I received the notice today that the per-employee price is increasing 150% for the version of Desktop payroll we use.  And the price of Quickbooks desktop essentially tripled when they forced us onto the subscription model this year.

Lots of you probably already understood this but I had two revelations today.  One, Intuit is actively trying to price everyone out of Desktop and into Online.  Two, their pricing model depends on the accountants using Quickbooks so businesses have little choice.  Accountants don't have the time to deal with other bookkeeping programs or, heaven forbid, someone's homemade spreadsheets.  As long as Intuit makes its product the choice for accountants, businesses will follow.  That's why Desktop isn't fixed.  They just want everyone to be annoyed enough to flip over to Online - that's where they are putting their resources - to the extent they are putting resources into the products at all.  Most accountants I've talked to find online to be unreliable for the businesses, but a good choice for them.  slap the forehead emoji here