Migrating from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online – SaasAnt Blog.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Save or print a copy of your Sales Tax Liability report. Next: Manage contractors. Not all features are available on the mobile quidkbooks and mobile browser. But there are some issues you may encounter during or after conversion. Liability refunds, adjustment transactions, and opening quickbooks desktop to online transactions that affect accounts convert to journal entries.
 
 

Quickbooks desktop to online

 

REVIEWED BY: Tim Yoder. Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time formerly TSheets Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. WRITTEN BY: Mark Calatrava. Mark has researched and reviewed accounting software at Fit Small Business since and has developed an extensive knowledge of accounting software features and how unique business needs determine the best accounting software.

This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software. Converting from QuickBooks Desktop to Online is quick and easy most of the time, and if you get stuck, you can contact QuickBooks support for free. This guide will help you convert from QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier to any version of QuickBooks Online, except Self-Employed.

Get QuickBooks Online. Tip: You have 60 days from the beginning of your QuickBooks Online subscription to make a conversion from QuickBooks Desktop. If 60 days have passed, you can cancel your current subscription and set up a new QuickBooks Online company. Multiple companies can be set up under the same email address. Watch the tutorial video below or read the step-by-step instructions that follow.

Although we rated QuickBooks Online as the best small business accounting software , there are a few distinct advantages to QuickBooks Desktop over QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Desktop is usually faster for experienced bookkeepers, has more options available for dealing with inventory, and can report estimated versus actual job costs.

Most information from QuickBooks Desktop will transfer automatically to QuickBooks Online, although some features in Online are named differently and might not work exactly the same. QuickBooks provides a list of Desktop features and a description of how those features will transfer to QuickBooks Online. The steps discussed in this article are for converting a QuickBooks Desktop file to QuickBooks Online from QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, and Accountant.

If you use QuickBooks Enterprise, Intuit also has conversion instructions for QuickBooks Enterprise. Once your QuickBooks Desktop file and press F2 to determine the total target count. If your file exceeds the maximum , targets, you can try to reduce the targets by condensing your QuickBooks file.

Product information screen in QuickBooks Desktop. Make sure to reconcile all bank accounts, process payroll, and adjust inventory before getting started. You can make a backup of the data file by going to File , then Back Up Company , and then clicking on Create Local Backup , as shown below:.

Creating a backup company file in QuickBooks Desktop. Tip: QuickBooks recommends your company file be located on a local drive before converting to QuickBooks Online.

If you normally access the company file from a network drive, restore the backup file you just created onto your local drive and use that file for your QuickBooks Online conversion. Step 3. Visit QuickBooks Online and subscribe to your preferred version of QuickBooks Online prior to starting the conversion process. Setting up your QuickBooks Online account.

Go back to your QuickBooks Desktop program and sign in to the company you are converting to QuickBooks Online. Within your QuickBooks Desktop company, click on Company in the top menu bar and select Export Company File to QuickBooks Online , as shown below:. Export your QuickBooks Desktop file to QuickBooks Online. Select Update QuickBooks from the Help menu and follow the instructions. Once the update is complete, export the company file as shown above.

You may need to close and reopen QuickBooks Desktop for the update to take effect. Tip: QuickBooks stops supporting desktop programs after three years, so you may not be able to update older programs.

One workaround is to get a free day trial subscription to the latest QuickBooks Desktop Pro. You should be able to export your company file to QuickBooks Online after you open it in the new program. Step 5. Sign In to Your QuickBooks Online Account Through the Desktop Program After selecting the data to export to QuickBooks Online, your QuickBooks Desktop program will ask you whether to proceed to migrate your file or try it first.

Preparing to move your data to QuickBooks Online. If you currently track inventory, QuickBooks will ask whether or not you want to import inventory into QuickBooks Online. If you say yes to this, your inventory will be recalculated in QuickBooks Online using the first in first out FIFO inventory method from the start date provided.

Identify whether or not to import inventory to QuickBooks Online. Tip: If you change your inventory method from average cost to FIFO, it must be reported to the IRS on Form For that reason, we recommend consulting a tax professional before bringing over your inventory to QuickBooks Online.

After identifying whether you want to import inventory to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks will then ask you if you have a QuickBooks Online account. Since you already set up a QuickBooks Online account, select Yes, sign me in :. Connect QuickBooks Online account to QuickBooks Desktop. After selecting Yes, sign me in , a log-in screen for your QuickBooks Online account will appear on your QuickBooks Desktop account, as shown below:. QuickBooks Online sign-in screen in QuickBooks Desktop.

When signing into your QuickBooks Online account through QuickBooks Desktop, there will be a prompt to verify your identity. Check your phone or email and then enter the code to proceed:. Identity verification in QuickBooks Desktop.

After successfully logging in to your QuickBooks Account, select the QuickBooks Online company that you want the data to import to from the drop-down list. If you have multiple companies, be careful to select the correct one, as the conversion will replace any existing data. Select which QuickBooks Online account to import QuickBooks Desktop data to. After you select your company, QuickBooks will work for a few minutes and then give you a confirmation screen similar to this:.

QuickBooks data file transfer confirmation. QuickBooks emails you when your QuickBooks Online company is ready, but this could take several hours for a large file.

Once you receive an email similar to the one below, click on the Complete your setup button to log in to QuickBooks Online and review your data:. Email notification that QuickBooks Desktop data is available in QuickBooks Online. Tip: Exporting lists from Desktop and importing them into Online is only necessary if you were unable to convert your Desktop file using the seven steps above.

For instance, this may happen if you have over , targets or your desktop file is corrupt. An alternative to converting your Desktop file to an Online company is to export important lists from your QuickBooks Desktop company and import them into your QuickBooks Online company.

This will transfer your chart of accounts, customers, vendors, products, and services. Transferring lists from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online is a two-step process. First, export the lists from Desktop as an Excel spreadsheet. Second, import the Excel spreadsheet into your QuickBooks Online company. By exporting the following lists from QuickBooks Desktop to Excel, you can save hours of data entry in your new QuickBooks Online company:.

Tip: When importing Excel workbooks, QuickBooks Online only imports the first worksheet within a workbook. After exporting Excel workbooks from QuickBooks Desktop, be sure your data is in the first worksheet, or tab, at the bottom of the Excel screen. First Excel worksheet will import into QuickBooks Online.

Navigate to your chart of accounts by clicking on Company from the top menu bar and then selecting Chart of Accounts:. Navigate to Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks Desktop. Display a list of your accounts by clicking on Reports at the bottom of the screen and selecting Account Listing :. Export the Account Listing report as an Excel spreadsheet by selecting Excel , then Create New Worksheet , and following the prompts to save the worksheet to your computer:.

Make a note of where you saved the spreadsheet so you can import it into QuickBooks Online later. Navigate to the Customer Center by selecting Customers from the top menu bar and then clicking on Customer Center :.

From the top toolbar of the Customer Center, select Excel and then click on Export Customer List :. Follow the prompts to save the new worksheet on your computer so you can import it into your QuickBooks Online company later. Navigate to the Vendor Center by clicking on Vendors in the top menu bar and selecting Vendor Center :. From the top toolbar in the Vendor Center, select Excel and Export Vendor List :.

Follow the on-screen prompts to save the worksheet so you can import it into QuickBooks Online Later. Go to the Item List screen by selecting Customers from the top menu bar and then clicking on Item List :.

At the bottom of the Item Lists screen, click on Excel and then Export All Items :. QuickBooks Online will only import the item types Inventory Part, Non-inventory Part, and Service because other item types are part of workflows that differ slightly between Desktop and Online.

Open the Excel workbook you created in the prior step and delete all line entries for items other than the three that will be imported into QuickBooks Online. Tip: Sort your Excel worksheet by the Type column to group your items by type and make deleting lines faster. How To Import Lists Into QuickBooks Online Fit Small Business has an online tutorial to help you learn how to use QuickBooks Online efficiently to manage your business. The three lessons below will teach you how to import the worksheets you created above as well as how to input items manually into your QuickBooks Online company:.

Fit Small Business has also created a free QuickBooks Online course that includes 46 video tutorials and written step-by-step instructions. You cannot use QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online for the same company.

Congratulations on successfully converting from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. Be sure to check out a few of our video tutorials to learn the basics of using QuickBooks Online. Find Timothy On LinkedIn. Tim worked as a tax professional for BKD, LLP before returning to school and receiving his Ph. from Penn State. He then taught tax and accounting to undergraduate and graduate students as an assistant professor at both the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Mississippi State University.

 

How to import data from desktop to online.

 
Take a test drive. You may need to close and reopen QuickBooks Desktop for the update to take effect. Terms and conditions, features, support, pricing, and service options are subject to change without notice. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. He then taught tax and accounting to undergraduate and graduate students as an assistant professor at both the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Mississippi State University. Visit the Account Management Page. Employers need workers to get the job done, but according to the IRS, all w