A QuickBooks Desktop alternative for Canadian small businesses
Since 15 April 2025, Intuit no longer sells QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier or Desktop Payroll to new subscribers in Canada. If you already have a subscription you can keep using it. If you are starting a new company, can't renew the way you used to, or simply want a plan, this page sets out what to look for in a replacement and where SeroBooks fits.
Last checked October 20, 2026
Your QuickBooks company comes with you
SeroBooks imports QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online companies. You see the result as a dry run before anything is written.
Sales tax for all 13 provinces and territories
GST, HST, PST, RST and QST worked out per line by place of supply, with sales tax filing from the ledger.
The whole business in one ledger
Invoices, bills, banking and reconciliation, products and stock, and the profit and loss, balance sheet and trial balance your accountant expects.
A person to help you move
A free 15-minute call with the founder, then free help setting up and bringing your company across.
Competitor capabilities as of August 2026, from their published materials; tiers and features change — verify current details with the vendor. All trademarks belong to their owners.
What changed with QuickBooks Desktop in Canada
Intuit's Canadian Desktop page says it plainly: as of 15 April 2025, QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier and the related payroll services are no longer available to new subscribers. Existing subscribers can keep using their current version as long as their subscription stays active. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is not affected and is still sold.
The United States went first. Intuit stopped selling new subscriptions to Desktop Pro Plus, Premier Plus, Mac Plus and Desktop Enhanced Payroll after 30 September 2024.
Older versions keep dropping off as well. Intuit's discontinuation policy says QuickBooks Desktop 2023 stopped getting support after 31 May 2026, and Intuit's own advice is to upgrade to Desktop Plus 2024 or Enterprise 24.0. Intuit has not published an end-of-support date for Desktop 2024. You will see dates on blogs and accounting-firm pages, but treat them as estimates until Intuit says so.
Do you need to move right now?
Not necessarily. If your Desktop subscription is active and doing the job, nothing forces you off it today. What has changed is that the road ahead is shorter and narrower: no new Pro or Premier subscriptions in Canada, no new annual editions after 2024, and older versions losing support on a schedule.
The people who move first are usually in one of these spots. They are opening a second company or a new business and can't buy Pro or Premier for it. Their version is about to lose support. They want to work from more than one computer or place without paying for hosting. Or they are tired of keeping sales tax, inventory and Amazon in separate spreadsheets beside the books.
If none of that is you, pick a date that suits you, such as your next year-end, and use the time to try the options with your own data.
What to look for in a replacement
Canadian sales tax by province. GST, HST, PST and QST should be worked out per invoice line from where the goods or services go, not typed in by hand, and the software should prepare the return from the ledger.
A careful import. You should see your trial balance from the import before anything is saved, so you can check it against your last QuickBooks report.
Bank reconciliation that does not depend on a feed. Feeds are handy, but the reconciliation you learned in Desktop, ticking items against a statement, should still work from a downloaded CSV.
Real double-entry and the reports your accountant uses: profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow and trial balance, plus the year-end pieces Canadian accountants ask for, such as T2 and GIFI codes and capital cost allowance.
Inventory, if you sell products. At minimum stock levels, barcodes and serial lookup; for many shops, expiry dates and stock across locations too.
Honest limits. Every product leaves something out. Ask what, before you move.
How SeroBooks measures up
SeroBooks is Canadian accounting software built for Canada and the United States. It handles GST, HST, PST, RST and QST by place of supply in all 13 provinces and territories, with sales tax filing, on every plan. It imports QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online with a dry run first.
Every plan has the full double-entry ledger, journals, the profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow and trial balance, invoices and quotes, sales and purchase orders, bills and paying suppliers, banking and bank reconciliation, and products with barcodes, labels and serial lookup.
Standard adds cheque printing, recurring invoices and bills, payment runs, budget versus actual, fixed assets and CCA, T2 and GIFI codes, year-end close and period locks, assemblies and expiry dates. Pro adds payroll for Canada and the United States (T4, W-2 and Records of Employment), stock transfers between locations, forecasting, projects and classes, and the audit trail.
Amazon sellers, with the Amazon Module or the SeroBooks for Amazon plan, get settlements posted component by component: sales, fees, advertising, refunds and storage. And Maya, your AI assistant, reads a photo of a receipt or a supplier invoice and drafts the entry with the tax split from your own rates. Nothing posts until you approve it.
What SeroBooks does not do
It does not work offline. Your books live on our servers so every device and every person sees the same numbers, which means you need an internet connection. If working with no connection matters most to you, Desktop does that and SeroBooks does not.
Live bank feeds are rolling out and are not available for every bank yet; reconciliation from a CSV statement works either way. The apps run on Windows, macOS, Android and the web; iPhone and iPad are coming soon. Quebec RL-1 slips are not produced yet.
The 14-day free trial needs a card to start. Nothing is charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel any time before then.
The other options Canadian Desktop users look at
QuickBooks Online is Intuit's own cloud product, and Intuit publishes a step-by-step path to move Pro and Premier files to it. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is still sold in Canada if you want to stay on Desktop. Sage 50, the product many Canadians still call Simply Accounting, is the other long-standing desktop choice; we compare it with SeroBooks on its own page. Xero, Wave, FreshBooks and Zoho Books are cloud products that suit some businesses, especially service businesses without stock.
The right choice depends on what your business does. If you sell products in Canada, deal with PST or several provinces, sell on Amazon, or want your books, stock and sales tax in one place, SeroBooks is built for you. If you are a service business with simple tax and an accountant who works in another product, that product may suit you better, and we will tell you so on a call.
Moving across
Pick a clean start date, ideally the first day of a month, quarter or fiscal year. Import your company, check the trial balance in the dry run, then commit. Reconcile your first month in SeroBooks; when the bank agrees, your opening balances are proven. Keep your QuickBooks file as the archive for earlier years. The full step-by-step is in our QuickBooks Desktop migration guide.
Choose SeroBooks when…
Choose SeroBooks if you sell products in Canada, file with PST or several provinces, sell on Amazon, or want your ledger, stock and sales tax in one set of books that opens on every device.
Choose QuickBooks Desktop when…
Stay with QuickBooks Desktop while your subscription is active and it serves you, especially if you must work fully offline or rely on add-ons that only run with it.
Rather talk it through first?
Book a free 15-minute call with the founder. We look at your current books, answer your questions, and show you what moving would involve. If you go ahead, we help you set up and bring your company across at no charge. No obligation.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still buy QuickBooks Desktop in Canada?
Not Pro or Premier. Intuit's Canadian page says that as of 15 April 2025, QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier and the related payroll services are no longer available to new subscribers. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is still sold.
Will my QuickBooks Desktop stop working?
If you are an existing subscriber, Intuit says you can keep using your current version while your subscription is active. Older versions lose support on a schedule: Desktop 2023 stopped getting support after 31 May 2026. Intuit has not published an end-of-support date for Desktop 2024.
Can SeroBooks import my QuickBooks Desktop company?
Yes. SeroBooks imports QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online companies and shows you the result as a dry run before anything is written, so you can check the trial balance first. We help you do it at no charge.
Does SeroBooks handle GST, HST, PST and QST?
Yes. Sales tax is worked out per line by place of supply for all 13 provinces and territories, including GST, HST, PST, RST and QST, and the return is prepared from the ledger. This is on every plan.
Does SeroBooks work offline?
No. SeroBooks needs an internet connection. That is what lets the same company open on Windows, macOS, Android and the web with the same numbers everywhere.
Is SeroBooks made by Intuit?
No. SeroBooks is made by Sero Technologies in British Columbia and is not affiliated with Intuit. QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit, used here only to describe the software you may be leaving.
Does SeroBooks do payroll?
Yes, on the Pro plan: payroll for all 13 provinces and territories and the United States, with T4, T4A, T5018 and W-2 filing files and Records of Employment. Starter and Standard do not include payroll.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial. A card is needed to start it, nothing is charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel any time before then.
Can someone help me move?
Yes. Book a free 15-minute call with the founder, or WhatsApp or call 604-800-0897. If you go ahead, we help you set up and bring your company across at no charge.