Accounting99

QuickBooks Desktop Discontinued: How It Affects You & What to Do Next

Posted by Robert BrandonLast Updated January 30th, 2025
— 7 minutes reading

Key takeaways

  • QuickBooks Desktop 2020 is discontinued as of May 31, 2023, which means Intuit ended updates, support, or access to add-ons like payroll will be available.
  • As of September 30, 2024, Intuit stopped selling new subscriptions for certain U.S. versions of QuickBooks Desktop, including Pro Plus, Premier Plus, and Mac Plus. Existing subscribers can continue to renew their subscriptions, but new subscriptions are no longer available.
  • QuickBooks Online vs Desktop: QuickBooks Online is cloud-based, accessible anywhere, and integrates better, but it lacks some Desktop-specific features like sales orders, various costing methods, and industry-specific reports.
  • Continuing to use QuickBooks Desktop 2020 is risky due to a lack of support, security updates, and potential data migration issues.
  • Migration from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online is possible but has limitations for large files, requiring manual workarounds for oversized data.
  • Alternative software solutions like inFlow can replace lost features, offering inventory tracking, more costing methods, sales orders, and integrates with QuickBooks Online.

Intuit, the developers of the accounting software QuickBooks, announced that the 2020 version(s) of QuickBooks Desktop is now discontinued as of May 31st, 2023. Given the platform’s popularity, this announcement has raised several questions. What does this mean? What’s the future of QuickBooks Desktop? Is QuickBooks Desktop being phased out? If you’re using QuickBooks Desktop, what are your options going forward? What’s the difference between QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop?

Let’s dig in, and we promise we’ll be quick about it.

QuickBooks Desktop discontinued

While “QuickBooks Desktop Discontinued” is an accurate title, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Rather than completely shutting down, the 2020 version of QuickBooks Desktop is sunsetting. This means that while QuickBooks Desktop will remain available for current owners, it won’t see any further updates or support. It also means that QuickBooks Desktop users will lose access to any add-ons, including the popular payroll add-on. This has led many users to ask: is QuickBooks Desktop going away for good?

Pros and Cons of QuickBooks Desktop:
Pros:
1. Complete control over data
2. No dependency on internet connectivity
3. One-time purchase
4. Robust features
Cons:
1. No automatic data backups
2. Limited accessibility
3. Expensive upfront costs
4. Few software integrations

Is QuickBooks Desktop being phased out?

In short, not entirely. At least not yet.

In addition to discontinuing the 2020 version as of September 30, 2024, Intuit stopped selling new subscriptions for certain U.S. versions of QuickBooks Desktop, including Pro Plus, Premier Plus, and Mac Plus. Existing subscribers can continue to renew their subscriptions, but new subscriptions are no longer available.

While there are still versions of QuickBooks Desktop that are available to users in certain regions, Intuit’s long-term intentions seem to be to phase out QuickBooks Desktop entirely at some point.

So, if you’re a current user of QuickBooks Desktop deciding how to move forward, consider these factors before making any decisions. 

QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop: what’s the difference?

The most obvious choice for QuickBooks Desktop users would be to migrate to Intuit’s online version of the software, QuickBooks Online. So, let’s first look at QuickBooks Desktop vs QuickBooks Online to see how these two options compare. 

QuickBooks Online

This version of Intuit’s accounting software is a cloud-based service. This means that users access the software through a web browser or application instead of using an on-board application. This requires an internet connection, but you can access it from anywhere that has one, regardless of distance. 

QuickBooks Desktop

The desktop version of QuickBooks is intended as a local application, meaning you can only access it with the computer you install it on. You can install it on more computers in order to increase access points, but doing so incurs additional fees. Intuit also offers online hosting for QuickBooks Desktop, with fees starting at $44/month and up per user.

Inuit annual report on user numbers shows QuickBooks Desktop users went from 2.1 million in 2020 to 1.5 million in 2021. QuickBooks Online users on the other hand went from 4.5 million in 2020 to 5.8 million in 2021.

What features are missing in QuickBooks Online?

While both services have similar features, some are exclusive to specific versions. Here are the important ones. 

Only QuickBooks Desktop offers sales orders. There are also ~50 more report types available to QuickBooks Desktop users than QuickBooks Online, and only QuickBooks Desktop offers industry-specific reports. Some features offered in QuickBooks Desktop are industry-specific. For instance, features tailored specifically for manufacturers, wholesalers, or nonprofit companies.  

On the other hand, only QuickBooks Online is mac compatible. While it doesn’t offer as many reports as QuickBooks Desktop, it provides automatic invoicing and has significantly more integrations. QuickBooks Online also offers (optional) live bookkeeping support thanks to its cloud-based format. It’s also worth noting that, at the time of writing, only QuickBooks Online offers international invoicing. 

The good news is there are other software solutions out there that can help replace the features lost if you move from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. More on that later. 

Can you continue to use QuickBooks Desktop 2020? 

Yes! But it’s a bad idea. A really bad idea. Part of the sunsetting process means that Intuit will be cutting live support for QuickBooks Desktop 2020. If something breaks, you’ll be on your own. In the worst-case scenario, you may end up being unable to migrate your data. You’ll have to start from scratch or transfer everything by hand– neither of which is particularly desirable. 

QuickBooks Desktop 2020 will also stop receiving security updates, leaving your systems more vulnerable. Whether you switch to a newer Desktop version or jump to Online, switching off QuickBooks Desktop 2020 is a good idea. 

How do you move from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online?

With QuickBooks Desktop discontinued, many users will look to switch to the online version. Luckily, according to QuickBooks themselves, all you really need to do is copy & export a file. There are some limitations, though. If your file exceeds a certain size (750,000 targets), you won’t be able to convert it to QuickBooks Online. If your file exceeds this size, you’ll have to settle for exporting import and balance lists or start fresh. 

Should you move to QuickBooks Online?

This is a tricky question to answer. No two businesses are the same, and every one of them has a different set of factors to consider. Making outright recommendations without this information would be irresponsible, but we can give you some things to consider. 

With QuickBooks Desktop discontinued, switching to QuickBooks Online is a good option as it provides better accessibility and collaboration.

It should be no surprise that a huge strength of QuickBooks Online is its cloud-based infrastructure. This allows for mobility that far exceeds the Desktop version. Instead of being bound to a specific computer, you’ll be able to access QuickBooks Online from any device with a browser.

However, we did mention there is an option to host QuickBooks Desktop online. But when you add in the hosting fee on top of the purchase of the software, it can be very cost-prohibitive. The hosting service alone starts at $44/month per user but, on average, ranges between $50-$60. In comparison, QuickBooks Online Plus is priced at $99/ month for five users.

While offering an affordable cloud-based system is certainly valuable, the most obvious reason to switch from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online is to future-proof your business. Especially if you’re using QuickBooks Desktop 2020 because, over time, your system will become increasingly more vulnerable.

In addition, with no more updates, there’s a good chance that the software will eventually stop working altogether. Which could leave you in a tough spot if you’re no longer able to access important and sensitive data.

How inFlow’s integration with QuickBooks Online can help

It’s true that QuickBooks Online does offer a great alternative for anyone looking to migrate from QuickBooks Desktop, but the loss of certain features has many users frustrated. For instance, QuickBooks Desktop offers far more inventory costing methods, while QuickBooks Online only offers FIFO. Then there are the other features we mentioned above, such as sales orders and reporting.

Luckily, software solutions like inFlow are capable of filling in these missing pieces. With inFlow and QuickBooks Online working together, you get a lot of the missing functionality from QuickBooks Desktop. For example, inFlow is a complete inventory management system that supports various costing methods, including FIFO, LIFO, manual costing & moving average. We offer sales orders and inventory tracking, including setting reorder points. We also have a myriad of reports available to help fill the gaps.

The best part is inFlow conveniently integrates with QuickBooks Online, which offers a two-way payment sync option!

As you add more and more software, it’s essential that they integrate with each other seamlessly. inFlow boasts a myriad of integrations– ranging from QuickBooks to ecommerce platforms like Amazon. Our software works great for tons of small-to-medium-sized businesses working in manufacturing, field service management, wholesale, and more! So no matter your industry, inFlow has you covered!

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