As a result, many loyal QuickBooks Desktop users have stuck with the desktop application, choosing to host the desktop application online should access be required. Although QuickBooks Online offers convenient cloud access, it also omits many of the features that QuickBooks Desktop users have come to rely on. However, many long-time QuickBooks Desktop users have resisted making the switch, primarily because QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop are two very different applications. Following this release, Intuit began a strong push to convert current QuickBooks Desktop users to QuickBooks Online. In 2001, Intuit released QuickBooks Online, providing subscribers with the ability to access the application from any location with an internet connection.

As a result, small and mid-sized companies continue to use QuickBooks Desktop with the assurance that they can easily scale up from a single-user to a forty-user application, should the need arise. Taking heed of the complaints, Intuit began offering QuickBooks Desktop in multiple editions, making it an easy fit for the sole proprietor as well as the multi-million-dollar company.

When QuickBooks Desktop accounting software was first launched in 1992, early users generally loved the application, but had one recurring complaint they outgrew the software too fast.