Details from a backup of Company A are not populating when I copy it to Company B. What's going on?

It's good to have you here, Dawn. I'll provide information about copying a business file for another company and guide you on how to successfully perform this task.

First, I'd like to know how you copied Company A to populate it into Company B.

Please be aware that there are certain data elements you cannot back up from Company A. This can be the reasons why estimates aren't linked to the invoices after copying them into Company B. These elements include:

• QuickBooks Online Payments info
• Customer types and price rules
• Delayed credits and charges (although associated invoices are backed up)
• Recurring transactions
• Bank feeds and their links to transactions and bank rules
• Account-based billable expenses
• Item-based billable expenses with markup
• Custom reports
• Custom form templates
• Audit log entries
• Reconciliation reports do not move/back up
• Reconciled transactions do not remain reconciled

Additionally, ensure that Company B is a blank file so you can overwrite it with Company A's information. You must also have a QuickBooks Online (QBO) Advanced subscription. Furthermore, everything in both companies should be set up and named identically; otherwise, an error will occur when copying the data.

For more information and correct setup instructions, you can read this article: Make a copy of your QuickBooks Online Advanced company.

If all details are correct and aligned with your actions but the issue persists, I recommend contacting QBO Advanced Support to help identify the root cause and provide a resolution so you can successfully copy your company.

Once you have successfully copied the company, you can use this article to help modify your company settings: Change your business name, contact info, or EIN in QuickBooks Online.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have further questions about copying and importing data from your companies. The Community is always here to help. Thank you, and have a great day.

The article you linked is exactly what I followed to copy the company.  I also spent many hours on the phone with customer service reps during the backup process which took over 24 hours.  The article does not mention anything about invoices not staying linked to the estimates after transfer to new company. I have since discovered that the billable expenses are not linked to invoices as well.  Frankly, this new company file is useless to me if the project history does not copy.  I cannot bill against the estimate without knowing what has already been billed.  It just doesn't work.  

I upgraded to QBO Advanced in order to access the backup>copy feature, and it was my understanding that I would also receive a higher level of support.  Today I spent two hours on the phone most of which was waiting on a "next level" support person to advise.  I still don't have an answer.  Can you please provide a phone number which I can call to expedite this issue?  Every time I call, I have to explain my situation from the beginning regardless if the previous rep took notes or not.  I would greatly appreciate some guidance so I can get back to actually running my business.  

I see the importance of transferring all the data to another company to help you seamlessly run your business tasks, Dawn.

When transferring data to a new company file, certain items, such as estimates linked to invoices and any billable expenses that have been previously invoiced, will become unlinked. This is part of the limitation when you copy the data to another QuickBooks Online Advanced account

If you'd like to link them again, you can delete/re-create the existing invoices and then convert the estimate back to an invoice. I'll show you how:

1. Go to the Sales menu, click Invoice, and locate the Invoices you wish to delete.
2. From the Action column, tap the dropdown and select Delete.
3. Re-create the invoices you deleted, then proceed to link the estimates.
4. Open the Invoice and click Manage. 
5. Click the dropdown under Suggestions.
6. Select Suggested transactions. 
7. Click on Add to link the estimates. 
8. Once done, click Save.

On the other hand, you can also manually change the status of the estimate to "Closed." However, note that this will not link the estimate to the invoice.

You may visit our QuickBooks Online Support article to get the phone number you need.

Moreover, you can personalize and add specific info to your sales forms. To know more about it, you can check out the detailed steps in this article: Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.

You can always let us know whenever you have other questions about transferring data concerns. We're always here to help in any way we can.