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Use the Accountant's Copy

Learn how to use the Accountant's Copy and know more about its limitations in QuickBooks Desktop.

Creating an Accountant's Copy is the way to go if you need your accountant to review your books and continue working on your company file at the same time. And with the Accountant's Copy file transfer feature, the file is saved in Intuit server, where you can start secured data exchange with your accountant.

Important:
  • Ensure Accountant's Copy and QuickBooks Desktop versions are compatible.
    If an accountant makes changes using features that aren't available in the client's version of QuickBooks Desktop, changes will not import to the client's file. That's why you need to upgrade your file when you open an Accountant's Copy in newer version of QuickBooks Desktop.
    Ideally, the client and accountant using the Accountant's Copy feature should use the same version or year of QuickBooks Desktop. But don't worry, you can still work on the Accountant's Copy using a different version as long as the gap between the versions is just one year, and the accountant has a more recent version.

    For example:

    • Client: QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier 2020
      Accountant: QuickBooks Desktop Premier Accountant Edition 2020
    • Client: QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier 2019
      Accountant: QuickBooks Desktop Premier Accountant Edition 2019 or 2020
    • Client: QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 2020
      Accountant: QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Accountant Edition 2020
    • Client: QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 2019
      Accountant: QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Accountant Edition 2019 or 2020
  • Set the dividing date to define the fiscal period the accountant can work on.
    • Accountants can only modify transactions that fall on or before the dividing date.
    • While clients can only modify transactions in their working file that fall after the dividing date, to prevent conflict or the possibility of overwriting changes.

Note: If you need to void Accountant's Copy, remove the accountant's copy restriction.

Accountant's Copy workflow

There are two workflows you can follow:

  • Accountant's Copy manual workflow - If accountant uses QuickBooks Accountant Edition but not an active ProAdvisor.
    You and your accountant can exchange Accountant's Copy file on a USB, attach it on email, or share it through cloud service like Box. You can send back the updated version in the same way. Check out on how to create an Accountant's Copy for specific details.
  • Accountant's Copy file transfer (ACFT) workflow -If accountant has an active ProAdvisor membership.
    The ACFT feature lets you and your accountant exchange Accountant's Copy files through Intuit's secure server. Check out on how the accountant's file transfer works to learn more.

Here's how Accountant's Copy with file transfer feature works:

Step 1: For Client

  1. Create Accountant's Copy to send to accountant.
  2. You can continue to work on current items in the working file (.QBW).

Here, QuickBooks Desktop saves the Accountant's Copy as an export file (.QBX) to the Intuit server, which triggers the system to send an email with a download link to the accountant.

Step 2: For Accountant

  1. Access and open the file to create working file (.QBA).
  2. Save your changes and corrections, creating an import file (.QBY), which is saved to the Intuit server.

The client can now open this import file to apply the accountant's changes to the company file.

Accountant's Copy limitations

Here's what you can and can't do in Accountant's Copy.

For Clients

For Accountants

The Essential Accountant's Copy Guide

This article is part of a series about Accountant's Copy in QuickBooks. To learn more about this feature, check the following articles: