No; currently, QuickBooks Premier is a desktop software and not a subscription service. That means that when you buy the software, you own it.
QuickBooks supports its desktop software, such as Premier, for three years. QuickBooks Premier 2012, for instance, is supported until May 31, 2015. During this time period, you can expect to receive automatic updates and fixes, as well as support and access to any integrated add-on services. After May 31, 2015, Intuit will no longer support the 2012 software. Any integrated add-ons, such as payroll, online banking access and credit card processing through merchant services, will cease working. If you don’t use any of these, you may not notice any difference at all, except that you will no longer receive updates and Intuit customer service will not provide any related further assistance.
QuickBooks is a critical part of every promotional products distributor’s business. While you might not notice a difference after your three year period is up if you don’t have any add-on services, you could run into a difficult situation if you have problems with the software and no support from Intuit to help solve the problem. You might want to plan to purchase QuickBooks Premier every three years to make sure you have the most up-to-date software for your business. It’s a small price to pay.
Harriet Gatter, owner of Accounting Support LLC, was an ad specialty distributor for 23 years and an adjunct professor of accounting at Neumann University. She sold her ad specialty business in 2012, became certified as a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and now works exclusively with ad specialty distributors nationwide on their QuickBooks and accounting needs.
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