Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast

Hector and Alicia react to Intuit's bombshell announcement that QuickBooks will end new subscriptions for QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, and Mac after July 31, 2024 - marking the beginning of the end for the desktop software. They discuss implications for accountants and small businesses, Intuit's motivations to move users to QuickBooks Online, the pros and cons of the online platform, and hopes that resources dedicated to Desktop can now improve QuickBooks Online.


  • (00:00) - Welcome To The Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast
  • (01:52) - Is Intuit Killing QuickBooks Desktop In 2024?
  • (02:37) - Details and Impacts of Announcement
  • (10:24) - Why Intuit is Sunsetting Desktop
  • (18:12) - Perspectives on Desktop and Online
  • (27:07) - Other Factors Influencing Transition
  • (32:23) - Changes to Desktop Payroll Pricing
  • (47:50) - Wrap Up and Conclusions

Send your Questions/Comments (we could read/answer them on air) ask@uqapodcast.com

Links/Apps Mentioned in this episode:

Creators & Guests

Host
Alicia Katz Pollock, MAT
Alicia Katz Pollock, MAT is the CEO at Royalwise Solutions, Inc.. As a Top 50 Women in Accounting, Top 10 ProAdvisor, and member of the Intuit Trainer/Writer Network, Alicia is a popular speaker at QuickBooks Connect and Scaling New Heights. She has a Master of Arts in Teaching, with several QuickBooks books on Amazon. Her Royalwise OWLS (On-Demand Web-based Learning Solutions) at learn.royalwise.com is a NASBA CPE-approved QBO and Apple training portal for accounting firms, bookkeepers, and business owners.
Host
Hector Garcia, CPA
Hector Garcia,CPA is the Principal Accountant Quick Bookkeeping & Accounting LLC, a globally-serving Technology-Accounting firm based in Miami, FL (USA), specializing in QuickBooks Consulting, but also providing traditional accounting services such as: Bookkeeping, Payroll Processing, Tax Return Preparation, and General Business Advisory. He has over 10 years of experience working with small business finance and accounting, along with 3 Post-graduate degrees from Florida International University (FIU) in Accounting, Finance and Taxation.

What is Unofficial QuickBooks Accountants Podcast?

Stay up-to-date on the latest QuickBooks news, tips, and updates with Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors Hector Garcia, CPA and Alicia Katz Pollock, MAT. Hector and Alicia break down need-to-know QuickBooks information in a fun and engaging format. Learn about new product features, accounting technology trends, integration how-tos, and best practices for getting the most out of QuickBooks all while earning NASBA-approved CPE.

Warning: This is a machine-generated transcript. As such, there may be spelling, grammar, and accuracy errors throughout. Thank you for your understanding!

In this episode of the unofficial QuickBooks Accountants [00:00:30] Podcast, we're going to be talking about the death of QuickBooks Desktop, or at [00:00:35] least the beginning of the end. It's the beginning of the end, November 30th. [00:00:40] Uh, most accounting professionals got the bombshell of a bombshell of an email about [00:00:45] the, the timelines of the.

What seems to be [00:00:50] the beginning of the end of QuickBooks Desktop. Hi, Alicia, how are you? Hey,

[00:00:54] Alicia: I'm, [00:00:55] um, uh, okay, I guess. I'm hopeful in some [00:01:00] ways. I'm a lot of things right now.

[00:01:02] Hector: It's, it's, it's a lot to process. [00:01:05] Um, and we're going to do a mini rant, mini rant. A lot to process because we just came [00:01:10] back from QuickBooks Connect.

We just heard the, you know, the big energy around [00:01:15] the partnership with accountants. And just two weeks after we get this bombshell [00:01:20] of piece of communication, right after QuickBooks Connect, I think Alicia and [00:01:25] I, and many of you guys listening probably would have wished that this stuff would have come out before [00:01:30] QuickBooks Connect.

Let us process it and then at the big conference, [00:01:35] announce it and clarify it because we'll have every single Intuit employee, or at least the [00:01:40] 200 people that were there that we can talk to and talk through it. But now we're going to have to [00:01:45] deal with this in social media and Intuit is going to have to like, you know, play clean up with [00:01:50] this, with https: otter.

ai There's gonna be tons of conjecture and tons of confusion, and [00:01:55] no matter how Intuit tries to nail communications, they always miss some big [00:02:00] detail that sends all of us on a, on a wild goose chase. Alicia,

[00:02:04] Alicia: what are your [00:02:05] thoughts? I just realized something. So they just made that big announcement, how they have the reimagined [00:02:10] ProAdvisor program with points based on your attached Clients and [00:02:15] their services.

Now that all makes a whole lot of sense. And the [00:02:20] people who were afraid that they went down to gold and would never make it back up to a lead again. [00:02:25] Well, guess what? You just might. Because the big announcement [00:02:30] is that as of July 31st, 2024, they are [00:02:35] sunsetting new subscriptions to pro premier, I'm sorry, QuickBooks, desktop [00:02:40] pro.

Premier, Mac, and Desktop Enhanced Payroll. [00:02:45] So this is really huge news. Now I want you to realize that they're saying [00:02:50] new subscriptions and right now your QuickBooks desktop has [00:02:55] a three year sunset. So, we're not looking at the immediate death [00:03:00] of desktop, don't be alarmist, we're not quite there yet, and [00:03:05] enterprise is going to be alive and well, because right now, QBO can't do everything that [00:03:10] desktop does, so this is a step, this is not the [00:03:15] death and the end of desktop, but We've been expecting this announcement for a [00:03:20] while and, you know, if you've been listening to this episode, you've heard me say that, um, I [00:03:25] suspected that they were going to get rid of all the other versions and just have enterprise.

[00:03:30] And I was right, but it's sooner than I thought it was going to be.

[00:03:33] Hector: Yeah. So there's a [00:03:35] lot to unpack here and let's, let's, let's get clarified first. If [00:03:40] you are today an annual subscriber of QuickBooks Desktop [00:03:45] Pro or QuickBooks Desktop Premier. And fast forward to July [00:03:50] 31st, fast forward to August 1st of 2024, and your [00:03:55] renewal comes in before July 31st or after July 31st, [00:04:00] you will be able to renew.

Okay. So this is not [00:04:05] disruption for existing desktop customers. So as long as your credit card [00:04:10] is on file and the system can auto renew, you will be fine. Now, I [00:04:15] do predict that for the people that for whatever reason the credit card doesn't go through, it's going to be [00:04:20] hell, okay, absolutely hell, because it just happened to me and I will tell you a [00:04:25] side quest, okay, side quest, my ProAdvisors, my QuickBooks Desktop [00:04:30] ProAdvisor subscription didn't renew for some reason, my credit card wasn't filed, It [00:04:35] didn't renew for some reason, my QuickBooks desktop accountant stopped working, it took me like half an [00:04:40] hour to like, you know, talk to different people into it to realize that somehow my credit card didn't go [00:04:45] through, my, my license was, was expired or, or lapsed or whatever.[00:04:50]

So I called in and said, Hey, can we fix it? We, we got it fixed, my, my QuickBooks [00:04:55] ProAdvisor desktop subscription got restored, but guess what? I had payroll [00:05:00] attached to that, enhanced payroll attached to that. And earlier this year, they [00:05:05] stopped selling desktop payroll add ons to new [00:05:10] clients. Guess what?

They said, well, it's going to be a new client. We can't [00:05:15] sell you the payroll subscription. I'm like, what are you talking about? [00:05:20] I've been having QuickBooks desktop payroll for like 12 years or [00:05:25] so. So it was like this whole thing and this whole production and let's say, okay, we're going to have to make an exception.

[00:05:30] We're going to be able to get you back into desktop, but it will, I mean, desktop payroll add on, but it'll be a brand new [00:05:35] account. So that means I have to go and add all the EIN numbers. To the new account to [00:05:40] then reactivate payroll for all my QuickBooks desktop payroll clients. So what I'm telling you [00:05:45] is, all I'm saying is, even though they're saying that existing clients will [00:05:50] not be disrupted.

Little things like this can cause problems [00:05:55] because Intuit could systematically block the sale of all quote, new customers. Wait a

[00:05:59] Alicia: [00:06:00] minute. So time out for a second. So you're saying that because your credit card failed, all of a sudden that made it a [00:06:05] new subscription?

[00:06:06] Hector: Right. My, my, my, my subscription lapsed.

And I, and, [00:06:10] and, and they're going to make an exception and allow me to buy a new one, which by the way, it needed to be full [00:06:15] price. The full 1400, not even the 700, which had the 50 percent [00:06:20] bundle. I'm not even allowed to buy the, the bundle price. For the [00:06:25] QuickBooks desktop payroll add on. And the payroll support person was super helpful, super nice, [00:06:30] but they were systematically blocked out of it.

And Hector Garcia, a new [00:06:35] customer, I don't think so. You know, so like what I'm telling you is if I go through that and I lived that [00:06:40] firsthand, it's just happened three days ago, the existing desktop clients that again, [00:06:45] They're not going to be disrupted, more or less. If something goes wrong with the payment, it could [00:06:50] be a big issue.

So like, into a better prepare for these special cases.

[00:06:54] Alicia: So [00:06:55] word to the wise, make sure that your credit card billing information is up to date. And if you [00:07:00] get a new credit card in the mail, make sure the, um, uh, Camps. com. [00:07:05] Intuit. com is the first place that you go to make sure that your billing information is updated, [00:07:10] even if it's 10 months away from your next renewal.

Don't forget, do it right

[00:07:14] Hector: away. [00:07:15] Right. So anyway, side quest over, let's get back on track here. So, so July [00:07:20] 31st deadline of 2024 passes. You don't have an [00:07:25] existing QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, Mac, or [00:07:30] payroll add on subscription. You will not be able to purchase a [00:07:35] new license or a new subscription past July 31st, 2024.

[00:07:40] Okay. And I assume that the QuickBooks will close down their systems so they cannot [00:07:45] sell quote new subscriptions. Basically that means that Intuit wants to. [00:07:50] Stunt the grow of QuickBooks desktop customers and essentially [00:07:55] start reducing that, dwindling that down. Now, this article makes a [00:08:00] couple of very specific, um, uh, uh, points about who is not going to be [00:08:05] impacted.

So that's really important. Okay. So, um, You will continue to have [00:08:10] security updates, product updates, support for existing subscribers. This is not the same [00:08:15] thing as a sunset. So they're not literally not sunsetting this. So if you have QuickBooks [00:08:20] Desktop Pro, Premiere or Mac 2024, you still will [00:08:25] have support through.

I would say May 31st, [00:08:30] 2027, because that's how it works. You get those three years up to the end of May. Now, the key thing here, which is [00:08:35] not communicated here at all, is will there be a QuickBooks [00:08:40] Desktop Pro Premiere Mac 2025? [00:08:45] This is not communicated here. I'm going to make the assumption that [00:08:50] probably not, which means that the official death of QuickBooks Desktop, if they [00:08:55] don't release a 2025, will be.

Uh, for existing subscribers [00:09:00] will be, uh, May 31st, 2027. So we, we might be, [00:09:05] we might be able to at this point through conjecture, put the official date [00:09:10] of the death of ProPremier. Now. QuickBooks Enterprise is [00:09:15] also, quote, QuickBooks Desktop. And one of the challenges that people have is because they're so [00:09:20] used to not working with enterprise because it's too expensive or it's out of the price range or whatever, [00:09:25] is that a lot of people forget the existence of QuickBooks Enterprise.

QuickBooks Enterprise will [00:09:30] not be impacted. So even after July 31st, they will continue to [00:09:35] sell new subscriptions to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. QuickBooks. [00:09:40] Enterprise is QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. Okay. And it's better than Pro Premier. More powerful than [00:09:45] Pro Premier. And yes, more expensive. But you know, honestly, QuickBooks [00:09:50] Desktop has been underpriced for like 30 years, right?

So Intuit is, is, [00:09:55] is making a course correction. I don't think people complain that QuickBooks Desktop Pro for [00:10:00] six 50 a year is quote, too expensive for small businesses. It absolutely isn't. It is [00:10:05] so cheap. It is so cheap. And the reason why I tell you, I think I still think it's so cheap is [00:10:10] because people wouldn't be making a big deal out of this if there wasn't that [00:10:15] many people in QuickBooks Desktop.

And the reason why there's people in QuickBooks Desktop is because it's worth a lot more [00:10:20] than what it costs. So I'm going to make another prediction here, and Alicia, piggyback on [00:10:25] that, sorry, is that the renewal for QuickBooks Desktop, if they do a renewal next [00:10:30] year, it's going to go up in price significantly.

This is not. Stated [00:10:35] in here, but I think on top of everything else, they'll renew it. It'll probably go to like [00:10:40] 900 or a thousand. For a one user pro. So that's my prediction. Okay. Like one thing that you [00:10:45] can always bet on is that Intuit will increase the prices and you almost always win that bet. Okay. [00:10:50] Hey, you said you weren't

[00:10:50] Alicia: going to rant.

[00:10:51] Hector: Yeah, sorry.

[00:10:54] Alicia: Um, [00:10:55] so one of the things that people have appreciated about desktop is the fact that you can have multiple [00:11:00] companies in it. And so that's one of the reasons why some people still [00:11:05] prefer it and need it. And they've been like, Oh, I don't want to go on QBO because it's too [00:11:10] expensive to have too many, uh, to have multiple files.

And in a way, this kind of [00:11:15] creates the, the price parity with it that, you know, you could go to QBO with multiple [00:11:20] files because it's not going to cost you more than it is with desktop.[00:11:25]

[00:11:26] Hector: I think the most important point that you can make here [00:11:30] illustrated is, for example, I have a client that has QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise [00:11:35] and they run 20 LLCs through here. And. Each LLC has like a slightly different [00:11:40] ownership structure. So they couldn't like make one file with a bunch of locations or classes.[00:11:45]

So the argument of going into advanced and putting multiple locations and classes, that wasn't [00:11:50] going to work. Um, so it, there was no universe in which, and they needed some advanced [00:11:55] functions. So there was no universe in which having 20 desktop advanced files, even a [00:12:00] 50 percent discount. Uh, would it been comparable price wise to, uh, to a

[00:12:04] Alicia: user?

Right, [00:12:05] but this is also where, where QuickBooks Ledger fills a specific need because when you do have [00:12:10] those smaller clients, now you have a way of moving them over off of the desktop [00:12:15] multiple file use and into QBO at a, in a cost

[00:12:17] Hector: effective manner. Yeah, but this is where you got to put a huge [00:12:20] asterisk on this.

This particular client of mine has 20 LLCs. Each LLC has [00:12:25] three or four real estate properties. Okay. So I need classes. I need, I need to be able to have [00:12:30] a sort of a P& L by class under each entity. QuickBooks [00:12:35] ledger won't help with that. So yeah, it helps with the multi entity, but not with the class. [00:12:40] Needs within the entity.

The problem is that we have been so ill accustomed, lack of a [00:12:45] better term, to have such powerful software with QuickBooks Desktop Pro with classes, [00:12:50] that is, it's, it's hard to draw the comparison points. Um, [00:12:55] and. I guess we, at this point, there probably isn't any [00:13:00] more, we could talk about it. I mean, it's, it's, it is what it is.

Right. I mean, we can't stop it. Only thing [00:13:05] that Intuit could possibly backtrack on is maybe like push the dates [00:13:10] further into the future, but it's very clear that Intuit wants everybody on the QBO [00:13:15] platform. So let's move on to like why they're doing this. If you want to discuss that.

[00:13:19] Alicia: [00:13:20] Yeah, that's exactly where I wanted to go next, because I personally, [00:13:25] with my heart going out to the handful of people that have to be on desktop, [00:13:30] either because of internet connectivity issues where they live, or, um, some, [00:13:35] or, you know, a couple of needs specific cases, QBO really has become [00:13:40] robust enough that with the exception of some construction and [00:13:45] manufacturing, it really has Come Intuit's own for most things and [00:13:50] essentially Intuit is by having desktop and online, [00:13:55] they really are different software, which means that they have to take everything that they're doing and double it [00:14:00] into completely different directions, software development, engineering, [00:14:05] um, Support, [00:14:10] support, support's the biggest, hold that thought, [00:14:15] interactions with other vendors and outside entities, and [00:14:20] then of course, support, you have to teach People who are on the support [00:14:25] team, how to use a software package that a dwindling number of people are even [00:14:30] using.

And so you have a whole lot of costs and you don't get good [00:14:35] results. And so I personally completely understand where Intuit is coming [00:14:40] from with this, because it allows them to take all of that investment [00:14:45] for dwindling return and consolidate it. So [00:14:50] that they can build out more support. They can spend more resources to actually fix all [00:14:55] those little minor tweaks that we're complaining about.

They can, um, [00:15:00] put more into the relationships with us. Um, there's a whole, if [00:15:05] they are, you know, being able to claw back millions of dollars of investment [00:15:10] that now goes into the QBO space, that's great for us. [00:15:15] So. And while this is kind of like the end of an era and a [00:15:20] massive shock, and, um, it's, I think, a good move in, [00:15:25] for Intuit to do.

I really

[00:15:28] Hector: do. Yeah, of course. Of course it's [00:15:30] a good move. But, but the thing is that you have to contextualize why is it a good move, because [00:15:35] beyond the cost of support, beyond the cost of development, beyond the [00:15:40] cost of dealing with third party integration, probably the three biggest. [00:15:45] Challenges with running desktop software because they've already fixed the revenue problem.

Like [00:15:50] we already, they already got people on board on the annual subscription. Um, I don't know what the rate already [00:15:55]

[00:15:55] Alicia: was. They already jack prices up, right? ,

[00:15:56] Hector: yeah. The, the price already up and, and, and, and they still could go [00:16:00] even be, even higher up. I think. I think they still have an opportunity to even increase our price.

And, um, [00:16:05] and you go through like, like the Facebook groups and stuff and the biggest question that people have is we don't get it. [00:16:10] They're already charging annual for it. People love the product. Why are you forcing people to [00:16:15] move to QBO? And this is, this is my conspiracy theory. Okay. My conspiracy [00:16:20] theory is that the data inside of a QBO file is [00:16:25] more valuable than the monthly subscription that they charge for.[00:16:30]

[00:16:30] Alicia: Absolutely. Period. I want to chime in and give some context to that. [00:16:35] So one of the things about QuickBooks Online is that it's a data, [00:16:40] data gold mine for them that it is completely bank. [00:16:45] It has bank level. Encryption, and it is completely secure as in terms of your [00:16:50] personal data, but it allows them to look at spending behaviors [00:16:55] and, um, and business behavior and that insight and knowledge [00:17:00] for them, whether it's developing AI or integrations is [00:17:05] gold to them and not in terms of like selling your personal information that's [00:17:10] Not what we're talking about.

We're talking about the ability to understand what's happening in business [00:17:15] and leverage that to help businesses grow. And so [00:17:20] you're right that QBO allows them greater insight than desktop [00:17:25] does.

[00:17:25] Hector: Yeah, I'll put an asterisk on that. I, I've, I don't, I don't think that Intuit. [00:17:30] The, the, into once the QBO data, so they can sell it to other people.

So let's, [00:17:35] let's be in agreement with that. I don't think that would be a dumb strategy because [00:17:40] that would backfire on them.

[00:17:41] Alicia: That goes against their own, um, terms of,

[00:17:44] Hector: terms of [00:17:45] service. Yeah. And even that stuff is partially fungible anyway. But [00:17:50] what, what I, what I think, uh, or, or, or not what I think the [00:17:55] value of the data.

It's, well, number one, um, accentuated by [00:18:00] the fact that we can further train AI. When you further train AI with [00:18:05] more data, better data, uh, you can automate more systems. If you automate more [00:18:10] systems, you make the software more valuable. If you make the software more valuable, and this is really [00:18:15] the, the, the sad portion of this, you make the software more valuable.

You can. Keep [00:18:20] increasing the size of the software and the, and the, and the customers will pay a higher price [00:18:25] because they're already paying two, three or four times of professional services [00:18:30] for someone to work in conjunction with the software. So yes, absolutely. By, by, by [00:18:35] being online, by being, by having better data, by having better AI, they can make [00:18:40] the product more valuable.

They can charge more. And the, the economy, there, there is economic. [00:18:45] Viability for people paying two, three, 400 a month for accounting software, because they're [00:18:50] already paying two, three hundred, four hundred or a thousand dollars a month for professional accounting and [00:18:55] professional accounting. Part of it, part of it can be replaced by [00:19:00] software, period.

[00:19:00] Alicia: Well, well, you just touched on something though, that bugs me though, is that [00:19:05] it really does depend on who their market is that right now, the [00:19:10] highest growth area in U. S. economic business is micro businesses, [00:19:15] solopreneurs that came out of COVID going, I don't want to work that nine to five anymore, I want to do what [00:19:20] I'm good at and what I'm passionate about.

And The, the cost point, [00:19:25] the price point on QBO is actually kind of expensive [00:19:30] for those solopreneurs. And that's also why [00:19:35] Intuit really is trying to lean in on the, even though they've gotten away from the, [00:19:40] it's so easy, um, anybody can do it. That's not their marketing anymore, [00:19:45] but they know that their biggest growth is those [00:19:50] people who are just going to go find an app on the app store and download it and start doing it on their phones [00:19:55] and not even doing it on their computers.

[00:19:56] Hector: I hear you, but I'm going to poke a hole in that [00:20:00] theory and I'll tell you why. So you're saying that, uh, uh, a micro [00:20:05] business looking at QuickBooks Online, Simple Start, 30 bucks a month. It's out of market. [00:20:10] It's too expensive. That's what you're

[00:20:11] Alicia: saying, right? No, no, no, no. Um, when I talk about a small business though, it's [00:20:15] not the one person doesn't mean that they're simple start.

You [00:20:20] can have a one person business that still requires plus because they still need [00:20:25] classes or they still need some of the complexities that are in the software. [00:20:30] But 90 bucks a month for somebody just starting out. And the fact [00:20:35] that you can't really use QuickBooks yourself without a bookkeeper watching your back.

Now, [00:20:40] all of a sudden you've got micro businesses who are starting up with the money in their, you know, [00:20:45] the 2, 000 in their savings account can't afford now. [00:20:50] I'm

[00:20:50] Hector: going to, I'm going to use an example from an outside [00:20:55] industry that I think like, you're going to go, Oh yeah, that makes tons of sense. So [00:21:00] let's say the average regular gas car is, let's say the average is [00:21:05] 30, 000.

Okay. Knowing that, and without knowing like the economics of like [00:21:10] vehicles, if you were to guess, if the true average of a gas car is 30, 000. [00:21:15] What do you think the average of an electric car is, like immediately? Depends if it's being subsidized [00:21:20] or not. Right. Yeah. With, with other subsidies, the actual, the actual sticker [00:21:25] price is going to be higher, like 35 or 40, right?

So you would, you would think, wait a minute. [00:21:30] If the average is paying 30, how are you going to enter a whole, how are you going to create a whole new [00:21:35] category, which is like 20 or 30 percent higher? It's because the buyer doesn't just [00:21:40] look at the car, they look at the cost of the car and gas. So when they say, [00:21:45] I'm going to pay 10, 000 more for the car or 20 percent more, whatever the number is for the car, [00:21:50] but in the long run, I'm going to save on gas.

They're willing to pay more for the vehicle. [00:21:55] The way I think. Intuit is thinking, and again, this is the, the, the, the [00:22:00] conspiracy theory part. Not the, Hey, Intuit, I totally believe you that you love accountants. Okay. This is the other, the [00:22:05] other side of it. Okay. The other side of it is this average small business pays [00:22:10] for the end result, which is be compliant with a tax return.[00:22:15]

And the entire ecosystem of that is bookkeeping, bill pay, payroll, and a [00:22:20] tax return. The entire ecosystem of that, the entire purse of that, let's say it's [00:22:25] 2, 000 a year. And. Intuit is thinking if we, if QBO, [00:22:30] it's a better product and it could replace some of these useless professional services, [00:22:35] because again, I'm not defending accountants, accountants, we waste so much [00:22:40] resources.

Like I think accountants are amazing, but at the same time, we waste so many resources, [00:22:45] there's so much money that people pay us for such non value added stuff, [00:22:50] okay, like

[00:22:50] Alicia: subtraction fees from PayPal.

[00:22:52] Hector: Oh, like, listen. Just the [00:22:55] amount of work that we do on sales tax, like in Europe, in Europe, [00:23:00] sales tax is like automatic.

Like you just pay the sales tax, like there's systems that all automatically [00:23:05] tell the government how much it is. We're not spending hours and hours just like going over sales tax [00:23:10] reports and figuring out, you know, is it calculated correctly? So, so there's [00:23:15] tons of waste.[00:23:20]

So it's tons of waste in professional services that Intuit aims to [00:23:25] like, to, to, to make, to make agile, to get rid of. And like, there's [00:23:30] tons of like dead work with internal accountants, external accountants, bookkeepers, professionals. [00:23:35] There's a bunch of dead work, non value added work that does not move the economy forward.

It [00:23:40] just. Keeps people compliant. So yes, to Intuit's defense, they want to make their [00:23:45] software better with better AI, make it higher, make it higher value and provide more value to [00:23:50] individual business owners. And we're going to have to figure out how to reinvent ourselves. But the point is that Intuit [00:23:55] wants to move everybody to QBO.

Wants the data, wants to train the AI, wants to [00:24:00] create better software. Again, from, from, from words to execution is a whole different [00:24:05] issue. And the desktop platform basically mired, you know, a whole bunch [00:24:10] of segments of the small business and they have to move people to online as soon as possible. So [00:24:15] sorry about that.

I just have to finish because I didn't want my words to get misquoted because that's what I think [00:24:20] it's going to be happening in the next couple of years.

[00:24:22] Alicia: Yeah, I mean, I've got like five different thoughts based [00:24:25] on everything that you just said. Um, one of them is the, the, with the electric car, part [00:24:30] of the additional agree, the cost, one, one of the reasons [00:24:35] why people are more willing to pay for it is also because it supports their ethics.

They want [00:24:40] to not. To not use up fossil fuels and to [00:24:45] go electric. So they're trying to forward the technology. With accounting software, [00:24:50] um, with the small businesses that approach me, they're not [00:24:55] thinking about the software in terms of gained productivity. They're only [00:25:00] thinking about it in terms of entering in their expenses and taking money from their customers.

[00:25:05] So for them to be faced with 90, 000, 90 a month, [00:25:10] We know that by spending that [00:25:15] 90 a month, they are going to save nine hours of time over the month [00:25:20] from doing all of the mundane data entry, but they don't know that they don't have a concept around [00:25:25] that. And so I think there's going to be a, Intuit's going to have, um, [00:25:30] it, it.

With the prices where they are right now, I think that's about where they kind of have to [00:25:35] stay for a little while. They can't keep raising it up. Hopefully, by [00:25:40] taking down their resources invested in desktop, they won't have [00:25:45] to raise the prices on QBO to continue the development. I'm hoping that's part of the [00:25:50] equation, uh, because They are locking some small [00:25:55] businesses out of using the source that they're trying to bring people up to.

Yeah,

[00:25:59] Hector: I'm [00:26:00] with you there. I was not thinking they're going to raise the price tomorrow. I mean, I'm talking about a long time ago. Look, listen, [00:26:05] I recently just put more money in Intuit stock. So like as an investor, you know, this is a [00:26:10] very good time to invest everybody. Absolutely. And look, look, I've always told Intuit, I'm [00:26:15] not saying always, the last five years that I've known this is going to happen, and I don't know why they didn't listen.[00:26:20]

Saying they're going to phase out ProPremiere is such bad communication. What they [00:26:25] should have said is, Hey, we are merging all of our desktop platforms into a sync. We're [00:26:30] consolidating into a single platform called QuickBooks Enterprise. So we can make the product [00:26:35] better and give you more features instantly.

Why didn't they go that route? [00:26:40] Why, again, why are they so messy with communications and why do they not know? How [00:26:45] accountants feel about this, especially the ones that have been doing this for 20 years, 25 years, um, [00:26:50] that they don't, this is just like, listen, QuickBooks Enterprise is an incredible piece of software.

I am [00:26:55] not affected by this because I've always recommended Enterprise first, regardless, [00:27:00] regardless of the price. And you go, and you tell me, Oh, Hector, small businesses, small businesses can't [00:27:05] pay BS. You know why? Because they pay for an internal employee, [00:27:10] 000 a year. And if they learn how to use the software correctly, they don't need to pay that [00:27:15] employee to do that or pay the employee to do something else.

Like go develop better services, go, [00:27:20] go build relationships with their customers, go sell more products and services. We waste a [00:27:25] lot, like. America, the world, wastes so much [00:27:30] resources in mundane paperwork shuffling. And it's time [00:27:35] for a company like Intuit to fix it. So I am actually rooting for Intuit to, to, to [00:27:40] execute this correctly.

It's just a problem with

[00:27:42] Alicia: communication. Yeah, this was actually one of the other things [00:27:45] that I wanted to circle back around to when you were talking about that lost productivity is that I am [00:27:50] shocked every single year, not shocked, not, well, shocked, yes, surprised, [00:27:55] no, that there is so much lost productivity with the whole realm [00:28:00] of taxes and bookkeeping that it's just Ridiculous that [00:28:05] 1099s, right?

Like why should the business owner have to spend all of these time and [00:28:10] resources sending out documentation just to prove that somebody got paid? [00:28:15] That should be not our job. That should be the, the compliance should be on the part of [00:28:20] the small business owner or the LLC or the sole proprietor. PayPal fees, the [00:28:25] amount of lost time that we take subtracting merchant service fees from [00:28:30] all the FinTech.

What a waste of time. Venmo. How do you [00:28:35] bookkeep for Venmo? It doesn't connect to any of the software. Huge [00:28:40] bust. What's

[00:28:40] Hector: that? Transcribing checks. Transcribing checks is one of the [00:28:45] worst use of like our intelligence.

[00:28:47] Alicia: And, and, and the one that really, really [00:28:50] gets me is every year when I get the notices from either the state or the fed saying, Oh, by the way, you [00:28:55] mispaid your taxes, you owe us this amount, or we're giving you back this amount.

Well, if they knew in the [00:29:00] first place, why are we? Spending so much time as accountants and why are small [00:29:05] businesses hiring us to determine what those numbers are just for the government to come back around and say, Oh, by the way, [00:29:10] that's wrong if they knew, why don't you just tell us in the first place?

Yeah,

[00:29:14] Hector: [00:29:15] there, there, there, there's, there's two, there's two separate issues at hand here that are sort of happening [00:29:20] at the same time. Issue number one is. Hey, I'm an accountant. I've [00:29:25] been doing this for 25 years. I know how to use QuickBooks Desktop. It's fast. I'm comfortable. [00:29:30] I know what every button is. Once I install it, I know that for a whole year, [00:29:35] there won't be a new magical button or the screen will be completely changed on me.

So I can completely [00:29:40] understand how somebody that is using Desktop looks at QuickBooks Online as, [00:29:45] as, as such a. Just such an intrusion in your workflow and [00:29:50] interruption, because QuickBooks Online has for the past 12 years, just been one [00:29:55] huge beta test, right? So, so it's very, very frustrating for accountants that [00:30:00] basically, uh, like, like predictable things, like when things [00:30:05] just work, they, they, they don't want to learn new things so quickly.

So. Number one, I completely [00:30:10] sympathize with people using QuickBooks Desktop. I fell in love with this industry through QuickBooks Desktop. [00:30:15] I would argue the reason I became an accountant is because I thought [00:30:20] accounting was so stupid, like as a profession, as a, as a, as a, as a. [00:30:25] As an art form, as a science, the whole thing is just jacked up, like left, right.

Why not do [00:30:30] normal math? And when I use QuickBooks Desktop and I put myself in the shoes of a business [00:30:35] owner and go, holy crap, it's so easy to like, keep track of like what's going on with my business. [00:30:40] I fell in love with accounting through QuickBooks Desktop. So I have a very, very personal, deep [00:30:45] love for QuickBooks Desktop because it was my, it was.

It was the, [00:30:50] the eyes in which I saw accounting and, and I fell in love with accounting through the eyes of QuickBooks [00:30:55] Desktop. Mm-Hmm. . So when, when QuickBooks Online comes along, and Intuit has a strategy to move everybody [00:31:00] to the cloud because they want the data, because they want the ai, because they want, you know, to, to add more value [00:31:05] because they wanna fix the amount of time that we're wasting as a society.

All the good [00:31:10] things that come from QuickBooks Online. I'm rooting for Intuit. I'm rooting for QuickBooks Online. The [00:31:15] problem is that QuickBooks Online. As a, as a software, it has [00:31:20] been developed. It's a complete disaster. Like the, the, the, the changes to the screens, you [00:31:25] can have your opinion.

[00:31:25] Alicia: Before you go on to that topic, I need to go back and address [00:31:30] what you were just talking about.

Okay. Go, go, go. Um, so something that [00:31:35] you just said is, is really key in that is that this is also a sign of evolution, [00:31:40] not just of the software and of the industry, but actually our culture [00:31:45] that. The, the people who are most impacted by this decision and the most [00:31:50] frustrated by it are the people who have developed decades of expertise by using desktop.[00:31:55]

They are, you know, average age, we're talking in their probably [00:32:00] 60s, um, and they are experts at what they do, they have, [00:32:05] um, and They've got the, they've got pride, they've got expertise, they've got [00:32:10] notoriety, but when, and this is just science that as you get older, [00:32:15] your brain doesn't, um, doesn't learn new things quite as well.

And [00:32:20] so you are now all of a sudden completely out of your comfort zone when you've built [00:32:25] an entire career based on desktop and now you're being forced to learn [00:32:30] online sometime in the next three years. And so that's [00:32:35] scary. And it's frustrating and for some people, it's [00:32:40] literally not possible that if some people were already eyeing retirement, this is [00:32:45] probably going to impact the great resignation in a [00:32:50] measurable way that we're going to actually probably see increased [00:32:55] retirement.

Again, in the next three years, because of this decision, which is [00:33:00] really something to think about. Um, you,

[00:33:01] Hector: you think the face out of QuickBooks desktop will actually [00:33:05] increase the amount of people that just quit the profession? Like I quit because QuickBooks desktop goes away?

[00:33:09] Alicia: Yeah. [00:33:10] So, so let's say you are 60 years old.

And you, all of a [00:33:15] sudden, the software that you know, with your eyes closed, literally, like you can, you know how to [00:33:20] get to the chart of accounts without even, literally with your eyes closed, um, [00:33:25] you, now all of a sudden you have to go learn this whole new software that changes [00:33:30] out from under you all the time and sometimes is buggy now, [00:33:35] like, Kids, software changing all the time and [00:33:40] software that's buggy, that's just kind of their norm, you know, and I, I have two [00:33:45] teenagers and I work with a lot of millennials and technology is [00:33:50] like no big thing to them.

And even myself, I've been, uh, I was an app, [00:33:55] a Microsoft office specialist and an Apple specialist before I was a QuickBooks specialist and I [00:34:00] used to thrive on the new technology and I would get a new iPhone and I would know everything. Everything [00:34:05] about it within a week. And I'm at the point now where I get my new [00:34:10] iPhone and I know what I already know how to do, but I don't even take the time to go looking for all [00:34:15] the new stuff and all the creative ways of using it.

Well, I do with [00:34:20] QuickBooks. That's, you know, I've focused all my energy on that. But the, [00:34:25] the changes that Intuit is making in QuickBooks Online is much [00:34:30] more accepted by younger people. The new business owners [00:34:35] coming into the industry, the new bookkeepers coming into the industry [00:34:40] and not so happy for the people who have the years of [00:34:45] experience.

[00:34:45] Hector: Well, I mean, the ones that don't know any better, of course, you know, it's like if you never had Mexican [00:34:50] and you go to Taco Bell and you think it's amazing, right? But then you have real Mexican and then you go to Taco Bell [00:34:55] and you totally know it's trash. Like that's the problem. Well, Country

[00:34:58] Alicia: Rep Supremes, Country Rep Supremes are [00:35:00] great.

No matter, no matter whether they're

[00:35:01] Hector: real Mexicans. QuickBooks desktop is real, is really, is real [00:35:05] Mexican food and QBO is Taco Bell. That's the reality, but the, [00:35:10] the, and look, I, look, listen, listen, uh, Alicia and I, before the show were [00:35:15] like, Hey, let's do a good call back up. Hector, you'd be the desktop guy.

You'd be the one that, you know, kind of sees [00:35:20] the world through the eyes of the desktop user. And Alicia, I'll, you know, I'll be the QBO [00:35:25] champion, you know, the both of us agree with each other. Like, I know Alicia has. [00:35:30] Tons of love for QuickBooks Desktop. She literally just wrote a book on QuickBooks Desktop, [00:35:35] just published.

I can't, I don't even know how, I can't even imagine how she [00:35:40] feels about like all this effort that she put into a piece of software that already has. [00:35:45]

[00:35:45] Alicia: You know, honestly, honestly, I wrote my desktop book. Because [00:35:50] I knew that it was gonna be sunset. 'cause I knew all the other publishers were not going to bother.[00:35:55]

So that would leave me standing in the field with this one excellent 600 page. How do [00:36:00] I use desktop book? Of course, there aren't gonna be any new users a year from me, . [00:36:05] Yeah. And

[00:36:05] Hector: everybody you have, you'll be the only one with a book that nobody wants to

[00:36:08] Alicia: read how to use it. Right. So I'm [00:36:10] not gonna, I'm not gonna lean in on that book anymore, but I'm still glad that I have it.

My [00:36:15] QBO book, however, is absolutely freaking amazing and everybody should be using it [00:36:20] and it is always going to be updated every year so that it does [00:36:25] live with, with the, with the changes. Like right now, I'm finding the replacement, yeah, [00:36:30] my QuickBooks Online book. Right now, I'm, I'm, as of today, I'm, I'm [00:36:35] doing a find and replace where it says the black bar at the bottom and just taking the bar at the bottom, [00:36:40] because on some screens, the black bar is now white.

But on only on some screens, and [00:36:45] that's my life. Yeah,

[00:36:46] Hector: I know. I know you're going to be like the vinyl producers, right? There's [00:36:50] like two vinyl producers and they're, they're making all the bank because people are still buying vinyl [00:36:55] for some reason. People stop to buy

[00:36:56] Alicia: books. I will still

[00:36:57] Hector: read them. Yeah, absolutely.

No, listen, [00:37:00] listen, I literally built an app. Four QuickBooks Online called Right Tool, [00:37:05] right? So it's not like, like I'm not against this like the actually more QuickBooks Online [00:37:10] users means it's good for you, more users for Right Tool. My YouTube channel leads, or [00:37:15] probably not leads, but it's one of the leaders when somebody searches any QuickBooks online tutorial.

I [00:37:20] know QuickBooks Online, like the back of my head, the same way as three books online. I'll thrive in this. I'll [00:37:25] have no issues. But like you're saying, some people are going to have a tough time. And look, and it's not just an age [00:37:30] thing. I'm 43. Okay. I prefer to use desktop over QuickBooks Online in many [00:37:35] situations because I am faster in it.

It's just QuickBooks Desktop is faster in [00:37:40] some things. Like when it comes to bank feeds and automation through bank rules. QBO [00:37:45] is faster. I mean, no, no challenge there when it comes to like sending forms [00:37:50] online, sending reports online, automating recurrent transactions, [00:37:55] automating, uh, sales receipts with automatic payments.

There's so many things that [00:38:00] QBO is just going to be astronomically faster than QuickBooks Desktop, QBO, [00:38:05] advanced. The new reports are incredible. Desktop. Advanced reports are a hot mess. [00:38:10] There's tons of things that QBO fundamentally does better, integrate with other apps, bring in [00:38:15] e commerce transactions, however.

There are some functions that are just going to [00:38:20] be better and faster in desktop, whether it's batch entry, manual entry, uh, [00:38:25] construction, accounting, inventory, accounting, manufacturing, all this stuff is going to be [00:38:30] better in desktop and I can, I could totally understand someone that goes, all right, you're moving my [00:38:35] cheese, not like.

You know, a couple of, you know, uh, uh, feet over you're [00:38:40] moving my cheese to like a different country. Right. So like, it's, it's, it's going to be very challenging for a lot of [00:38:45] people. And my suggestion is don't retire early, just learn QuickBooks Online. It's actually not [00:38:50] that bad, right? Especially when you have the right tool.

It's not that bad, but the reality is that [00:38:55] it's a new system. It's going to, it's going to take new thinking. It's going to take new [00:39:00] practice.

[00:39:00] Alicia: You know, one of my favorite things to do has been helping bookkeepers make the [00:39:05] transition. And so like, this isn't new to me. I've been doing this for now going on 10 years [00:39:10] that, um, when you are used to seeing it one way, like I, I like to joke that [00:39:15] QBO is to desktop.

Like Ginger Rogers is to Fred Astaire. Now this. [00:39:20] Analogies specifically for you people who are in your fifties and higher. But, [00:39:25] um, it, it, Ginger Rogers does everything that Fred Astaire does, but backwards and in [00:39:30] high heels. And that's QBO. There's so many things that QBO does [00:39:35] that desktop can't dream of doing, that there's a lot of really good in [00:39:40] this, but you have to learn it.

You have to take the time to train in it. And that's my [00:39:45] favorite group of people to teach. That's my favorite group of people to have in my classes are [00:39:50] the bookkeepers who know desktop like the back of their hand, and they need to figure out where those same features [00:39:55] are in QBO so that they're not hunting around, trying to find things and getting frustrated.

They can [00:40:00] just make the transition smoothly, learn where the familiar tools are, and [00:40:05] then get the opportunity to go, Ooh, Wow, that's kind of cool. [00:40:10] And, um, I have a class on QBOA for accountant, for [00:40:15] ProAdvisors. And I think I'm actually, I think we're just scheduling a new one in [00:40:20] December, like right now. So if you follow me on any of the, um, any of the socials, [00:40:25] keep an eye out for it, that if you are a QuickBooks desktop diehard, [00:40:30] and you know that you need to make this transition, please come to my.[00:40:35]

QBOA for ProAdvisors class in December, because what I'm going to do is [00:40:40] show you what it's all about, what all the buzz is about, what are the things that people love [00:40:45] about it, help you make the transition and, um, give you [00:40:50] opportunities to thrive with this change because there is a huge opportunity to thrive

[00:40:54] Hector: here.[00:40:55]

Absolutely. And we'll put links to that in the show notes. Before we end, there's [00:41:00] one more piece of like side announcement that happened at the same time. Again, both [00:41:05] these news dropped November 30th. Um, and we're recording this November 30th, almost at midnight [00:41:10] Eastern. And I don't know when this is going to go live in YouTube or, or in the podcast should be, should be the [00:41:15] next week or so.

But, um, the other side. Uh, news [00:41:20] is it's also going to be changes to QuickBooks Desktop Direct Deposit. Now, [00:41:25] traditionally, if you have been paying a 1. 75 per direct [00:41:30] deposit with your QuickBooks, uh, Enhanced Payroll, with your QuickBooks [00:41:35] Desktop Payroll, that's added to QuickBooks, uh, Pro or Premier, again, if you've been paying a [00:41:40] 1.

75, this is going to go up to 4, [00:41:45] 4, 4. Per page, that's more than [00:41:50] double, more than double. So the reason why it's [00:41:55] important to include this in the notes here in the news is because if you actually talk [00:42:00] to, um, and I will put links to this, um, to this link as well. So again, if you, if you [00:42:05] have QuickBooks enterprise with payroll, that's, that's, do you not paying for that?

I'm saying, if [00:42:10] you're already paying a dollar 75, that's going to go up and hold on. What was the date on that? [00:42:15] Sorry, I didn't start in January 8th, 2024. So it's happening right, right in the [00:42:20] next month, less than a month. Okay. In a month. Okay. A month. Okay. Okay, fine. Thank you [00:42:25] Inter for giving us 30 day notice on this.

But anyway, the, the, the thing about [00:42:30] this is that the biggest crutch that keeps a [00:42:35] lot of people on desktop is the payroll. Okay. It's not, it's not, [00:42:40] Oh, I don't like. Online or no, I'm against online or is that the old [00:42:45] grumpy accountant that doesn't want to change? The reality is that QuickBooks [00:42:50] desktop payroll, it's much more powerful than QuickBooks online [00:42:55] payroll, period.

There's actually no comparison on this. You can go back and edit paychecks. You can [00:43:00] go back and, and, and issue, um, uh, amended forms. Uh, [00:43:05] you, you have tons of flexibility. You're totally in the driver's seat. With, uh, [00:43:10] with QuickBooks Desktop Payroll and a lot of accounting professionals like QuickBooks Desktop [00:43:15] because of the control they have over payroll and then the job costing and all the job costing related stuff, [00:43:20] uh, for the reports, QuickQBO is not going to give us that by January 8th.

I [00:43:25] guarantee you that. They won't.

[00:43:27] Alicia: I mean, there's change in that direction, [00:43:30] but it's one step at a time.

[00:43:32] Hector: Yeah, it's gonna be, I guarantee you, we won't [00:43:35] see, again, I reserve the right to be wrong. We won't see true payroll job costing, [00:43:40] assuming that they, they release this in warp speed until after tax season [00:43:45] 2024.

So yeah, yeah. The problem is this is going to cause a lot of consternation where all of a sudden, you know, we're [00:43:50] paying 4 per direct deposit fee, more than double that we're used to. And we don't have [00:43:55] a QBO, sorry, a QuickBooks desktop parity feature set in [00:44:00] QBO. So even if we're willing, I give away the data, even if we're willing to change systems and go to [00:44:05] QBO, even if we're willing to pay more per client or whatever to go to QBO.

We [00:44:10] don't get the functionality. So that, that's where I think Intuit has missed the [00:44:15] mark big time. These timelines don't make any sense, in my opinion. Okay. [00:44:20] I think they should have done this face out in 2025, give us an entire [00:44:25] year. Like, like anything in accounting, you got to give a year. It's gotta be a year, right?

Like, [00:44:30] so like this weird eight months or whatever, nine months or whatever this is, it's just not good. [00:44:35] And the only people that were notified from my understanding are the accountants and the [00:44:40] ProAdvisors today, and the clients, like the end users, the small businesses, will be. [00:44:45] Announced in February, but you know what, a lot of them are going to find out and they're going to read the articles and they're going to [00:44:50] call us the next two months are just going to be such a disaster.

I mean, I don't want to be a [00:44:55] QuickBooks desktop accountant anymore.

[00:44:57] Alicia: I feel bad for anybody who is [00:45:00] not connected. Any business owner who's not connected to an accountant and decides that they want [00:45:05] to start using QuickBooks and they go to desktop. But I mean, I don't even think there are that many [00:45:10] people who fall into that category because if you go to QuickBooks.

com, you have to [00:45:15] look for desktop. They don't even call it QuickBooks Online in a lot of places. This is [00:45:20] something that I've kind of noticed, but in, uh, there's a shift now that QuickBooks [00:45:25] Online is becoming just. QuickBooks and what we used to refer to as QuickBooks [00:45:30] was QuickBooks Desktop. And I think those are flip flopping in [00:45:35] nomenclature that QuickBooks is now referring just to the online version, slowly but [00:45:40] surely.

[00:45:40] Hector: Yeah. And you know, what's interesting is if you go to like the old school texts and articles [00:45:45] and videos, even my videos before QuickBooks Online was big. [00:45:50] We refer to QuickBooks. Just QuickBooks. Just QuickBook. The desktop version right now. Just the desktop version. Desktop, [00:45:55] yeah. So like, it makes it very, like even, even I get emails from people say, Hey, I have QuickBooks and I have this [00:46:00] problem, and I have to ask QuickBooks online or QuickBooks Desktop, and people go, no, no, no, it's just QuickBooks.

I'm like, [00:46:05] that's not how it is. Right. QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop. Do you have

[00:46:08] Alicia: program or do you go to your browser? [00:46:10]

[00:46:10] Hector: Right, right. But I mean, I'm just, it just creates more, more friction. Look, look, a part of [00:46:15] me wishes that would've said. By the way, the whole thing's done. Like for me, [00:46:20] it's, it will be so much easier to just kill desktop completely than all these like little face [00:46:25] outs.

Like, like, think about

[00:46:26] Alicia: it. Well, that just goes opposite of what you just said.

[00:46:29] Hector: [00:46:30] No, well, no, I know. I said a part of me, a part of me doesn't want to deal with [00:46:35] so much change for so many years. No, no, I understand. I said, give us more time. I understand. No, I [00:46:40] stand by that. I'm saying. The right communication, the right strategy would have been that I'm saying a part of me [00:46:45] wishes that five years ago they would have just killed this whole thing because.

They do it in these little [00:46:50] baby steps and it just, it feels like little punches, but very often, you know, because. The frog in [00:46:55] water. Yes, exactly. Like the frog in the boiling water. First. So, so as a [00:47:00] reseller, you have to also look at my perspective. So the first thing was, you know, they lowered [00:47:05] the amount of commission you get with that stuff.

Second is, um, you know, the, [00:47:10] the, you cannot resell it. You have to, you have to charge the normal rate, they pay into it [00:47:15] directly and then they pay us a bounty. And no more residuals for QuickBooks Desktop ProPremiere. [00:47:20] Then is, you can still sell ProPremiere, but you can't make any money on it. Then the next year is, you can't [00:47:25] sell ProPremiere, they have to call 1 800 INTUIT.

And 1 800 INTUIT tells them a bunch of mumbo jumbo [00:47:30] that's not real. And they come back to us and say, they said, you can't buy it. And it's like. Everybody's wasting time. We can't [00:47:35] even get commission on that. Then they went to subscribe to the subscriptions. Then they released [00:47:40] 2024 and they say, we keep investing in the desktop platform.

Don't worry. And then now this [00:47:45] happens, you know? So like, so, so the challenge is like, we've gone to like a six year period [00:47:50] where. They just like, they should have just said, Hey, by the way, we're killing desktop and it's going to take five [00:47:55] years. And here's all the timeline, like that would have been much easier than just, just doing a very little, very little.[00:48:00]

Cause it just, the resentment builds up.

[00:48:02] Alicia: But, but it's a, uh, on the, on the flip side, it's a [00:48:05] step by step migration in that direction. I mean, we knew this. [00:48:10] Five years ago, we knew that it was coming. And so this is kind of like [00:48:15] the step by step by step to make it a natural progression. So I don't [00:48:20] actually hold it against them that that is the approach that they've taken, uh, because [00:48:25] that makes it actually more palatable and make more sense in the context of, of the [00:48:30] evolution of the product.

[00:48:32] Hector: Yeah. But the exception is what [00:48:35] they take away, right? Whatever they take away doesn't. It doesn't [00:48:40] equate with what they, what they add and improve in QBO. That's the problem. The problem is they're [00:48:45] getting closer and closer to killing it, but they're not getting closer and closer to getting QBO with [00:48:50] desktop feature parity.

But

[00:48:51] Alicia: that just circles right back around and that may be the, the, the, [00:48:55] the perfect way to resolve the, this episode is that takes us right back to the [00:49:00] beginning of the why that we talked about, that as long as their resources are split [00:49:05] into having to really Support two different pieces of software that [00:49:10] essentially could have been two completely different companies software, then their resources are [00:49:15] split.

And this is, I'm, you know, I'm always eternally hopeful. I'm [00:49:20] actually known for being maybe too idealistic about some of these things, but, If it [00:49:25] was me with the, being the CFO on this, I would be like, okay, well, that just frees up [00:49:30] all of these resources to really go and solve all of these problems that, that [00:49:35] Hector and Alicia and their communities have been telling us need to be solved.

Let's put some more [00:49:40] people into solving all the little problems. Let's put people into making sales [00:49:45] receipts and making multi channel e commerce inventory available. Let's put more people into the [00:49:50] job costing and the. course. Let's get it so that it is really powerable and [00:49:55] stable. That is my fantasy out of all of this.

If [00:50:00] that's the direction Intuit is going, I will stand behind it. Yeah.

[00:50:03] Hector: I, I doubt just throwing more [00:50:05] people at the problem. Um, I think they got to throw accountants at it too, [00:50:10] right? It's just all these product managers are like in their twenties and stuff. Like they're, [00:50:15] they're, they're really well intentioned and they, and they want to do well.

And I talked to a lot of them in QB Connect, [00:50:20] they're wonderful people, but they don't have enough, like. Like street context, [00:50:25] like they don't have enough, like, you know, gray hair to like really truly understand what we need and, [00:50:30] and, and all these feedback that Intuit gets, gets, gets lost in the loudest one and not necessarily the [00:50:35] most effective one.

[00:50:36] Alicia: I talked to so [00:50:40] many PMs that I think Intuit should actually make a job for me. I think I [00:50:45] could save them millions of dollars with my one salary by. [00:50:50] Having me be the voice of reason to go around to all these PMs and everything [00:50:55] that they're developing and poke holes in it, because I do it on a daily basis.

[00:51:00] Why not make a universal role out of it anyway? Yeah, you,

[00:51:03] Hector: you, you need a, you need [00:51:05] a head of feedback. Like you need someone that, that [00:51:10] takes all this feedback and say, all right, this is what makes sense. This is the stuff that has the most impact, [00:51:15] let's work on this. And you, you, you, you test it with a [00:51:20] small group, you bring back QuickBooks labs, let people.

Up in to [00:51:25] test this, everybody that opts in goes to a webinar. It gives feedback, [00:51:30] give feedback and then once you flushed it out, then you go live with it. Okay. But that's the thing I, [00:51:35] it doesn't work like that. They just go, they go live with a random group of people and, uh, and you don't know [00:51:40] who it is and half your customers have it, half your customers don't.

It's just, it's just horrible. So yeah, I agree [00:51:45] with you a hundred percent. I would love to have you in there, you know, for us working for Intuit. [00:51:50] Uh, let's see, you know, Hey, you manifested in the podcast. Let's see if they listen to it and they give you a job [00:51:55] offer. Just send me 10 percent for being part of it.

So we'll end with that good note. The [00:52:00] silver lining of this whole thing is that if by July 31st, 2024, [00:52:05] My QBO has QuickBooks premiere feature parody. I will take down [00:52:10] this, I will take, I will make a public apology for this podcast. I will take down the video, [00:52:15] take down the episode and say that was 100 percent wrong.

So, but, [00:52:20] is it going to happen? We'll see.

[00:52:23] Alicia: Ever hopeful. I will, I will remain [00:52:25] ever hopeful. I'll be the good cop to your bad cop.

[00:52:28] Hector: Absolutely. So with that being [00:52:30] said, thank you, Alicia. Thank you, listeners. I made it to this point. Sorry for the rant. This is a very touchy [00:52:35] moment for a lot of us. And I know some of you guys feel the way we do.

And you know, this [00:52:40] was Alicia and I's dynamic. We were going to be a good cop, bad cop, uh, in the desktop [00:52:45] online world. And hopefully we gave you both an informative and entertaining, entertaining episode. [00:52:50] Until the next one. See you in the next one. See

[00:52:52] Alicia: you in the next one.