Hi there dfmoffatt,
Congratulations on making the move from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. I know you'll love the ability to work on your company's books from anywhere. When it comes to importing your data into QuickBooks Online from your backup file, you have a few options. Let me go over those with you.
The first option I want to go over is migrating the data directly from QuickBooks Desktop. It sounds like you don't have a version of QuickBooks Desktop available to you anymore. If that's the case you can download a free trial of our QBDT 2021 software, open your company file, and use it to migrate seamlessly to QBO. Check out the fantastic article below that gives step-by-step instructions on how to migrate your data this way.
Our Data Services team also offers an option that allows you to upload your company file, so that they can do the work for you. This option is recommended if your company file is particularly large. You'll need to start out by creating a ticket and then using LeapFile to upload your data. Here's all the information you need to know on this migration option: QuickBooks Data Services FAQ. You may need to reach out the our QuickBooks Desktop support team in order to kickstart this process. Here's how to contact us.
If you're comfortable unzipping the backup file to access the individual Excel files that contain your journal entries, customers, suppliers, etc. I want to show you a third option for migrating your data. Within QuickBooks Online you can import data in the form of Excel or .CSV files. Please follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Gear icon.
- Select Import data.
- Choose from Bank Data, Customers, Suppliers, Chart of Accounts, Products and Services, Invoices, Journal Entries, and Bills.
- Download the corresponding sample file to ensure that your file is formatted correctly.
- Browse and locate your file.
- Click Next and follow the prompts to map your data.
This final option is slightly more time-consuming than the first option, but is effective nonetheless. Before you decide on a method and get started with migrating your data, it's important that you know What to expect when you switch from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. Make note of what data will and won't convert so that you're prepared for the next steps once the migration is complete. It's also important to note that your QBO company must be completely empty, and you must refrain from entering data while the migration is taking place. If your QBO subscription is over 60 days old you may run into some difficulties, but it's nothing reaching out to support can't resolve.
If you run into any trouble or have any questions, feel free to use the contact link I shared above, or reach out here in the Community again. I'm here to help!
