QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online conversion
QuickBooks Desktop isn't shutting off tomorrow, but Intuit is shrinking it. Intuit stopped selling Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, Mac Plus and Enhanced Payroll to new US customers after September 30, 2024, and older Desktop versions lose their connected services on a set date. Desktop 2023 lost payroll, bank downloads, live support and security updates after May 31, 2026.
If you run a $1M to $15M business on Desktop, you have time to plan the move, and a planned move goes a lot better than a forced one. We're a CPA-led firm that moves owners from Desktop to QuickBooks Online (Intuit calls it a migration) and checks every conversion against your old numbers before anything goes live. Afterward, we can stay on as your controller or CFO.
Is QuickBooks Desktop going away?
Not all at once. This is what Intuit has put in writing on its own pages.
| Date | What Intuit announced |
|---|---|
| February 1, 2024 | New subscriptions to Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, Mac Plus and Enhanced Payroll will stop for new US customers |
| September 30, 2024 | Those products are no longer sold to new US customers. Existing subscribers can keep renewing, and Desktop Enterprise is still sold |
| May 31, 2026 | Desktop 2023 versions (Pro Plus, Premier Plus, Mac Plus, Enterprise 23.0 and the accountant editions) are discontinued. Live support and security updates end, and payroll, bank downloads and online payments stop working |
Intuit says the 2024 change was "not a discontinuation (sunset)" of Desktop, and that's accurate. Still, fewer products for sale and each version aging out of payroll and bank feeds show where Intuit's effort is going. We don't love Intuit, but the online side is where the useful tools are being built.
Desktop vs Online for an owner
Owners hesitate for good reasons. You know where everything is in Desktop and your team has years of habits built around it. If you bought your copy outright years ago, Online means a monthly bill, and the screens and some of the reports you rely on look different.
| QuickBooks Desktop | QuickBooks Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it lives | On a computer or server you manage | In a web browser, from anywhere |
| Who can get in | Licensed users on that computer or server, or through a hosting service | Invited users (5 on Plus, 25 on Advanced) |
| Size limits | Set by your version and file | Plus allows 250 accounts and 40 classes and locations combined; Advanced has no cap on either |
For most $1M to $15M businesses the choice is Plus or Advanced, and if you track a lot of jobs, departments or locations, check those limits before you sign up.
What changes, and what doesn't come over
Intuit's conversion tool moves your customers, vendors, chart of accounts, items and transactions. It also leaves things behind, and Intuit lists them on its own help page. These are the ones that catch owners off guard.
- Memorized reports and the audit trail report don't move, and cash basis reports may not match what Desktop showed you (accrual basis reports should)
- Budgets aren't recreated
- Inventory comes with Plus and Advanced (it's an add-on for Simple Start and Essentials), and units of measure don't move
- Payroll for the current year comes over as lump sums, and if you use QuickBooks Time, timesheets, pay item mappings and its settings don't come over
- Past reconciliation reports don't move, although reconciled transactions keep their status
- Sales tax won't copy for every transaction, and past sales tax payments can land on the wrong filing
- Price levels, custom fields on items and employees, and groups of memorized transactions don't move
- Open purchase orders won't show items already received
- Every user has to be invited again
The tool has limits of its own. Intuit counts every line on every transaction (it calls them Total Targets), and the file has to be under 4,000,000. You also get 90 days after signing up for QuickBooks Online to use the tool, or 180 days if an accountant set up the account.
Plan for these before you switch, so nobody finds them on the first payroll run or sales tax filing.
How we do a clean conversion
We start by looking at your file, how big it is, how many years of history it holds, how clean it is and which features you lean on (jobs, inventory, payroll, sales tax, classes). The conversion copies what's in the file, so anything messy in Desktop shows up messy in Online. We clean it up first.
Next we decide what comes over. Some businesses want full history, and some are better off bringing lists and opening balances and keeping Desktop on hand to look things up. We pick based on how often you actually look things up in old years, and on the Plus or Advanced limits.
Then we convert into a test environment and check it against your historical numbers for the same dates. Profit and loss, balance sheet, what customers owe you and what you owe vendors all have to tie out before we move on.
Once the numbers match, we rebuild what didn't come over that you actually use, time the cutover around payroll the way Intuit asks, and go live.
In one engagement, a multi-entity industrial fabrication business needed to get off older desktop accounting software without breaking the time-and-materials billing that ran inside it. We vetted the move in three stages in a test environment, checked the data against historical numbers, and finished the cutover in under two weeks. We've managed their monthly close since. You can read more on our industrial and specialty construction page.
What it costs
There's no flat price for a conversion, because files differ too much. The cost comes down to the size of your file, how many years of history you want to bring, how clean the books are today, and whether payroll, inventory or sales tax are involved. We look at your file before we quote, then give you a clear price before any work starts.
What you get after
The conversion is the smaller piece of the value. Once you're on QuickBooks Online, you can connect add-on apps that do work a person used to do by hand. Bills can route for approval, so nobody can pay one without a second set of eyes on it, and bank activity and receipts come in on their own instead of being typed in.
Put together, those connections let a small team run the finance work that used to take a full department. Where we help most is picking the apps and deciding who has to approve what before money goes out.
Who this fits
We work with owner-operators of businesses doing roughly $1M to $15M in revenue who are on QuickBooks Desktop and know they'll have to move sooner or later. We handle the move from the cleanup through checking the numbers, and if you want us to stay on after that, we close your books every month and help with cash, margin and pricing as your controller or CFO.
Questions owners ask
Is QuickBooks Desktop or Online better for my business?
For most owners doing $1M to $15M who want a small team to run the books with add-on apps, Online, usually on Plus or Advanced. If you're on Desktop Enterprise with heavy inventory, or your file is large, look harder before you switch, because units of measure don't move, Plus caps you at 250 accounts and 40 classes and locations, and Intuit's tool only takes files under 4,000,000 lines.
Will my history come over?
Usually, yes. Intuit's tool can bring all your transactions or just lists and balances. Some items don't move, such as memorized reports, budgets and past reconciliation reports, so we rebuild the ones you use.
How long does it take?
Most of the time goes into cleanup before and checking after, not the conversion itself. In the fabrication example above, the cutover took under two weeks.
Do I lose my Desktop file?
No. Your Desktop file stays on your computer, so you can keep it for reference.
If you're on Desktop and want to know what your move would look like, tell us about your file and we'll take a look before we quote anything.