QuickBooks 3 Year Lifecycle Support
Starting April 2010, Intuit implemented a new QuickBooks Service Discontinuation Plan. While older versions may continue to function, the issue is protecting the security and privacy of customer financial information with the latest features. Basically, the product support is outlined as follows:
- 3 Year Lifecycle. Intuit only provides support for the current QuickBooks version and the previous two versions.
- Add-ons stop functioning. In addition to no technical support provided for older versions, popular add-ons like payroll, electronic payments, and online banking will no longer work.
- Upgrade required. The only way to receive support or renew service is to purchase a current version of QuickBooks. There are no updates to discontinued products and you cannot order CDs or manuals. Except for Enterprise, you generally browse to the company file and select to convert when prompted which requires only a few minutes. Upgrade services are quoted as a separate project for Enterprise.
- Call 866.676.9670. For additional details about specific products and services, see the current QuickBooks service discontinuation policy and upgrade information.
Guardian Managed Services adhere to the support lifecycles defined by major manufacturers and clients are updated quarterly on discontinuing products. While the online version of QuickBooks has been much maligned in the past, there currently is NO difference in features between online and locally installed versions.
Even with a monthly subscription, the hidden costs of maintenance and refresh of hardware and software to run locally as well as security compliance requirements far exceed the cost of an online subscription. However, clients are always encouraged to maintain a separate backup for disaster recovery protection.
