Understanding account consolidation

What is account consolidation and why does it matter?

Accounting firms often accumulate multiple QuickBooks Online Accountant (QBOA) accounts over time, a result of acquisitions, individual staff setups, and other factors. A multi-account approach can sometimes be intentional and serve a specific purpose for a period, but more frequently, the addition of accounts happens organically. This fragmentation, if not purposeful, can lead to operational inefficiencies for the firm, and complicate the management of staff and clients.

Account consolidation is the process of strategically restructuring these multiple QBOA accounts into a single, unified environment. This article is designed to help your firm complete the technical steps of consolidation, while also managing the organizational change for your staff. By consolidating, you can improve visibility, simplify administration, and build a strong foundation for future growth.

With Intuit Accountant Suite, you can centralize client files and leverage improved tools for a smoother transition. Now is the ideal time to invest in this process to enhance your firm's efficiency.

Step 1: Planning your consolidation—The most critical phase

The planning stage is the most important part of the entire process. A thoughtful strategy will minimize disruption, reduce risk, and save you significant time and effort.

Choose your target account

Your first and most critical decision is selecting which of your existing QBOA accounts will become your target account. The user managing the consolidation must be a primary admin on all source accounts, and at least a company or primary admin on the target account.

The best choice for your target account is the one that already contains your firm's internal books, if present. Keeping these core functions in their original account is the safest and most straightforward path, at this time.

• Firm books: If your firm intentionally separates your firm books across multiple accounts, then account consolidation is also not recommended at this time.
• Billing: After transferring a client's billing, it can take up to two billing cycles for the change to be fully reflected, and you may see prorated charges and credits on statements from the source and target accounts.

If these integrations aren't a factor, the next best option is to choose the QBOA with the most client files attached. This reduces the number of clients you need to migrate, which, in turn, minimizes risk and cleanup effort.

If your internal books are in a separate account from your other integrations, the best approach is to opt that specific account into the Intuit Accountant Suite.

Step 2: Preparing the target account

Once you've chosen your target account, a few preparatory steps are necessary.

• Opt-in to Intuit Accountant Suite: Ensure your chosen target account has been moved to the new platform.
• Confirm firm billing: Verify that your firm's billing is set up correctly in the target account.
• Recreate custom roles: If you use custom user roles in your source accounts, you must manually recreate them in the target account before the move.
• Back up client data: Download reports for the clients you’re moving.
• Confirm Subscription Type: The self-service transfer tool cannot move certain subscription types, including QuickBooks Self-Employed and Payroll-only clients.
• Review our How-to Guide: Review this guide and checklist to ensure you are clear on the process, timing, and expectations so you can successfully complete the move.

Step 3: Executing the move with the Client Transfer Tool

With your target account prepared, you can begin the migration. The process uses a self-service tool that automates moving clients, their associated users, documents, and lead accountant assignments.

• Log in to your target account as a primary or company admin.
• Navigate to the gear icon and select "Transfer client."
• Choose the source account you wish to move clients from.
• Select the specific clients you want to transfer. Their associated users will be copied over to the target account.
• Review the transfer log to confirm the move was successful.
• If you have more than one source account, simply repeat this process for each one.

Inactive QuickBooks Online subscriptions are not eligible for transfer. In order to transfer these accounts, you’ll need to reactivate them prior.

Handling Duplicate Clients

If a client exists in both the source and target accounts, you must keep the one with the billing relationship. If billing is in the target account, delete the duplicate from the source account. If billing is in the source account, you must delete the client from the target account before initiating the transfer.

Step 4: Post-move cleanup and communication

After the technical migration is complete, focus shifts to cleanup and communication.

In the target account:

• Communicate with Staff: Announce that the move is complete.
• Reconnect Apps: Instruct your team to manually reconnect any accountant-connected third-party apps. Client-connected apps should transfer seamlessly.
• Review Users: The tool will move over associated users, so review the user list and remove any inactive staff members who were brought over.

In the Source account(s):

• Inactivate Users: Inactivate any firm users who should no longer have access to the old account.
• Retire Unused accounts: To permanently retire a source account, create a dedicated "graveyard" email address (e.g., retiredqboa@yourfirm.com) and make it the primary admin. Then, log in to accounts.intuit.com with the new credentials, download a copy of your data for your records, and submit a request to permanently delete the old QBOA data.

Step 5: Ongoing maintenance for a healthy account

Consolidation is the first step toward better management. To maintain a clean and secure environment, implement a regular maintenance schedule:

• Review staff access: On a quarterly basis, review all staff access levels to ensure permissions are appropriate.
• Clean your client list: Monthly or quarterly, remove clients who are no longer engaged with your firm to keep your list current and manageable.

Find more information on Intuit Accountant Suite, see more information on the differences between QuickBooks Online Accountant and Intuit Accountant Suite.

Disclaimer

This information is intended to outline our general product direction, but represents no obligation and should not be relied on when making a purchasing decision. Additional terms, conditions and fees may apply with certain features and functionality. Eligibility criteria may apply. Product offers, features, and functionality are subject to change without notice. 

Features may be more broadly available soon.