I understand how important to give you an option to turn off the automatic update and decide when you want to do it, kerry. I hear your sentiments and recognize on how it affects you and your business. 

Updating QuickBooks is necessary to protect your financial data from potential vulnerabilities and ensure a more stable and secure software environment. Moreover, you get enhancements to existing features and the addition of new functionalities from time to time. 

Let's send your feedback straight to our product engineers. You can input a few details about your insights.
 

1. Go to the Help menu in your company file.
2. Select Send Feedback Online and choose Product Suggestion.
3. Then, click the Send Feedback button.
    

As a workaround, you can turn off the updates by locating the the update folder. Open the Update QuickBooks Desktop window> Options> locate the update folder under Download location.

Then, navigate to the folder and delete the contents in there. Once done, deny writes permissions to the folder. Right click the folder> Properties> Security>Edit.  Afterward, you have the option to change permissions. Make sure to hit the Apply button to reflect the changes.

I have included this article that provides more information on automatic downloads: Update QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release.

Please feel free to share any additional concerns or questions you may have. I am available to provide you with the necessary details.