Steda Registers compared with QuickBooks Desktop Fixed Asset Manager
Fixed Asset Manager ships inside QuickBooks Desktop Premier Accountant and Enterprise at no extra cost and calculates depreciation on six bases. If it is working for you, keep it.
What Fixed Asset Manager does today
Fixed Asset Manager is a separate application installed beside the company file. It reads the fixed asset item list, calculates depreciation on a straight-line, declining-balance or income-tax method, and posts a journal entry back into QuickBooks on whichever basis you pick.
It does not close a month. There is no locked period, no append-only record of who changed a life or a cost and when, and no copy of the register anywhere but the machine the software is installed on. Steda adds those three.
The comparison
| Capability | Steda Registers | Fixed Asset Manager | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Published. $199 a month for the first entity. | Included with Premier Accountant, Enterprise and Enterprise Accountant. | They lead |
| Tax bases | The posting book, any number of additional books, a federal tax book, and state tax books with conformity switches. No AMT or ACE calculation. | Six bases: Federal, Book, AMT, ACE, State and Other. | They lead |
| Depreciation for book | Straight line, declining balance at 150 and 200 percent, sum of the years digits, and units of production. | Straight line, declining balance and an income tax method. | Steda leads |
| Depreciation for tax | Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System with the half-year, mid-quarter and mid-month conventions, Section 179 with its limits and carryover, bonus depreciation, and the alternative depreciation system. | Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System, with a tax form worksheet. | Comparable |
| Register location | Hosted. Several people can use it at once, from any machine. | On the machine the software is installed on, beside the company file. | Steda leads |
| Period close | Months close in order and lock. Reopening one is an administrator action with a reason on it. | No period close of its own. A closing date password protects the QuickBooks file, not the register. | Steda leads |
| Audit trail | Append-only, on every change, with the user and the time. | None in the register itself. | Steda leads |
| Posting the entry | One Web Connector run posts it into the company file, checked against the file it is pinned to. | Posts the journal entry into QuickBooks directly, on the basis you choose. | Comparable |
| If you move to QuickBooks Online | The register stays in Steda. Disconnect Desktop, connect Online, keep closing months. | Does not run against QuickBooks Online. The register does not come with you. | Steda leads |
| Prepaid and deferred expenses | A register of its own, closing on the same month end. | Not covered. | Steda leads |
| Leases and loans | The effective interest method, with the schedules and the rollforward. | Not covered. | Steda leads |
| Texas property tax renditions | Built from the register, with the Comptroller percent-good tables for the year. | Not covered. | Steda leads |
| Tax return handoff | An Excel export of the tax depreciation and Section 179 reports. | Exports to ProSeries and Lacerte, and prints a Form 4562 worksheet. | They lead |
Read from the other product’s own documentation in September 2026, with sources at the foot of this page. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
Where Fixed Asset Manager is the better answer
- It costs nothing extra if you already pay for Enterprise or Premier Accountant.
- It calculates AMT and ACE. Steda carries as many books as you need but calculates neither.
- It hands off to ProSeries and Lacerte, and prints the Form 4562 worksheet. If your tax preparer works in either, that path is shorter than an export.
- It is one application on one machine, with nothing to connect and no second subscription.
When Steda Registers is the wrong purchase
- You carry AMT or ACE bases. Steda does not have them.
- Your register is small and stable, your auditor has never asked about it, and one person is comfortably on top of it.
- You want depreciation and nothing else. Steda prices four registers together, and paying for four to use one is poor value.
If one of those is you, say so on the call and we will tell you so.
Questions
Can Steda import from Fixed Asset Manager?
Does Steda replace Fixed Asset Manager or sit beside it?
Do we still need QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise?
What happens when QuickBooks Desktop stops being sold?
Sources
- Use Fixed Asset Manager in QuickBooks Desktop (Intuit)
- Understand terminology for the Fixed Asset Manager (Intuit)
Steda is not affiliated with Intuit. QuickBooks is Intuit’s trademark and is used here to say what Steda works with and what it is being compared against.
Other comparisons
Steda Registers and QuickBooks Online Advanced →
QuickBooks Online Advanced has a fixed asset feature that creates a schedule and posts book depreciation every month on its own. It is useful, and already in a plan some companies pay for. The gap is the tax book.
Steda Receivables and QuickBooks reminders →
QuickBooks already sends reminders, and for a short aging that is enough. On a long list, the same three emails go to the customer who always pays and the customer who never does.
The Steda portal and QuickBooks Payments →
Both let a customer pay an invoice online. They differ on whose account the money lands in, whose branding the payer sees, and what a large bank payment costs.