Right now you're thinking: "So it's not necessary to upgrade my QuickBooks every year? - Sorry QuickBooks! - But it's true. It may not be necessary for you to upgrade right now. So stick with me because What I am going to share today may actually SAVE you money!
Is it necessary to upgrade QuickBooks every year?
No, it is not necessary to upgrade your QB every year? - Sorry QuickBooks! – But it’s true. As a certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor, I get the newest Version of QuickBooks every year for free, before it’s on the shelves in the stores. So I see the changes that they make from year to year, and it– it doesn’t change that much from year to year. They add a few cute tools and features or make some adjustments and improvements each year, but they are not all significant. Now don’t get me wrong there have been huge changes to the program over the years but they don’t happen that often.
So, while you definitely don’t need to upgrade every year – every few years would a good idea just so that you can benefit from new tools and features put in place that will enable you to work more efficiently in the program.
Why might you consider upgrading?
One reason why you would definitely need to upgrade. Every year on May 31st, Intuit sunsets a version of QuickBooks, which means they discontinue the program. When they sunset the software, you can no longer get support from QuickBooks and you can no longer use any add-on services, such as:
· Payroll
· Merchant services
· Bill Pay
· Online banking . . . just to name a few
In 2020, QuickBooks 2017 will be discontinued. So, if you are still using QuickBooks 2017 and need to use any QuickBooks support or any add on services, you will have to upgrade.
So, with a version being discontinued each year, a good rule of thumb would be to plan on updating at least every 3 years or so.
When is the best time to upgrade?
The worst time to upgrade is when the newest version is first released. So, 2020 is available for purchase and download, but with lots of bugs that need to be fixed. So, save yourself a lot of frustration by waiting until around March or April to upgrade your QuickBooks – by that time they’ve worked most of the kinks out.