Thanks, Rebecka! I am also a Certified QB User but I thought you had become a Pro Adviser! I only do payroll for 1 client so was unaware that I could buy a multiple client payroll subscription. Good knowledge to have, indeed!
I just upgraded from QB 2005 to QB 2008 for the simple reason that Intuit is going to be "sunsetting" payroll for QB 2005. Otherwise, I wouldn't have upgraded yet as QB 2005 was working just fine for me.
Yes, I think you only need 1 license unless your entire office will be using QB.
I don't let my clients work on their own QB, just print reports. The potential for errors goes WAY up when you have multiple people doing data entry and I don't want to be sued for THEIR errors! I send a "backup" of the QB to my clients the first week of each month, or sooner if requested. Otherwise, I am the ONLY one who does data entry for the books, including their CPAs (I request the corrections, if any, and make them myself then send a replacement backup to the CPA). I get a backup from the client when I first start with them (assuming they have QB set up) and from that point forward all QB data files are 1-way only --> to them!
Hope this helps!