Every year when the new editions of QuickBooks desktop editions are released, Intuit discontinues services for certain older versions. This is referred to as the sunset of the version. In general, a QuickBooks desktop edition can live for up to 3 years. After that time, all bets are off. The software might continue to work, but connected services won’t, and there will certainly be no security or compatibility updates beyond that point. For businesses using QB 2018 and planning to continue using their QuickBooks software and data – you need to upgrade your QuickBooks software now.
Intuit generally notifies customers in various ways about the discontinuation of QB editions. Granted, there is a lot of other advertising about QuickBooks that users receive, so it isn’t unusual for these notices to be missed. But the software will also tell you, and those notifications shouldn’t be ignored.
May 31, 2021 marks the end of access to add-on services for QuickBooks Desktop 2018 (Windows).
This means that all Windows versions of QuickBooks Desktop, including Pro, Premier and Enterprise 18 will no longer be able to connect to add-on services like payroll or merchant services. For Pro and Premier users, the software will continue to run, but there won’t be any availability of add-on or connected services or live technical support.
From Intuit: “Your access to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Services, Live Support, Online Backup, Online Banking, and other services through QuickBooks Desktop 2018 software will be discontinued after May 31, 2021. “
The discontinuation (sunset) also means that you’ll no longer get critical security updates for the QuickBooks 2018 software. With this being the case, and especially if you expect to continue using your QB 2018 software without connected services, make sure to install all security and other updates your software receives prior to June 1, 2021.
Here’s the list of products impacted by the discontinuation of services after May 31, 2021.
If your business uses any of these services and you want to continue using them, your option is to upgrade to the latest version of QuickBooks Desktop
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2018
- QuickBooks Desktop Premier 2018 (General Business, Contractor, Manufacturing & Wholesale, Nonprofit, Professional Services, and Retail)
- QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 18
- QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition 2018
Products for which services will be discontinued after April 27, 2021
QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sales 18.0 and 19.0 will lose access to QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale 12 payments services
Products for which services will be discontinued after August 10, 2021
QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sales 18.0 will lose access to QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale 18 payments services
Mendelson Consulting was the first and remains the best source for QuickBooks Enterprise and other QuickBooks software solutions and services.
If you know what you need and just want to get your updated QuickBooks software now, visit The QB Store now to buy online. It’s fast and easy and you’ll get your new software right away.
When you need a consultation regarding which editions of QuickBooks might be right for you, the team at Mendelson Consulting will help you select the right product. For data conversion, implementation, training, file repairs and any other services around the use of QuickBooks, Mendelson Consulting is the place to go.
The NOOBEH Cloud team, specializing in deploying QuickBooks on Azure, provides fully-managed hosting and cloud IT consulting to help your business implement a platform that delivers the resiliency and performance you need to keep things running smoothly.
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