Five Red Flags to Watch Out For in a QuickBooks Hosting Provider

Analyze your current and future requirements when selecting a QuickBooks hosting provider; this feature lists 5 flags to watch out for during the process.

Whether you have desktop or cloud software, accounting firms and businesses alike see hosting as the optimum IT platform to enhance QuickBooks’ operational capabilities, strengthen data security, support distributed teams, and ensure accounting systems can scale with business growth.

But choosing the right provider can be challenging given the wide range of options. Moreover, making the wrong choice can lead to persistent performance issues, data security risks, unexpected costs, and even debilitating downtime.

To help you make a confident, informed decision, I have compiled a list of five critical red flags to be aware of when choosing a cloud hosting provider. I also explain why identifying them early is essential for long-term stability.

Unclear or Noncompetitive Pricing

Every cloud hosting provider offers multiple pricing tiers based on the services and features included. In most cases, a closer evaluation can reveal that reputable QuickBooks cloud hosting providers price their plans within a comparable market range. The fact is, competitive pricing is necessary for any provider to sustain long-term operations and service quality.

While overpriced plans are an obvious concern, unusually low pricing should raise equal caution. QuickBooks cloud hosting providers advertising deep discounts or prices far below market norms often recover costs through hidden charges later in the billing cycle.

These costs are rarely communicated upfront and may include essential services such as data backups, security controls, premium support, or system upgrades. In some cases, low pricing can also indicate limited infrastructure investment or weak market demand, both of which directly impact reliability and performance.

To avoid these risks, ensure pricing plans clearly outline all included services and provide a transparent cost breakdown.

Lack of QuickBooks-specific Hosting

In theory, QuickBooks Desktop can be hosted on any cloud service provider's servers. However, these providers may not deploy the perfect environment for QuickBooks.

For instance, QuickBooks has different compliance requirements than tools from other industries. If the provider lacks the expertise to comply with niche regulations, you may face legal penalties. Moreover, they may not consider integrating QuickBooks with other tools before configuring virtual environments.

You should prefer a cloud service provider that offers QuickBooks-specific hosting. Intuit partners with the best cloud providers under its hosting program to offer QuickBooks-specific hosting. These authorized hosts offer optimized infrastructure, consistent performance, and deeper platform compatibility.

For most businesses and accounting firms, the safest and most efficient option is to choose an Intuit Authorized Commercial Host that provides genuine QuickBooks licenses bundled with hosting services.

A History of Security Incidents

No cloud service provider is fully immune to cyberattacks. Only recently, the biggest cloud service provider, AWS, confirmed a 5-year-long cyberattack. However, a cloud provider with a long history of recurring cyberattacks indicates they do not consider data security a priority.

Especially in the accounting industry, which handles critical customer and financial data, a cloud provider with a weak security infrastructure is a big red flag. Hence, when considering a QuickBooks cloud host, always research the provider’s past security events and the approach taken. You must also enquirer about the downtime that users experienced due to these events.  

A competent cloud provider must be proactive rather than reactive to data security. They must have a dedicated SOC that continuously monitors the cloud environment for threats. Moreover, they must deploy advanced security features at every level (physical, network, endpoint, etc.). Some must-have features include multi-factor authentication, 256-bit AES data encryption, DDoS protection, IP filtering, gateway firewalls, access control protocols, and patch management.  

 Questionable Customer Support

Even the best IT environments can experience issues related to performance, security, or access. A QuickBooks cloud host’s support defines how quickly they can respond and resolve these issues.

In short, poor customer support can mean significant downtime that businesses can’t afford. So when it comes to customer support, you must look even deeper.

Firstly, ensure that the QuickBooks hosting provider offers 24/7/365 support. Most cloud providers have defined support hours, which is not feasible for global businesses. Moreover, they must be able to provide support even during public holidays and weekends.

Secondly, check whether the provider offers premium customer support and assigns a dedicated account manager. The absence of dedicated support often leads to longer resolution times, as issues are handled by different personnel with limited historical context.

Lastly, some providers offer only email or chatbot support, resulting in longer response times. Ensure that the cloud provider provides human support via phone.

Having all these terms in the SLA legally obligates the QuickBooks hosting provider to ensure optimal customer support. Hence, it is mandatory to read the SLA carefully for a guaranteed level of service.

Downtime History

Downtime can be caused by various factors, including incorrect configurations, sub-optimal resource allocation, security incidents, network issues, hardware failures, cyberattacks, and natural disasters. Some providers cannot cover all the bases, leading to downtime, and you would do well to inquire about a provider’s downtime history. They are not necessarily going to offer that information unless you ask.

Also, check online communities for common concerns about frequent disruptions. Furthermore, you must ensure that a minimum uptime value is guaranteed in the SLA. Most cloud providers offer a minimum uptime of 99.9%. However, some competent providers can reach 99.99%.

One of the major red flags that causes significant downtime is the lack of a disaster recovery plan. A disaster recovery plan ensures data protection in the event of a natural disaster at the data center location. Without a robust plan, you might experience downtime for days.

Conclusion

The partnership between you and the QuickBooks hosting provider is long-term. Therefore, it is recommended that you research well before choosing one. The red flags discussed above will help you avoid incompetent providers.

However, you must analyze your current and future requirements to select a provider that suits your business.

Disclosures:

Feature content has been adapted from information provided by Ace Cloud Hosting on behalf of Dr. Sangeeta Chhabra, co-founder and executive director of Ace Cloud Hosting. Content within this Insightful Accountant feature is provided for informational and educational purposes only. The content has had minimal edits intended to conform the readability to the literary preferences of our typical readers. 

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