I'd like to add to this idea although in some ways it's contrary to the suggestion - since ProConnect is based on Lacerte but seems to be truly built around and optimized for QBO, why not have an option to effectively have a full-blown cloud-based version of Lacerte?  If I am not mistaken, this is what Wolters Kluwer (ProSystem fx and CCH Axcess Tax, one is desktop-based and the other is cloud-based) and Thomson Reuters (Go System Tax and Ultra Tax, same deal) already seem to be doing with their top tax software programs.  Keep the flexibility of the pay-as-you-go pricing for practices that focus on business returns and QBO bookkeeping, and for smaller firms just getting started (and keep it competitive per the original suggestion) but have an option for the extra features and polish of Lacerte - like processing individual returns - options to edit filing instructions/client letters, option to buy an unlimited amount of (maybe just individual returns, since it should be much easier to profit from a business return with the ProConnect pay as you go pricing) returns for a tax year, etc.  I think that would attract tech-savvy, cloud-based accounting firms.  I would truly love for ProConnect to be the only tax preparation software I have to use.  I started my practice this year and started with ProConnect, unfortunately I had to switch to ProSeries in MARCH, because I couldn't trust ProConnect for preparing individual returns.  There was an obvious error on a PA-40 return (that I confirmed with the PA Department of Revenue) that I could not override or correct, even after about 5 hours (over several phone calls) on the phone with different ProConnect support reps - I felt bad because they were really trying hard, but they just didn't have the answer because there was none.  This shocks me since the program is based on Lacerte, which seems to have a great reputation (and I recreated this issue I encountered in demo versions of Lacerte and ProSeries, and it wasn't a problem with either of them).  Basically, I haven't used the software all that much, but I concluded the problem is there isn't much of a budget for ProConnect, which is a shame because I think it has incredible potential.  Intuit's mission is to "Power Prosperity" (I learned this as a part-time Intuit employee) and ProConnect can fit into that mission statement beautifully for practices like mine just getting started - but the pricing has to be competitive and (even more importantly) bugs need to be fixed.  I for one, would absolutely be willing to pay more if I knew I could rely on this program.

In short, I think the pay-as-you-go pricing works for practices who have a lot of good business clients on QBO and can work for smaller practices just getting started, but the software needs to be just as capable as Lacerte, even if some of the processing options are limited.