We are in the same boat. Here is a brief (yes...this long post is the brief version) rundown of what we are experiencing.
We have been running QB Mac Desktop 2020 and QBO Payroll for some time. When Intuit Online Payroll switched to QBO Payroll, we lost the ability to auto-update our desktop with the online payroll info. Finding it a difficult task, we are behind on our desktop records and have no payroll info in desktop since May 2021.
We felt the push from QB to upgrade to QBO. Looking it over and finding it to seem much more user friendly, we made the jump thinking it would be easier to update our books online. We were offered 50% off for 12 months.
When we switched to QBO Plus through a chat, I failed to let the sales person know we had an existing Online Payroll account (I thought that would be evident on their end). As a result, a second Company ID was established for us with no possible way to link the QBO Plus to the QBO Payroll. I was told I could not export Plus to Payroll or vice versa. Through another chat, we cancelled the Plus account and added a Plus account to the existing Payroll. This resulted in the loss of the 50% off for 12 months offer and we instead received 50% off for 3 months. Seeing that our COA was too large for Plus (it needs a major overhaul), we upgraded again to QBO Advanced.
I then proceeded to export our Desktop to Online. The data never appeared in our new Online Advanced account. After some searching, I discovered there was a second Advanced Company ID created as a "trial" the same day the new Plus was added to our Online Payroll. That is where the export showed up. I quickly cancelled that trial so as not to start being charged for an unwanted account (QB is already bleeding us dry as it is). Still, the account I needed the Desktop data to export to was not available as an option.
Several chats, emails, phone calls later I am left with the black hole you are experiencing. I cannot export Online Payroll to Desktop because Payroll is not a standalone product (quote). I cannot export Desktop to Online without wiping all the Online Payroll history that goes back a few years. I can download an Excel file from Online Payroll that does not provide the full data of the checks, yet there is no way to import even that limited data into Desktop as it must be an iif file (i.e. fork our more money for a third party data converter that only seems to convert lists and journal entries).
In my last Facebook Messenger session with QB, I was told they could cancel my Advanced account on their end, disassociate the Advanced from my Payroll account, I could then export Payroll to my desktop, make sure everything in desktop is up to date, then open yet another QBO Advanced account an export from desktop to online. Then I was told a short time later that this is also not a possibility.
So here we are PAYING for QBO Advanced and QBO Payroll and not being able to use them together because QB totally missed the mark on uniting their services.
Background Music: "This Is The Song That Never Ends" and "Henry The 8th" (I'm on the 98th verse which is the same as the first).
