Intuit has recently announced the eventual phasing out of the desktop versions of its QuickBooks accounting software. After July 31, 2024, Intuit will no longer issue new subscriptions to these QuickBooks Desktop products:
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus
- QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus
- QuickBooks Desktop Mac Plus
- QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll
Existing users of these products can continue renewing their subscriptions and will receive support and security updates after July 31, 2024. The final sunset date has not yet been shared by Intuit.
Why move to QuickBooks Online now?
We recommend you make the move to QuickBooks Online sooner rather than continuing with your Desktop version. The advantages of working in cloud-based accounting software outweigh the learning curve.
Increased efficiency
With available online automated accounting services, the information in QuickBooks Online is timely, accurate, and always at hand. From an accounting perspective, this gives you more time to work on your business and allows your CPA to be involved at a higher level to provide guidance as needed.
Increased protection
Using the online version of QuickBooks gives you greater protection from these cyber threats:
- Data breaches: older software has inadequate safeguards to detect malicious behavior.
- Fines and denied insurance claims: Cyber Insurance onboarding questionnaires will ask if you are running any software that would be considered “end of support.” Likewise, government compliance standards all require affirming a statement that you are not running any end-of-life or end-of-support software.
- Extended downtime: due to lack of vendor support as well as data breach or corruption
A cloud-hosted application like QuickBooks Online will avoid these risks, providing:
- New features and security enhancements
- Typically have a 99.8% uptime guarantee
- Known and consistent costs for budgeting purposes
- Hardware requirements are minimal.
- Changes that are spread out over time.
Added Benefits
Making the transition from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online is a seamless process. After creating the QuickBooks Online account, your most recent desktop data file would be migrated to the new platform. This process will take approximately 24 hours. It may take more or less time, depending on the size of the file being migrated.
After that, you can start enjoying the benefits of using cloud-based software:
- Secured Storage that Remains Compliant
- Access From Anywhere
- Faster Processing
- Centralized Tasks
- Real Time Transactions
- Integration
- Access to mobile apps for mileage, expenses, etc.
Where do we go from here?
If you’d like to learn more about using QuickBooks Online, our recent webinar provides greater detail in preparing for this change. We recommend viewing the webinar in its entirety.
One source, many services, the right decision.
If you have questions about next steps or if we can be of service, please contact us online or call 215-723-4881.