QuickBooks 2018 Discontinued – Don’t Panic! Here’s What to Do

QuickBooks Desktop versions come with three-year software support from Intuit that entitles its users to live technical assistance, security patches, software updates, and many other benefits. Every year at the end of May, Intuit implements a service discontinuation policy that translates to the expiration of a QuickBooks product version. With the launch of QuickBooks Desktop 2021, the sun seems real low for QuickBooks Desktop 2018, which will be set officially on May 31, 2021. It means that the plug of entitlements that the QB Desktop 2018 users have got until now will be pulled back by Intuit, and they will be asked to upgrade their QuickBooks versions. So the million-dollar question needs to be raised- “Do you really have to upgrade?” or “Even after the QuickBooks 2018 discontinued, can you still use it?”. In the blog below, we will answer general questions that the readers must have about software discontinuation. Which QuickBooks Versions are Affected by the QuickBooks 2018 Sunset? Once QuickBooks 2018 enters the end of life, the below-mentioned versions of QuickBooks will be rendered without software support. QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2018 All editions of the QuickBooks Desktop Premier 2018 (General Business, Contractor, Manufacturing & Wholesale, Nonprofit, Professional Services, and Retail) QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 18 QB Premier Accountant Edition 2018 QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale 12.0 payments service (from April 27, 2021) Which Additional Services will be Affected from QuickBooks Desktop 2018 Service Discontinuation? Below is given the list of QB and third-party add-on services that will not work once the QuickBooks 2018 is expired. All versions of the Intuit Payroll (Basic, Standard, Enhanced, or Assisted) cannot be accessed by the users. Worker’s comp payments cannot be processed through QB 2018. QuickBooks Workforce, formerly known as ViewMyPaycheck, will not be available to the user or the employees. The user cannot access the live feed of their business payments. QuickBooks Merchant Service Deposit will not store credit card, check, or other types of payment info. Recurring Payments and e-Invoice mailing for them will also be discontinued. Technical support for QuickBooks software will no longer be available for users, and those with an active QB Care Protection Plan will not be able to renew it after the end of their current subscription. The users will not be able to send an accountant’s copy of their company file via the Accountant’s Copy File Transfer service (ACFT). Cloud-based services like online backup and online banking will show unrecoverable errors. Reports under the Contributed tab can no longer be accessible. Intuit Data Protect will no longer back up QuickBooks files and folders. QuickBooks Time will be not available to QB 2018 users. The users won’t be able to launch the QuickBooks 1099 wizard for filing the tax forms. QuickBooks email service for emailing invoices will not be available after the discontinuation. No exchange rate info and multi-currency options will be available to the user. Third-party add-ons like TSheets, Fishbowl, Avalara Avatax, Bill.com, etc., will no longer connect to the QuickBooks 2018.