Smith said while the company’s ProAdvisors had not been enthusiastic about the online version, the new edition of QuickBooks Online for Accountants has changed things. “We are seeing a very good adoption rate on that product,” he says. The number of online subscribers stood at 516,000 on October 31, compared to 399,000 a year earlier and that was the first time it had crossed the half million mark. Even the number of desktop units advanced, although that requires adding the number of desktop unit sales and subscribers together. Desktop unit sales dropped to 194,000 from 202,000 a year earlier. But the number of desktop subscribers rose to 193,000 from 166,000, up 16.3 percent. Combined, the two were up 4.9 percent. Smith said a major improvement in QBO was the increased speed of setup. “It used to take 40 minutes to get your QBO line set up for you. We can now get you set up in seconds,” Smith said. The number of QBES subscribers stood at 91,000 at the end of the quarter, compared to 76,000 a year earlier. That always raises the question of how much is QBES taking out of midmarket sales available to VARs?