eBay is retiring Accounting Assistant, a tool introduced in 2005 that allows sellers to export their eBay and PayPal data to QuickBooks, an accounting program used by many small businesses. Existing subscribers can use Accounting Assistant until June 30, 2010 - after that, it will be challenging to import eBay data into QuickBooks.

Sellers who use the program were not happy about the news. On an discussion board, some sellers wrote they were unable to find an affordable replacement that would simply integrate eBay data into Quickbooks.

Alex Hood, Senior Product Manager at QuickBooks, said he was unaware of any other seamless way to import eBay data into QuickBooks. "Exporting the data to Excel and importing it to QuickBooks may work but has not been tested and will most likely not be a seamless experience. Now that Accounting Assistant will no longer be offered, we'll be working closely with our customers to determine if this is a key need that we should explore when developing future versions of QuickBooks."

eBay spokesperson Johnna Hoff said, "We are pointing sellers toward alternatives for capturing and storing their eBay transaction fees and data."

On the Accounting Assistant information page, eBay points to a tool called Outright, a free third-party online bookkeeping solution. Paul O'Brien, Vice President of Marketing for Outright.com, said Outright.com is not intended to replace Accounting Assistant nor is it an alternative to QuickBooks. He said there was no ideal solution for an import directly to QuickBooks, and said, "Self employed professionals, very small businesses, and the great majority of sellers rarely need QuickBooks. Outright.com is designed for them."

Updated statement from eBay 6/3/10: "We've received considerable feedback from sellers telling us that the tool did not meet their expectations, which helps explain the extremely low adoption rate of this application. Nevertheless, for sellers looking for this capability, we are offering comparable tools, such as Outright, a free, third-party online bookkeeping solution available in the eBay app store. In addition, sellers can download transaction history from eBay or PayPal at any time as a comma-delimited or tab-delimited file, open and revise it using any spreadsheet program, and then upload the file into their bookkeeping or accounting solution. We are committed to helping sellers of all sizes win on eBay and to providing them with the tools and resources needed to grow their businesses."