How do I make a portable backup copy to send to my accountant from Quickbooks Online

Where does your accountant live? Ask your accountant to sign up for a free QBO Accountant account to access your QBO account. Otherwise, you will have to purchase a third-party service to convert your data. This won't be relevant unless you want to switch to QB Desktop.

Hi J-Lee, thanks for reaching out in the Community! 

I'd be happy to provide some information on making a portable backup copy of QuickBooks to send to your accountant. 

As mentionned above, your accountant can sign up for a free Accountants account to review/access your company data. After your accountant has signed up, you can invite them to your company by following these steps:

1. Sign in to your QBO account.
2. Click the Gear icon in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Select Manage Users.
4. Click the Add user button.
5. Select the Accountant user type.
6. Enter your accountant’s email address and click Next.
7. Choose the access rights you want to give your accountant.
8. Click Invite.

Your accountant will receive an email invitation to join your QBO account. They will need to accept the invitation and create their own login credentials to access your account.

Otherwise, to create a portable backup copy of your QuickBooks Online company file, you would need to migrate towards QuickBooks Desktop. 

Once migrated, you can use these steps to create a portable company file:

1. Update QuickBooks Desktop to the latest version.
2. Open your company file in QuickBooks Desktop.
3. Go to the File menu and select Create Copy.
4. Select Portable company file and click Next.
5. Choose a location to save the file and click Save.

Once you have created the portable company file, you can send it to your accountant. They will need to have QuickBooks Desktop to open the file. 

I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to reach back out.

My accountant is based in Ontario, Canada. My books are on QBO but he works in QB Desktop only. 

Thanks for your response. Can you help clarify and provide instructions for how to migrate QBO to QB Desktop?

Do you have any recommendations for a third party software that could create the portable copy? 

@J-Lee 

I would recommend to find another accountant for your case. But if you prefer to keep your current accountant, you may contact me in private and we will introduce you to a 3rd party service provider in the US. They can convert your data from QB Online Canadian to QB Desktop Canadian version.

Hello J-Lee. Just to add to the valuable info provided above, you can automatically transfer your data from one program to another using a third-party migration app. You can search for these apps on our app store www.apps.com. You also have the option of manually transferring your data from QBO to QBDT while keeping the Online version active.  Since QBO is separate from QBDT, you'll have to manually export your data out of QBO to QBDT. Here's how to export your reports:

1. Select the Settings ⚙ and then Export Data.
2. On the Reports tab, set the date range.
3. Add or remove items from the Reports and Lists tabs by toggling the slider.
4. Select Export to Excel.

I encourage you to check out the articles below as they also provide more export options out of QBO:

Export reports, lists, and other data from QuickBooks Online

Export your reports to Excel from QuickBooks Online

Once you have the desired information in Excel, you can then import the data into QuickBooks Desktop. There are several options for going about this, so I recommend reviewing those steps within this article: Import or export MS Excel files. Here are some other helpful resources that show you how to: 

• Download QuickBooks Desktop
• Install QuickBooks Desktop

If you're completely moving your accounting from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop, I recommend reviewing this article as well: Move lists and balances from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop. This resource gives a comprehensive explanation of the process, and what order to complete the steps in. Let me know if you have other questions, I'm here to help steer you in the right direction. 

This is why I detest Quick Books. Nothing is simple or easy. Everything is set up to force every one involved to comply with QB's demands. This is a really simple question. How do I send the file to my CPA.  The answers given... find a new CPA that complies with QB.   Nonsense.  If there is an Accountants hell.... my prayer is that you are sent there.

@MedLicense 

Are you using QB Online or QB Desktop?