As of today, Pro-Advisor’s must take actions to allow clients to be directly billed. Clients will soon be able to self-migrate out of firm-billed subscriptions.
I have to caution the clients that might not be aware that they will lose any discounts passed on by the accounting firm if they take over wholesale billing. Currently, I am unaware if a client changes to direct billing if they can opt back into wholesale billing. As a firm that passes on wholesale discounts, we proactively reach out to clients and make them aware of the lost discount.
There are some additional cases that make this option the correct choice, such as leaving an accounting firm to opt into services elsewhere. However, it can be a task for clients to leave some accounting firm that holds hostage a data file making it difficult to pass the role of accountant, bookkeeper, or advisor to another firm.
Starting soon, small business owners will be able to self-migrate out of firm-billed subscriptions directly inside QuickBooks Online.
The firms who find it challenging to stay on top of client billing might be a little relieved on the flip-side; clients who self-convert may be unaware of the potential consequences. Since this is a new feature, I am unsure if there will be a notification email to the firm wholesaling the billing.
Self-migration is set to be a live feature available to all customers by the end of July 2021.
With knowing our clients are active in QuickBooks, we can assist them by sending out notifications to hopefully eliminate confusion and additional fees. Now is the time for you to reach out to your clients before they ‘opt-out’.