merging two companies in QB Desktop

ChristophS · ‎January 13, 2023

Hello,

We have been running two separate company files for many years. They are reflecting two quite separate branches of the same company. Currently we use an Excel sheet to combine the two accounts for the purpose of tax, audit, etc.

We'd like to combine these two companies files now while still retaining some separation which would help with day to day financial management. I was thinking of something as simple as an additional hierarchy level in the charts of accounts for "Branch 1" and "Branch 2" with all the accounts below their branch and something similar for customers, etc.

I believe there is no automatic way to do this and also no third party tool available. But can I somehow export all data from QB Desktop into Excel or another editable format? I imagine I could then use VBA to go through all the entries and combine the companies, create the new hierarchy and import the resulting files back into QB.

Thank you

Christoph

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎January 13, 2023

You need to consolidating the file for reporting only, correct?

ChristophS · ‎January 13, 2023

No, I'd like to combine them because 1) we'll be moving over to QB Online and would like to avoid having to have two licenses and 2) QB can't combine the two VAT returns and we need to make manual adjustments to one to include the figures from the other. That's OK at the moment but we've been told it won't be accepted anymore in the future.

Thank you

Fiat Lux - ASIA · ‎January 13, 2023

You can purchase a 3rd party service to merge those company files or convert them directly into one QBO account. You may ask to use the class tracking or location feature to separate transactions from the old files. Click on my profile name and you will find our website address to send an email to.

GeorgiaC · ‎January 13, 2023

Hi Christoph, thanks for your post - there's no real way to combine two desktop files; you can export for transactions but there's no way to import these back in via spreadsheet as the import options are for customers, suppliers and stock items only (i.e. no transactional data). It's also worth noting that all UK desktop products will be discontinued in June 2023, and undertaking a task such as this may be time consuming. :)

ChristophS · ‎January 13, 2023

Yes, that's why we're looking at it at the moment.

Initially, we can start with two QB Online licenses and continue the same way we've done so far. If we were able to merge the company files before that, we'd only need one license which would of course be preferrable.

VAT returns are a bigger issue for me. I believe there's no date yet when HMRC won't accept "adjusted" returns anymore but of course I'd like to know about possible solutions well in advance of that.

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merging two companies in QB Desktop