You hear a lot about “the cloud” these days. Increasingly, computer users and businesses are relying less on their hard drives and more on the online storage of documents. Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and other services store all your data, which is accessible from any online computer or smart phone and less vulnerable to computer crashes. Part of this trend is also showing up in the actual computer programs you use. Quicken users are switching to Mint, the online personal money manager. (Intuit makes both products.) Also computer users are seeing advantages to renting rather than buying software such as Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Suite. And in the world of accounting and business management, there’s been a lot of discussion of QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop. QuickBooks Online is strictly in the Cloud. Desktop is a program you download and install on your computer. Kia Smith, CPA, Associate, QuickBooks ProAdvisor at Ketel Thorstenson LLP, put together a useful table that outlines the pros and cons of each option. CLICK HERE to see the comparisons. If you need assistance in deciding the best way to go, give her or Kim Logsdon, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, at the Rapid City office of KT, 342-5630.