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QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

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Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#41

Post by maximum_stress »

One of my jobs during high school was working for an engineering firmed turned accounting software house. Nobody bought their engineering software, but their in-house accounting apps turned into best sellers. Since GL/AP/AR is hardly anything new it made me wonder what happened and it seems like most of the competitors were bought or went under. Sure enough PeachTree which was #1 in the late 80s has renamed itself and gone cloud subscription.

There's always GNU Cash I guess, although I haven't heard good things from my one friend who tried it.

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#42

Post by donmcronald »

wolverine876 wrote: post #33
donmcronald wrote: post #22

It's a massive price hike for people like me that are frugal with software purchases. I just checked and I paid $171 CAD for QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2018 because I bought it on sale. The same subscription version is $199, which I assume is USD, so ~$250 CAD per year . Now I don't have a PHD in math or anything, but $1250 over 5 years vs $171 for a perpetual license that I estimate should last me to the 5 year mark is…

> It's abusive, anti-competitive behavior I think it's abusive, but I don't see how it's illegal or anti-competitive. Why can't businesses switch to someone else? I know migration is not easy, but that's true of almost any application.

You're right. I worded it poorly. What I really meant is that it's the kind of behavior you can get away with when there's no competition. IE: A monopoly.

I've seen lots of the alternatives mentioned here, but Intuit has entrenched themselves so deeply in the accounting industry that no one else can compete reasonably.

If someone does manage to start competing it'll end up being more of a duopoly / oligopoly than real competition. No one with the means to compete will forgo the super fat profit margins that Intuit's establishing here.

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#43

Post by mariushn »

nulbyte wrote: post #27
client4 wrote: post #12

I used Quickbooks desktop and found it antiquated; create an export and email it to your accountant? No thank you. I then tried Quickbooks Online and it was hands-down the worst piece of software I've ever used. I ultimately landed on Xero, which is "good enough". To echo a number of other comments on this page, my accountants were generally slaves to the software. I actually had to change firms going from QBO to Xer…

I also use Xero for a nonprofit. They seem to be trapped in a growth mindset to the exclusion of finishing half-baked functionality, but still better than QuickBooks, IMO. Their support is also a lot easier to reach, compared to Intuit, and the folks at Xero seem to know their product better, too. Luckily, our accountant was perfectly fine figuring out Xero. While it's said to see more software go to subscription mod…

What would an alternative solution need to offer for you to switch?

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#44

Post by Mister_Snuggles »

basch wrote: post #40
Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the same boat, I'd love to know what you end up with. Personally, I'm leaning towards just doing everything in a big spreadsheet, but that's not great for many reasons.

https://www.cloudwards.net/best-accounting-software/

Are there any alternatives that don't involve a cloud service?

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#45

Post by mariushn »

chess8504bc wrote: post #18

I also use QB and it is probably the worst software I've ever used. Its clunky, slow and antiquated. I really hate it, but on the same boat as others here, can't really dump it.

> can't really dump it

Why? Because your accountant requires it? Are there other reasons?

Could you change your accountant?

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#46

Post by ilamont »

pbreit wrote: post #16
rietta wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried getting a bookkeeper to use GnuCash? Xero has a following as does SAGE/peachtree but not the good open source options. I did and it failed. No reason except everyone in the CPA and bookkeeper business uses and knows QuickBooks. I have up and use and pay the kings transom for QBO so i can focus on my business and not play transaction level bookkeeper myself.

Sounds like an opportunity. Especially since a bookkeeper could be anywhere in the world.

I'm sure some back-office bookkeeping functions can be offshored, but others cannot.

For instance, in the U.S., certain tax filings and other types of official paperwork require businesses and individuals to give permission to authorities to contact CPAs directly.

In addition, tax laws are also very local, including state regulations (50 U.S. states + territories) and sometimes municipal and county regulations. This requires a level of expertise that few overseas-based bookkeepers would be able to work with.

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#47

Post by jhawk28 »

donmcronald wrote: post #42
wolverine876 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's abusive, anti-competitive behavior I think it's abusive, but I don't see how it's illegal or anti-competitive. Why can't businesses switch to someone else? I know migration is not easy, but that's true of almost any application.

You're right. I worded it poorly. What I really meant is that it's the kind of behavior you can get away with when there's no competition. IE: A monopoly. I've seen lots of the alternatives mentioned here, but Intuit has entrenched themselves so deeply in the accounting industry that no one else can compete reasonably. If someone does manage to start competing it'll end up being more of a duopoly / oligopoly than rea…

Higher prices are not anti-competitive. If anything, it encourages competition because it is an incentive for someone else to come in.

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#48

Post by donmcronald »

nickff wrote: post #34
reaperducer wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ended up on QuickBooks because my accountant insisted on it when i started my business. About ten years later i found out she's part of some kind of insider program. She probably thinks it's just cool for her to get special access to stuff. But i don't think she realizes it's a plot to lure small businesses into the QuickBooks platform.

The Quickbooks Accountant program isn't 'special access to stuff', but Intuit does offer accountants a special version of the software (at no charge IIRC), which allows them to easily work with many customer files with no complicated licensing requirements (as is the case with many other softwares).

> isn't 'special access to stuff'

> a special version of the software (at no charge IIRC)

So the accountants get it for free as long as they offer up their customers for Intuit to exploit / price gouge? That sounds pretty shady to me.

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#49

Post by travisporter »

donmcronald wrote: post #42
wolverine876 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's abusive, anti-competitive behavior I think it's abusive, but I don't see how it's illegal or anti-competitive. Why can't businesses switch to someone else? I know migration is not easy, but that's true of almost any application.

You're right. I worded it poorly. What I really meant is that it's the kind of behavior you can get away with when there's no competition. IE: A monopoly. I've seen lots of the alternatives mentioned here, but Intuit has entrenched themselves so deeply in the accounting industry that no one else can compete reasonably. If someone does manage to start competing it'll end up being more of a duopoly / oligopoly than rea…

"IE: A monopoly" has two meanings!

Is this similar to the Word/Excel monopoly? There are many open source alternatives that do 90-95%, but still very high demand for it

Re: QuickBooks Desktop moves to subscription model

#50

Post by rietta »

ilamont wrote: post #46
pbreit wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like an opportunity. Especially since a bookkeeper could be anywhere in the world.

I'm sure some back-office bookkeeping functions can be offshored, but others cannot. For instance, in the U.S., certain tax filings and other types of official paperwork require businesses and individuals to give permission to authorities to contact CPAs directly. In addition, tax laws are also very local, including state regulations (50 U.S. states + territories) and sometimes municipal and county regulations. This…

You are also paying for credibility even at the small business side. As an s corp owner buying a house was much harder than it would be for a normal w2 engineer. The letter from our cpa was priceless in the process.
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