already reaches your phone, laptop or a second office over a very secure private connection (Tailscale VPN), as long as the computer it's installed on is switched on and connected. If you'd rather not depend on that computer at all, cloud books open in any modern browser from anywhere, at any hour.
The desktop edition installs on one Windows computer (other devices then reach it through the browser). With no Windows machine at all, on a Mac or a Chromebook, BizBooks Pro Cloud runs in the browser, with the full product rather than a cut-down web version.
Cloud books are backed up every night, encrypted and stored away from the live server, with attachments copied every hour, and can be restored to any point in the last 7 days. On the desktop, protecting your books is up to your own backup routine.
Move to the cloud before you leave and work from a laptop while you're away; move back to your desktop when you return. Hosting is billed for the year and isn't refunded when you move back, but if you return to the cloud again within that paid year, there's nothing more to pay.
In the cloud, new versions install themselves overnight and support fixes reach you within about an hour, so you never wait for an installer or restart the program.
you need to work without an internet connection; you prefer your books to stay on hardware you own; you already reach them from your other devices or offices over the secure private connection and that computer stays on; you work alone from one computer that's on whenever anyone needs the books; or you'd rather not add the hosting fee. The desktop edition remains fully supported and isn't going away, and you can try the cloud later and come back.
BizBooks Pro Cloud is in early access. We're opening it to a limited number of businesses first, with written early-access terms provided on request.
Comparing BizBooks Pro with other cloud accounting products instead? See our honest cloud accounting comparison.