Intuit to cease support for QuickBooks Desktop 2020 at end of this month

Intuit will be ceasing support for QuickBooks Desktop 2020 on May 31, 2023.

The tax and accounting software giant annually sends emails to customers about discontinued services. On this most recent change, Intuit began directly emailing accountants with QuickBooks Desktop 2020 customers in February 2023, according to an Intuit spokesperson.

What this specifically means is that access to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Services, Live Support, Online Backup, Online Banking, and other services through QuickBooks Desktop 2020 software will be discontinued after May 31, 2023. This also means people won’t receive critical security updates starting June 1, 2023. If they receive any security updates before this date, customers are encouraged to install them.

The discontinuation affects the following features:

• Assisted Payroll: After May 31, QuickBooks Desktop 2020 won’t automatically calculate correct payroll taxes, provide payroll forms, or allow users to send their payroll data. Subscriptions will be deactivated and tax forms won’t be filed on users’ behalf. (See the QuickBooks Desktop Discontinuation FAQ for Payroll.)
• Basic, Standard, or Enhanced Payroll: After May 31, QuickBooks Desktop 2020 won’t automatically calculate correct payroll taxes or provide payroll tax forms. Paychecks may be inaccurate and subscriptions will be deactivated. 
• Workers’ Comp Payment Service: Users won’t be able to process workers’ comp payments through QuickBooks Desktop 2020. A supported version of QuickBooks and an active Payroll subscription are required to run the payment service.
• QuickBooks Workforce (formerly ViewMyPaycheck): Users and their employees won’t have access to QuickBooks Workforce. They are required to have an active Payroll subscription and supported version of QuickBooks to use this service.
• Payroll: After May 31, QuickBooks Desktop 2020 won’t automatically calculate correct payroll taxes or provide payroll tax forms. Paychecks may be inaccurate and subscriptions will be deactivated.
• Credit card payment processing: Users will get a message that the service is no longer available, and they won’t be able to process credit card and check transactions through QuickBooks Desktop 2020. The message will include instructions for processing credit card and check transactions outside QuickBooks.
• Merchant Service Deposit (reconciliation): After May 31, QuickBooks Desktop 2020 won’t download credit card and check info in the product.
• Recurring Payments: QuickBooks Desktop 2020 won’t download recurring payments. These transactions will continue to process. Users can manage their recurring payments at MerchantCenter.intuit.com.
• eInvoice: After May 31, users won’t be able to process eInvoice (email of invoice with pay link enabled) through QuickBooks Desktop 2020. They will be required to have a supported version of QuickBooks and an active payments subscription to run this service.
• Accountant Copy Transfer Service: Users won’t be able to send accountant copies in QuickBooks Desktop using this service.
• Contributed Reports: Users won’t be able to use this feature in QuickBooks Desktop.
• Multicurrency/Exchange Rate: Users won’t be able to use or turn on this feature to assign specific currency types to their profiles and accounts in QuickBooks Desktop.
• Online Banking: Users won’t be able to download transactions, send online payments, or send online transfers. The exact error message depends on their download method. For example, they may receive, “QuickBooks Desktop is unable to verify the financial institution information for this Download.” Note: Uploading transactions will also be discontinued.
• QuickBooks Time: The use of QuickBooks Time within QuickBooks 2020 won’t be available. To sync QuickBooks Time data with QuickBooks, users should move to QuickBooks Online or use a web connector.

Other products affected by the May 31 discontinuation include:

• QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2020;
• QuickBooks Desktop Premier 2020 (General Business, Contractor, Manufacturing & Wholesale, Nonprofit, Professional Services, and Retail);
• QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 20;
• QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition 2020;
• QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant 20;
• QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2020; and,
• QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale 19.0 (starting Oct. 3, 2023).

To assist people in moving from the desktop version to the online version, Intuit has created a Migration Tookit that can help professionals determine which clients are right for QuickBooks Online, prep and migrate the appropriate files, and onboard clients to the new platform.