Combine reports from multiple company files

Learn how to combine your financial reports from multiple QuickBooks Desktop company files.

Have an organised and better overview of your companies’ financial behaviour by combining reports using QuickBooks Desktop, a third party application, or Excel.

Before you combine reports, take note of the following:

• To make combined reports easier to read, make your chart of accounts in the company files as identical as you can.
• Accounts will be combined if they have the same name, same type, and are at the same hierarchical level in each report.
  Note: Account names are not case sensitive.
• Accounts that will not be combined are:
  • Accounts at different levels. For example, telephone account is not combined with telephone subaccount.
  • Spelling differences. For example, telephone is not combined with phone.
  • Different account numbers.
  • Accounts with and without account number.
• Accounts are listed by type. Within each type, the accounts are listed in the order of changes on the first company file. Then, accounts from other company files are added in the order they are encountered.
• You may need to log in to your files and switch them to multi-user mode.

Option 1: Combine reports in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

In QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, you can combine reports from multiple company files. These are:

• Balance Sheet Standard
• Balance Sheet Summary
• Profit & Loss Standard
• Profit & Loss by Class
• Statement of Cash Flows
• Trial Balance

To combine reports:

1. From the QuickBooks Reports menu, select Combine Reports from Multiple Companies.
2. Select Add Files, locate the other company file, then choose Open. Repeat for additional files.
3. Under Select reports for combining, select the reports you want to combine.
4. Select the report From and To date range, then select a report basis.
5. Select Combine Reports in Excel. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet will open with the combined information.

Option 2: Use a third-party software

The Intuit Marketplace offers applications that work with QuickBooks Desktop. Some of these produce combined reports from multiple company files.

Option 3: Manually export reports from each file and combine using Microsoft Excel

1. Open your first company file.
2. On the selected report, export to an Excel worksheet and save the workbook.
3. Open the second company file.
4. Create the same report, then export to a new worksheet in the same workbook and Save.
5. Open Microsoft Excel and open the workbook.
6. Manually combine the two reports into a third worksheet.
7. Save the workbook.