Transferring Xero data to QuickBooks Online

You can move your Xero data over to QuickBooks Online using Dataswitcher, Intuit's partner in data conversion. See below to learn how to convert your data.

• Limitations
• Pre-migration checklist
• How to start your data conversion
• Post-migration checklist

How does the transfer process work?

How long will it take to transfer my data?

The process of transferring data takes, on average, about 1 hour from the time you begin your data transfer.

While most migrations are completed within a few hours or even minutes, some may take up to 24 hours. reach out to our support team if the transfer has been longer than 24 hours.

How will my business data be protected?

Your business data is protected in the following ways:

• As long as you use the online form to upload, your data is protected using industry-standard SSL encryption.
• Your data is governed by Intuit’s Data Stewardship Principles.

Limitations

What Xero Data will not be transferred?

The following data types cannot be transferred at this time:

• Budgets
• Multicurrency
• Memorised transactions
• Invoice template and other templates
• Sales orders
• Payroll records
• Projects
• Attachments
• Non-posting entries (quotes)

Transfer limitations

The following limitations of service can occur when you are transferring from Xero to QuickBooks Online using Dataswitcher:

Opening balance for transactions outside transfer period

Transactions outside the transfer period will be consolidated into an automatically-calculated balance for both GL accounts, customers and suppliers. As a part of your free transfer, Dataswitcher will transfer for the last two financial years. Transactions from all prior years will be consolidated into an automatically-calculated opening balance unless extra years are purchased.

If the profit and loss and balance sheets don't align, Dataswitcher will add a balance line for retained earnings called undistributed profits.

If you don't want to buy additional years but still want comparative balances, you can divide the Dataswitcher opening balance transaction post-transfer into multiple years.

GST is transferred as a line item

If you choose the standard Dataswitcher package, Dataswitcher applies GST from Xero as a line item. This provides a higher-quality transfer that closes financially. However, you’ll need to check this for your first GST report - this is a one-time process.

You'll need to:

• Reclassify GST (in the migrated account) to GST system account in QuickBooks
• Post a GST Adjustment journal to capture the GST on sales and purchases, so you can lodge your next activity statement

Matching journal entries with related credits

The transfer is unable to match related credits to their respective journal entries. The journal entries will still be posted, but they will remain unlinked. Although this isn't a mandatory step, we advise you to match these entries in Xero prior to the transfer.

Inventory

For QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced customers, Dataswitcher supports up to 1,000 items with inventory. Code, inventory code, location, name, and description are posted. Current inventory, purchase, and sales price are also posted. Income and asset account aren't posted to QuickBooks.

Departments and projects

Tracking classes in Xero will become Locations in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced.

Journal Merge

Xero keeps a very detailed journal history for all operations. Because of an overabundance of information on the Customers/Suppliers level, journals will be merged as they relate to Credits, Prepayments, and Overpayments in order to maintain an accurate balance on all accounts. This means that older period reports might not represent the correct balance at that time, even if all the current and outstanding balances are fine.

Pre-migration checklist

Before you start migrating your data, it’s a good idea to set a lock date on your Xero organisation, so that no changes can be made by other users during the conversion.

The following steps are required prior to uploading your file for transfer:

• If you have an existing QuickBooks Online company file that you have used in any way, you will need to cancel your subscription and create a new account. Data cannot be migrated into a QuickBooks Online company file that has existing data contained within it. If you’ve purchased QuickBooks within the last 90 days, you also have the option to delete your data and start again.
• If you need to migrate Tracking to QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced, please make sure that you enable this in QiuckBooks before starting the conversion.
• Reconcile all your bank and/or credit card accounts to the most recent statement possible. After reconciling, make a note of the balances on your bank account. You’ll need this when preparing the post-transfer reconciliation in your QuickBooks Online company file.
• File your quarterly GST return for the remaining quarter. If you use Cash-based accounting, it is advised you wait to migrate until directly after close (and reconciliation) of a GST period.
• You’ll also need to extract all open invoices and credits.

To file your quarterly GST return in Xero:

1. Select Reports from the Accounting menu.
2. Select the Tax Return option.
3. Select View under Looking to see Sales tax/GST Transactions for your own date range?
4. Select the data range. The date range is the start of the quarter until the current date (that is, transfer date).
5. Select Display.
6. Export the report to a PDF.

After the transfer, this information will be used to generate a full report. This is done by adding the amounts in the boxes together in the old and new software.

Publish or extract the following reports to check your data after the transfer:

• Profit and Loss until transfer date
• Trial Balance until transfer date
• Balances on your bank accounts

Print a list of outstanding invoices of your customers and suppliers per transfer date.

Extract the following data for auditing purposes:

• GST Summary or Details report
• Account transactions

Turn on GST

Note: You can skip these steps if your business isn’t registered for GST.

It’s important that GST be turned on in QuickBooks Online with the correct information such as the lodging frequency before you start using it:

1. In QuickBooks Online, go to GST.
2. Follow the prompts to turn on GST.
   Note: Find out more about how to Set up GST and BAS in QuickBooks Online.

Start transferring your data to QuickBooks Online

Visit the Dataswitcher migration wizard to get started.

1. Prepare your current Xero file for conversion, ensuring your QuickBooks Online file is set up correctly.
2. Enter your email address to give your consent for the migration of the Xero data to QuickBooks Online.
3. You’ll be taken to Dataswitcher migration wizard to sign in or sign up and begin migrating your data.
4. Select the Dataswitcher package that suits your needs.
5. Select how many years of Xero data you wish to have transferred, as well as any optional add-ons, such as Inventory, that you may require. You can select up to 2 years of data. 
6. Log in to Xero, select your organisation and click on Allow Access to give Dataswitcher consent to access your Xero file via secure server for migration to QuickBooks Online.
7. Click Connect to QuickBooks Online 2.0 and select your company and file you set up on the pre-migration checklist, then click Connect.
8. Resolve any issues, then click Start conversion and the data transfer will begin.
9. You'll receive a link so you can follow the process of your data transer. Make sure you don’t use QuickBooks Online before you receive an email confirming that your data has been successfully transferred.

Start using QuickBooks Online

Important: Make sure you don’t use QuickBooks Online before you receive an email confirming that your data has been successfully transferred. Otherwise, your data may not migrate properly.

Once you’ve  received a confirmation email letting you know you data has been transferred, you can start using QuickBooks Online.

You may reach out to our support team if you have questions about any of these tasks.

Post-migration checklist

Although we try to make data conversions as comprehensive as possible, there are still a few tasks you'll need to perform before you start using QuickBooks Online. It's best to complete these as soon as possible before you make any changes to the data or enter new transactions.

Enter your company information and fiscal start month

Company information includes elements such as address, phone, email, and more.

1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Account and settings.
2. In the Company tab, enter your company and contact information.
3. Update or verify the email addresses to ensure billing and customer communications are handled correctly.
4. Enter the email address in the Company email box where you would like to receive the monthly invoices for your QuickBooks Online subscription.
   Note: If you don't want to use the company email address for your customers to contact you, enter the email address in the Customer-facing email box that you want your customers to associate with your business.
5. Select Save.

Set the Fiscal Start month:

1. Select the Advanced tab.
2. Select the first month of your financial year from the First month of financial year ▼ dropdown.
3. Select Save, then select Done.

Check your data by comparing reports

We suggest you compare the following reports in QuickBooks Online and in Xero to ensure that your data was transferred correctly.

To verify your reports, run the following reports via This Year in QuickBooks Online:

• Balance Sheet
• Trial Balance
• A/R Ageing Summary
• A/P Ageing Summary
• Profit and Loss
• GST/Sales tax report

Reconcile your bank and credit card accounts

Note: It is critical that you complete this step before connecting your bank and credit card accounts to online banking.

Since you have not yet performed a bank reconciliation in QuickBooks Online, it assumes that no bank transactions have been reconciled.

You need to tell QuickBooks Online to mark all transactions up to the conversion date as reconciled, so that it only considers future transactions for reconciliation:

1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Reconcile.
2. Select a relevant bank account from the Account ▼ dropdown.
3. Enter an Ending balance and an Ending date.
4. Enter any other information as required depending upon the bank account you've selected.
5. Select Start reconciling. A list of transactions displays.
6. Tick the box in the header row to select all transactions in the list.
7. Untick the transactions that are not yet cleared. When the difference is zero you have completed these steps successfully.
8. Select Finish now, then select Done.
9. Repeat the above steps for all bank and credit card accounts in QuickBooks Online.