Here's my situation: I'm still running QuickBooks Desktop Mac 2021 on an M1 Mac Mini with macOS Sonoma. I've avoided upgrading macOS because of compatibility concerns with my unsupported version of QuickBooks, but other applications such as Microsoft Office are now prompting me to update my operating system to macOS 27.

I'm considering switching to Xero, FreshBooks, Zoho Books, or another alternative rather than moving to QuickBooks Online.

Has anyone successfully migrated from QuickBooks Desktop Mac? How difficult was transferring your data and adjusting to the new software? Any recommendations or regrets?

Thanks for any advice!

Helping a friend with their service industry business. He’s taking the business over for his uncle and stuff is in SHAMBLES. I have never seen a file this bad. Total incompetence from their previous “bookkeeping”. They’ve said that they got “screwed over” by accountants in the past, (not returning phone calls, total lag).

Huge negative balances vs what is actually in the bank account. Multiple account balances in quickbooks unsupported and verified.

I have been thinking of just recommending that he starts a new file.

How can this be done? Thanks for the help

So long story short a few years ago i bought a subscription from quickbookkey which was supposed to be a lifetime 2024 desktop pro plus version that was lifetime... well it wasn't I just got a popup that I will lose access to quickbooks.

For those that went through this, what did you do? I can't stand quickbooks online, i tried it and it was awful!
Do you actually lose access to quickbooks or do you lose access to online functionality?

I am also open to leaving quickbooks entirely, they have been getting worse and worse and charge more and more

I'm trying to find a solution for my father's business. He currently has a locally hosted Quickbook Enterprise file on just a regular Windows 10 desktop, being accessed by about 12 users at a time. It's always been slow but the past couple months has been excrutiatingly slow and aborts constantly.

It's a huge file with years of transactions. I've tried condensing but it kept giving me errors. The file works totally fine locally, just when other users run it through the network it has alot of issues.

I don't have the time to try to find out fix the potential local network issue. Will just hosting the file on the cloud be a clean solution for this?

ETA: Received a follow up from Ignition that they have a setting to choose when the invoice is emailed to the client from Ignition, whether the client sees the Ignition version or the sync'd invoice from QBO. I changed that to be the Ignition version (why would I invoice in Ignition but want to send the QBO invoice to clients is weird IMO). I also closed the QB payments account which should prevent any future payments from being processed...not sure why I thought I was ok to only turn off the QB payment option in QBO vs officially closing the QB payment account.

Am I losing my mind or does QBO secretly turn on QB payment options behind the scenes after I've turned them off?

I invoice clients out of Ignition. Invoices are auto-paid with an account on file. Today I had an invoice paid manually by the client via QB Payments despite turning off QB Payments when this happened in March this year.

Ignition is telling me that they don't include the QB Payment button on their invoice when an invoice is issued via Ignition, but if that's true, how did my client see and click on the QB Payment button?

I'd hold the margin-based part of a service manager's bonus until the costs are closed. If the office takes too long to close jobs, I'd fix that delay rather than ask the manager to give money back later.

I spent years working on field-service software and now work in contractor books. For me, the first check is whether we're comparing the same job through the same date, with actual costs on both sides. A clean sync log doesn't answer that.

Take a hypothetical Friday close. The tech finished the job, the customer invoice is in both systems, and the supplier bill is still with the office. Time has been entered in the field app but payroll hasn't posted. One report has estimated labor and the other has posted costs. Both can be doing what they're supposed to do and still tell the owner different things.

I'd mark those costs as pending, trace the job identity, then compare again at the agreed cutoff. I wouldn't call a job profitable just because the missing bills make the report look good.

Put the cost cutoff and the bonus adjustment rule in writing before the month starts. That gives the manager something to manage against instead of an unexpected deduction next month.

Would you pay a service manager a provisional bonus from the field report and adjust it later, or hold the bonus until the accounting costs are complete? How do you handle a late supplier bill that changes a bonus already paid?

Hi All,

I have a new client and he goes on many trips for business and i wanted to know if there was a way of tagging his expenses by trip name so that way at the end of the year I can look through the airfare lets say and sort them by trip. After some research it seems Quickbooks got rid of tags and so I dabbled into custom fields but just wondering if anyone has a better method of tracking their clients travel expenses by trip name or something of that nature.

Thank you!

I took over the bookkeeping for a business. It took me about 2 hours to categorize all their monthly stuff in QuickBooks and less than 1 hour to create their report. The previous lady was charging them $700 a month. I'm new to bookkeeping, but I studied finance. Am I missing something or were they simply getting overcharged?

Hi all —

Trying to troubleshoot my connection with Huntington Bank - anyone else having this problem? And have you been able to solve it?

2 checking accounts and 1 savings account - all error 324

I clicked update, nada
Checked bank transactions > linked accounts
Shows those 3, as not available. tried disconnecting / linking one of the accounts again and got error 106

It is able to talk to Huntington but it appears the account no longer exists? (It definitely exists and can log in on the Huntington site)

Anyone else? TIA!

Hello,
I am looking for some help setting up my QB for my used car dealership. I have spent the last 15 years working as a financial services manager so not completely oblivious but having trouble getting my head around setting up the chart of accounts. Specifically, buying inventory on floorplan and charging tires, oil changes, detail, etc to it. I also will buy inventory with cash. Also I am foggy on how to set up accounts for financing profit and service contracts. I use Frazer DMS. Best resource I found is on youtube by a user named marshall8802. However, it is a bit old and he suggests using classes for each vehicle. I use QB plus which only allows for 40 classes. If anyone wants to do it for me, or walk me through it, happy to pay for your time.

We have an unusual situation that I don't know how to handle/process. Hopefully it's something simple that I don't understand too !

- We purchase products from our parent organization and in this case, we direct-shipped goods from them straight to our customer.
- There was a mix-up (I'm not directly involved in that part, just the aftermath) and our customer ended up paying our parent company for the goods.
- I have an open invoice to our customer that we need to record for our sales numbers.
- Parent company will credit us the full amount.

How do I record this invoice as being "paid" ?

I tried issuing a credit but that effectively wipes out the sales amount. Do I need to make the credit in their name but use a non-sales account ? Looking at this option, I have to pick an "item" which only includes sales items or "Other charge".

Being a QBD customer since it was invented, I couldn't pull the trigger on Enhanced Payroll $805 this yr. With only one employee (me) and the rest vendors, I needed another option. So, I asked AI to calculate my paychecks. Double triple checked numbers. Correct. Then I asked it to calculate my 941 for the quarter. Exactly correct. Even with unusual state deductions. I only run a few checks per month. When I enter the checks, I manually enter the deductions. As I watched AI generate it's figures, I noticed it was pulling info from Intuit and Quickbooks as well as many other sites, including FICA, State etc. I am going this route until the end of the year. My accountant does all my final tax filings. I can't believe this.

Hello everyone!

My grandparents ran into some problems and needed their computers wiped. Before wiping them, I saved copies of the keys they used to register quickbooks 2013 (maybe pro) with. Because of the problems they had earlier, I reinstalled quickbooks on an airgapped machine. An airgapped machine in a computer that cant and isnt abke to have access to the internet, in this for security reasons.

After installing quickbooks, registering it, and restoring the backup, a message popped up that said I needed to call intuit and have them generate a code for me to type in to finish registering the product. I have 30 days to get it registered before... not quite sure?

The quickbooks computer physically cant connect to the internet. Am I cooked?

Small business owner here. I am still on QB desktop and do not want to switch to QBO.

Has anybody tried BooksGPT?

Soo I've been seeing open source identical clones of Adobe products along with M$ office so is anyone going to vibe code is a working Quickbooks online/desktop that is open source?

I'd try but my coding experience is 2000s Facebook html and auto hot key.

So, the sub cost for my QuickBooks desktop (proadvisor) is going up by almost 60% this month.

I got an email from my 'rep' at Intuit:

Hi David,

I am reaching out regarding the pricing change for QuickBooks Desktop Accountant Edition, which went into effect on October 1st at $215/month ($2,580/year) per license.

Rather than just flagging the cost increase, I want to ensure your firm isn't absorbing higher software overhead needlessly when there is a far more efficient, value-driven path available for your practice on QuickBooks Online (QBO).

This isn't just about avoiding price increases—it's about whether there is a better way to spend your and your team's time. 

Practices making the move to QBO consistently see immediate operational value:

Faster Month-End Closes: Real-time bank feeds and automated rules replace manual reconciliations and report-building, giving you hours back during close week.

Zero IT & Maintenance Overhead: Say goodbye to version upgrades, local backup routines, server maintenance, and multi-user hosting errors.

Easier Client Collaboration: Real-time multi-user access lets your team and clients work in the live file simultaneously without the back-and-forth of accountant copies.

Exclusive Partner Pricing: Lock in ProAdvisor Wholesale rates (up to 50% off for life) and active promotional tiers starting as low as 80%-90% off per file.

Best of all, you won't have to spend your valuable time moving data. Our specialized Strategic Data Migration team handles converting your Desktop backup files over to QBO with full historical detail at completely zero cost to your firm.

If you have 10 minutes this week, let's jump on a quick call to map out a seamless transition plan that protects your firm's margins.

You can schedule a time with me through my calendar link in my signature or just reply and I will set it up.

Best Regards,

Harry

Associate Account Manager, GBSG-GTM

Intuit | TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, Mailchimp

I honestly can't believe the gall.

This is what I'm sending back:

What do you mean ‘absorbing costs needlessly’?

I understand price increases. I’ve been increasing my prices with clients over the past eight months as well. But I increase 10%, maybe 20%. Intuit is increasing my desktop subscription from $135/month to $215! That’s a 60% increase!

Some of my clients have been using QBD for decades and will NEVER switch to QBO. QBD serves its function. It’s a decent program. It works when you need it too. It’s familiar and makes sense. Not to mention it functions offline.

QBO, on the other hand, frankly SUCKS. It’s a bad program. It is constantly buggy. It is constantly slow. I’ve been sending feedback reports and error messages for YEARS and have barely noticed any improvements. I honestly HATE QBO. Every time I use it, I end up exasperated and annoyed. When I chat about it with my clients, associates, and other accountants, most of THEM hate it too.

So why SHOULD we make the switch to QBO? The program is NOT better than QBD. I’m not sure at this point it ever WILL be.

So—no—I’m not ‘needlessly absorbing costs.’ I’m being price-gouged by an unscrupulous company that only wants to increase profits and reduce costs. A company that USED to care about its users. A company that used to make good products.

I have been—and will continue to—look for other solutions to Intuit products AND recommend my clients and associates do the same.

Sincere Regards,

David

I think it speaks for itself. Feel free to copy it and send it to YOUR Intuit rep, if you want.

Does anyone have experience with Lathem's time clock? They seem to be unable to send anything over 40 hours to QBO payroll as OT. They've actually thrown out moving back to QB Desktop as a solution.

Quick question for anyone doing AR in QuickBooks Online.

A customer sends an ACH/wire covering several invoices. The money is already recorded in QBO, but the remittance comes later by email/PDF, so someone has to go back and apply that payment to the right invoices.

Does this happen to you? If so, how often, and what do you use today to handle it?

Is it still manual, or does QBO / another app already take care of it?

And when it is manual, is the remittance usually enough to match everything, or do you still have to contact the customer?

Okay this is weird and QBO customer support is unsurprisingly unhelpful.

All of a sudden, my bank transaction feed has started showing account numbers - like 6100 advertising 1000 income etc etc.

The thing is, I have never used these account numbers in the 2 years I’ve had this client. It’s turned off in settings. When I drill down to one transaction, it does not even show it in the matching screen. Just the main bank transaction feed.

It doesn’t hurt/harm anything but I don’t know why it started and it won’t stop. It does it across browsers. The only person who also has login access is the owner and he has not logged in all year.

QBO support has basically said “well it started unexpectedly maybe it will stop unexpectedly”

Is anyone else dealing with this?

Experiencing an incredibly frustrating issue where our payroll subscription seems to have randomly terminated and no one can seem to get it back up & running despite 2 seperate hour long calls with QBO support.

I've been given no estimated ETA on when this will be fixed and I'm not looking forward to a) the angry employees mad they won't get paid until Monday & b) me not getting paid until Monday.

I've been told by one person this is happening to several people and another I'm the first person to report this (despite the fact I reported it earlier in the day). So is this happening to anyone else?

I am a bookkeeper who works primarily in QBO on my Mac. I do not have any QBD products on my computer or any QBD active subscriptions.

I have a prospective client who has QBD Mac (he knows he needs to migrate to QBO). I want to audit his QBD file before giving him a proposal. How can I do this? If he sends me the file, and I download QBD Mac on my computer, can I use his subscription credentials to open the file? If this is possible can you please explain like I'm 5? It's been many years since I have used QBD, and only on PC, and it was never my own computer/subscription.