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markon
Level 2

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Hi, I upgraded to QB Pro 2018 and created a new company from scratch, so it will only contain 2018 data onward. I would like to be able to have my 2010-2017 data from QB Pro 2010 available to use in QB Pro 2018, but as a separate company. So I would have the current 2018+ company: ExampleCompany.qbw - and the old company: ExampleCompany-2010.qbw

I'm thinking about doing this using this path: File > New Company > Other Options > Open Existing Company > Open or Restore Company > Restore a backup copy

The only thing that concerns me about that is that it takes me to the "Open or Restore Company" dialog window, which sounds like it might want to overwrite the current company (ExampleCompany.qbw) with the old data.

I walso want to make sure that I don't overwrite all of the custom forms and reports I created in the current company (ExampleCompany.qbw) with the old custom forms and reports.

I hope this all makes sense. Am I on the right track? Thanks for any ideas!
markon

Solved
Best answer February 02, 2018

Best Answers
NDLL
Level 3

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Markon, 

 

I had the same concern when I started my books over a few years back.  If you created the new company using begining balaces and didnt convert the old one your pre-existing compnay should still be 100% in tact.  You may be just fine doing it the way you mentioned, but i remember having the same concern. 

 

What I did was open the 'old' company from the folders section. For example c drive/intuit/QB/Sample company.  When you click on it will will ask if you want to convert the data in order to open with the new version os QBPro.  I also renamed the 'old' company to OLDSampleCompany2000-2011 so I would never click on the wrong one.  

 

Once it is converted you can easliy switch between the companies by using the log off feature - when it takes you back the the sign in screen it will list all of the companies you have recently opened.  

 

Hope this helps!

View solution in original post

markon
Level 2

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Well I did get this to work. It didn't work to double-click the QBB file itself. I got a message saying that you could only do that with QBW files. So I tried the following path, similar to my first post, and it worked great, financials all matched up:

File > Close Company > 'No Company Open' dialog box appears > Create a new company > Other Options > Open Existing File > 'Open or Restore Company' dialog box appears > Restore a backup copy > Local backup > Open Backup Copy (select the old QBB file that will become new company) > Save Company File as (rename the file!)

On the last step, it's important to rename the QBW file here because it defaults to the name of my current 2018 company, in my example: ExampleCompany.qbw. If I left it at the default, it would have overwritten that company. So it's important to backup your current company before you do any of this, just in case you slip and click twice on the previous step (or have an old mouse that registers an extra click from time to time).

While I was at it, I decided to see if I could add another new company for 2002-2009, using a backup created with QB 2002. That also worked without a hitch, financials all matched up with 2009 tax return. So now I have three separate companies I can switch to and from: 2018, 2010-2017, and 2002-2009. I should mention that all three of my versions were QB Desktop Pro. So maybe that had something to do with my success using this method?

One thing that I wondered about was how employee totals from 2010-2017 (QB Desktop Pro 2010) would be carried forward - because QB Desktop Pro 2018 doesn't offer the same limited payroll functionality, specifically "Pay Employees", where you could enter a paycheck and then "Open Paycheck Detail" where you could enter the details for all the tax amounts withheld, with it keeping a running total of each for your reports and financials. Also "Pay Payroll Liabilities", where you could pay the tax vendors. Because these payroll options are no longer offered in the stock Pro Desktop version, I thought the related totals might not be carried over and would cause my financials to be off. But instead, they were carried over and the new company was setup with all of the above payroll functions enabled. So if I wanted to, I could have just used this new company (ExampleCompany-2010.qbw) going forward in 2018 and had the old payroll functions available. I didn't do this though because these payroll functions were very limited, basically just keeping track of totals and providing screens for entering the paycheck and paying the tax vendors. I was always responsible for computing the taxes, which I kept in Excel. So I opted to stick with the new separate 2018 company going forward.

Thanks for the help!
markon

View solution in original post

10 Comments 10
NDLL
Level 3

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Markon, 

 

I had the same concern when I started my books over a few years back.  If you created the new company using begining balaces and didnt convert the old one your pre-existing compnay should still be 100% in tact.  You may be just fine doing it the way you mentioned, but i remember having the same concern. 

 

What I did was open the 'old' company from the folders section. For example c drive/intuit/QB/Sample company.  When you click on it will will ask if you want to convert the data in order to open with the new version os QBPro.  I also renamed the 'old' company to OLDSampleCompany2000-2011 so I would never click on the wrong one.  

 

Once it is converted you can easliy switch between the companies by using the log off feature - when it takes you back the the sign in screen it will list all of the companies you have recently opened.  

 

Hope this helps!

Rustler
Level 15

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

@markon

 

If you create a new company file, you can transfer the lists from the old to the new using menu file>utilities>export>lists to iif, and the same menu tree but import in the new file.  HOWEVER that is list info only, no transactions, no inventory stockage.

To create a new file from the old one and use the new going forward, the only reliabile accurate way to do it is using third party utilities. the first two utilities on this page.
 http://www.q2q.us/indexutilities.htm
I am not affiliated.

QBDT does have a utility to do that under the utilities menu, but it rarely works accurately.  If you want to try it, first from the present file print out all financial reports, inventory valueation summary, sales tax payable, etc

Use the utility, and print the same reports from the new file and compare them line by line, they must match, if any one does not, delete the new company file it is broken.

markon
Level 2

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Thanks NDLL. That sounds like what I want to do. When you clicked on the old QBB file from the folders section, was that QBB file from an older version of QB than the version you were creating the new company in?

markon
Level 2

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file


wrote:

@markon

 

To create a new file from the old one and use the new going forward, the only reliabile accurate way to do it is using third party utilities. the first two utilities on this page.
 http://www.q2q.us/indexutilities.htm
I am not affiliated.


Thanks Rustler. I think I'm going to try what NDLL mentioned above first, backing up everything first. Then like you said, compare the financials to make sure it matches. If not, I'll try these utilities.

NDLL
Level 3

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Yes it was.  For a while after creating the new company account I kept both versions of QB on my computer.  I had the new version and file on my server drive and the old version and company on my C drive.  I liked this b/c I could have both files open at the same time if I was researching something. Eventually I had to convert the old file to work on the new version due to a computer upgrade. This was a years ago so I think the new system ran on Windows XP and the old version of QB was no longer compatible. 

 

I also always kept the 'old' company on my C drive to add an additional safety guard.  In addition I would recommend doing an extra back up on a USB drive.  I do that anyway every year prior to condensing any files and file it with the appropriate year’s federal tax return. 

NDLL
Level 3

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Thanks for posting that link - may be some useful info for the future.  I have to admit I got a little excited thinking there would be an easier way to start a company file.  I last started them over in 2006 and plan to do so again next year.  The utility will not work for me since I run on a cash basis, guess I'll have to stick with the lengthy manual entry :(

 

BUT, I see some other really cool options on investigate when I have time.  Definitely getting bookmarked.

Rustler
Level 15

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

QB is accrual accounting, it only reports on cash basis if you choose to

those utilities will work

NDLL
Level 3

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

While that is correct there are other issues to consider.  For example I file my state sales tax on a cash basis.  The sales tax collected/owed will only appear on my sales tax liability report after I have applied a payment to an invoice.  Because of this if I were to 'start QB over' today I would have to enter all of the open customer invoices so that when payments are applied the sales tax liability report is correct.  If I were to transfer the balances in as beginning balances it would not separate out the sales tax. Granted the beginning balance on the sales tax payable liability would be correct, but since a customer may take several months to pay an invoice and I have over 50 separate tax codes this would be a disaster for me.

 

Manually entering a new company in QB is difficult, takes time, patients and should always be verified by you CPA, but it is possible and for a select few may still be the best solution.  *I have actually completed the process twice.

 

 

markon
Level 2

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

Well I did get this to work. It didn't work to double-click the QBB file itself. I got a message saying that you could only do that with QBW files. So I tried the following path, similar to my first post, and it worked great, financials all matched up:

File > Close Company > 'No Company Open' dialog box appears > Create a new company > Other Options > Open Existing File > 'Open or Restore Company' dialog box appears > Restore a backup copy > Local backup > Open Backup Copy (select the old QBB file that will become new company) > Save Company File as (rename the file!)

On the last step, it's important to rename the QBW file here because it defaults to the name of my current 2018 company, in my example: ExampleCompany.qbw. If I left it at the default, it would have overwritten that company. So it's important to backup your current company before you do any of this, just in case you slip and click twice on the previous step (or have an old mouse that registers an extra click from time to time).

While I was at it, I decided to see if I could add another new company for 2002-2009, using a backup created with QB 2002. That also worked without a hitch, financials all matched up with 2009 tax return. So now I have three separate companies I can switch to and from: 2018, 2010-2017, and 2002-2009. I should mention that all three of my versions were QB Desktop Pro. So maybe that had something to do with my success using this method?

One thing that I wondered about was how employee totals from 2010-2017 (QB Desktop Pro 2010) would be carried forward - because QB Desktop Pro 2018 doesn't offer the same limited payroll functionality, specifically "Pay Employees", where you could enter a paycheck and then "Open Paycheck Detail" where you could enter the details for all the tax amounts withheld, with it keeping a running total of each for your reports and financials. Also "Pay Payroll Liabilities", where you could pay the tax vendors. Because these payroll options are no longer offered in the stock Pro Desktop version, I thought the related totals might not be carried over and would cause my financials to be off. But instead, they were carried over and the new company was setup with all of the above payroll functions enabled. So if I wanted to, I could have just used this new company (ExampleCompany-2010.qbw) going forward in 2018 and had the old payroll functions available. I didn't do this though because these payroll functions were very limited, basically just keeping track of totals and providing screens for entering the paycheck and paying the tax vendors. I was always responsible for computing the taxes, which I kept in Excel. So I opted to stick with the new separate 2018 company going forward.

Thanks for the help!
markon

NDLL
Level 3

Creating new company in QB Pro 2018 from QB Pro 2010 QBB file

@markon

 

I want to thank you for posting your solution!  As I mentioned in my other posts it has been quite a while since I completed the process and I am looking to start my books over next year.  Your post 100% makes sense and will ease a little of my anxiety when the time comes.

 

I have saved a copy of your post for future reference whent he time comes. 

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