Does the subscription fee of $500 end after 3 years and can you keep using QB Pro free

Yes, QuickBooks Desktop Pro will be discontinued after three years and will no longer be accessible, @SteveB100. Let's discuss this further below.

During your three-years support period, you can still renew annually. Beyond that, you can no longer re-subscribe since QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier Plus, or Mac Plus will no longer be offered after September 30, 2024.

With this, you can consider switching to QBDT Enterprise or QuickBooks Online.

For future reference, you scan these resources to get familiar about using the two applications for your business needs:

• Get started and adjust settings after you sign up for QuickBooks Online
• Get started with QuickBooks Desktop

Let me know if you have additional questions about managing your company file or any QuickBooks-related matters. I'm just a post away to help you.

Thank you for your quick response. So, does this mean that the $500 annual subscription is not necessary to be paid if you dont plan to use any of those advanced services? I was told by a client that she was locked out of QB Pro entirely until she paid the annual fee. Was she just confused about levels of service? Many people use QB Pro without using any of those advanced services.

You're most welcome, SteveB100. Allow me to share some insights about the levels of service that QuickBooks offers. This way, your client will not be confused about the subscription fees.

Regardless of whether your client uses the Advanced services or not, they need to subscribe to the same subscription to continue with the supportability for the remaining 3 years. Once the supportabilirty ends, they need to upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise or move to QuickBooks Online:

• Upgrade QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, or Enterprise
• Move your QuickBooks Desktop file to QuickBooks Online

Also, your client is correct that they will be locked out if they haven't paid the annual subscription. Though, they can use the view-only mode for 1 year if your subscription expires. During that time, you won’t be able to edit your data with your inactive license. For more details about it, open this page: Renew your subscription or use view-only mode in QuickBooks Desktop.

Additionally, I'll be sharing these links that will guide you in case you need to move to QBO and fix errors upon subscribing to QBDT:

• Get started and adjust settings after you sign up for QuickBooks Online
• Fix activation, license, and product numbers issues

If you have any additional concerns or questions regarding subscription fees for QuickBooks Desktop Pro or any other related topics, please let me know. I'm always here to help.

In the third to the last paragraph you say that "you can use the view-only mode for 1 year if your subscription expires. During that time, you won’t be able to edit your data with your inactive license." That is the same as not being able to use QB Pro. You cant enter data or change existing data, correct? So, QB Pro is useless. This is apparently what she meant when she said that QB locks up if you dont pay the $500 annual fee. This is exactly what I was trying to find out.

@SteveB100 

Which QB Desktop year version do you have?

Personally, I use QB Pro V. 2019, which does not have any annual subscription charge. I am asking the question on behalf of accounting clients that use newer versions where they have to pay the subscription fee.

If your client doesn't renew their subscription, QB will lock it. They can use the trial version of QB Desktop Enterprise to access historical data for good.

Thank you for providing the real answer that I was seeking. Now, the rest of my question is what happens after the three year support period is over? Lets assume you faithfully paid the $500 fee for each of the three years of the support period. Do you have to continue paying the $500 annual fee to use QB Pro or can you continue using the QB Pro for free after the three year support period ends? or does QB Pro lock up and you have to switch to the enterprise edition or QB online?

You can use QB Desktop 2024 until 2027 as long as you pay the renewal fee each year. I'm not sure where you got that number ($500) as a reference. As I understand it, QB Desktop Pro Plus renewal fee for a single user will start at $999 + tax. You can renew it through a partner to get $100 cashback and tax exempt if needed. We don't know what will happen after May 2027. We will know what our options will be in 2026.

Thank you ! I stand corrected. The annual license fee is $999 plus tax. Yikes. So, we dont know whether you are even allowed to continue using it after the three year support period is over ! After paying $999 annually for three years they stop supporting it and you may not even be allowed to continue using it for free. You might have to convert to the QB Enterprise Edition or QB online at that point. Is that really true?

Thanks for getting back to the thread, @SteveB100. Allow me to chime in and add more details regarding the three-year support period and the conditions related to service continuation.

Initially, once the three-year support period is over, you will have read-only access for one year if you decide not to continue using QuickBooks. It's important to note that during this time, you will be unable to make changes, create transactions, or edit data. Additionally, you will not receive live technical support for issues, updates, or security patches from Intuit. This means, you might be at risk for any security vulnerabilities that are discovered after the support period. You also won't be able to get Data Recovery Services without additional fees or use other services included in your plan, such as Intuit Data Protect. Therefore, it's recommended to upgrade to the latest version of QuickBooks Desktop Pro. For more details on how to upgrade, see this article: Upgrade QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, or Enterprise.

Furthermore, QB Pro doesn't lock you up or require you to switch to another version solely because the support period has ended unless your business needs change and renewal to continue using the features or the lack of updates becomes critical issue for your business operations.

I'll also add this article in case you and your client need to switch to QBO: Move your QBDT file to QBO.

If you have any concerns about the support period and fee, please tag me in the comment section, @SteveB100. I'll assist you in any way possible.

All I can say after reading all of this is that I'm glad I use QB Pro v. 2019 which works fine for all my needs. I'm not forced to pay an annual fee or to upgrade to the Enterprise Edition ! I'm also glad I have the disks to reinstall it if necessary. I will keep it running as long as Windows 10 still works.