I have read many comments over the last month about upgrading from QB Desktop 2021 and have been very frustrated and confused. I have used QB for 20+ years, am a small company with less than 5 employees and have always found it easy to upgrade and purchase that upgrade from many different sources. Now I feel forced into purchasing something I don't want (i.e. the online version) and only being able to purchase directly through QB with pressure salespeople. Well today I finally made the call to QB to have that purchase conversation and I was dreading it but to my surprise I got a very nice salesman named Chris, who accepted the model of QB I wanted (Desktop Pro 2024 with Enhanced Payroll) without question and no mention of converting to the online version. What I did find out is you don't purchase the software like before (i.e. $200 for the software and then a payroll annual subscription). What QB now does is charge you a $650.00 annual subscription just to get the software and then add in the payroll subscription which has come down in price but that is because they have eliminated the 3 tiers (basic, std & unlimited payroll) and now you must pay $600/year plus $6.00 per each employee per month. I explained to the salesman how QB is really putting it to their long time clients and how confusing this entire upgrade has been, how people, including accountants, aren't getting their questions answered and are being pressured to purchase something they don't want, eventually having to hang up due to frustration, and that QB has alot of bad publicity out there. His responses were very flippant like; times are changing, costs go up, everyone has bad publicity, even Disney which is the happiest place on Earth, etc. No apologies. He also send that I should have received emails stating the changes made to the Payroll Subscription. I told him I haven't received any notices except that 2021 will be discontinued and an upgrade is necessary to continue with payroll. I also told him I just renewed my Payroll Subscription in April at the old price of $850.00, not $600. Why would that renew if the plans have changed???
Anyway, I wanted to share what happened today in order to help others possible understand better what to expect. The phone number I called was [removed]. There are some other numbers listed with QB and maybe they have the high pressure salespeople. I told the salesman I was grateful that he accepted what I wanted without trying to pressure me into something else. Fingers crossed that 2024 downloads and works flawlessly. Oh, also you can't receive a CD anymore, just an email with a download. Chris said "Nobody has CDs anymore". I'm old school and I still like CDs.
