I posted this question 10 months ago and Intuit, you have not solved the issue and in fact during that time have doubled-down on trying to get Desktop users to log into your servers. This is not an option for me. I do the books for a non-profit organization that requires me to not expose their financials to the Internet. If QB succeeds in making me connect the software to the Internet, I am required to stop using the product.
So, Intuit, are you a company that is going to support the large number of users who purchased the Desktop version of QB in order not to connect the software directly to the software provider and who wish to otherwise closely control and severely limit all access to the Internet that might expose their data to prying eyes? There are currently 246 comments in this thread and hundreds, if not thousands, of kudos/cheers. A sizeable number of your customers want this issue solved and many are thinking of finding other software to use if you are not willing to solve the problem. If you are committed to supporting our needs, please respond to this thread and give us a timeframe for when this issue will be solved.
If Intuit as a company is moving away from supporting a true Desktop version of QB without direct connection to Intuit, please consider providing your Desktop users with a migration path to another company's software that supports a true standalone accounting system. This involves working with the other company to make sure the chart of accounts, vendors and transaction history can be exported from QB and imported into the other product to save valuable user time in setting up the new accounting system. I am a DBA and can vouch that setting up these sort of utilities is a not-uncommon integration task and is not rocket science. The other company might be willing to create or fund the creation of these utilities in expectation of increased sales from QB encouraging/helping a portion of their Desktop customers migrate. Please consider this and again, please let your users know if this is a possibility by responding to this thread.
As I mentioned, I do not have a choice - I am required to not connect the organization's financials to the Internet. If we have not heard from you re: Intuit's plans to support or not support a true Desktop QB by mid-April, it would best serve many of the people following this thread if we transform the thread into a forum sharing alternative software products that actually meet the needs of those who require a product safe from the Internet (and remember, any connection of the accounting software to another server via the Internet is not inherently safe).
Thank you, Intuit - hoping to hear from you soon.
