Make a copy of your QuickBooks Online Advanced company

Learn how to create a copy of an existing QuickBooks Online Advanced company and use it to start a new one. This feature is only available for QuickBooks Online Advanced.

Want to create a new company and not start everything from scratch? You can copy an existing QuickBooks Advanced company and overwrite a blank one. You can even select the exact time and date you want to copy the data from.

Data you can't back up

• 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

If you just need to save your accounting data, here's how to back up everything.

Note: In the following steps, the source company with all the data will be named "Company A" and the company we want the data to download to will be named "Company B". You're free to name these companies however you please. Both companies need to be QuickBooks Online Advanced accounts. This action must be done by the Primary admin of both the source company and the target company.

Step 1: Create a blank company file

Let's create a copy of Company A. We’ll call this blank company file Company B and then overwrite it with Company A’s information. Company B should be empty and have a QuickBooks Online Advanced account. Give Company B a unique name so it's easy to tell apart. Sign out when you're done.

IMPORTANT: Everything in both Company A and Company B must be setup and named the same, otherwise an error may occur when copying data. For example, the chart of accounts must all have the same number of accounts and the same account names. Also, if you use Sales Tax, all the Sales Tax Agencies must have the same exact name.

Step 2: Set up the Online Backup & Restore feature

If you haven't already, turn on the Online Backup & Restore feature for the companies you want to make a copy of and export data to. To do this:

1. Follow the steps to “Turn on the Online Backup & Restore app for your QuickBooks Online Advanced data” for both Company A and B.
2. Next, follow the steps to “Turn off automatic backup” for Company B only.
3. Then, turn off all automation settings in both Company A and B:
   1. Go to Settings ⚙, then Account and settings.
   2. Select Advanced, then Automation.
   3. In the Automation section, turn off each option, then select Save.

You should now see both companies listed on the Home page of your Online Backup & Restore app, and only Company A has backup enabled.

Step 3: Copy a QuickBooks Online Advanced company

Now we’ll copy the data from Company A to Company B.

1. Be sure to be signed in to Company A.
2. Go to Settings ⚙, then select Back up company.
3. Source Company A and target Company B should both be listed on the Online Backup & Restore homepage.
4. From the Action ▼ dropdown menu, select Copy... for Company A.
5. Verify that Copy from has Company A listed.
6. In the As-of field, select the date and time of the backup you want to restore.
7. Verify that Copy to has Company B listed. This is the company we're overwriting and copying to.
8. Select Create Copy.
9. Type Company B’s name.
10. Select Copy to confirm you want to overwrite Company B with a copy of Company A.

You'll receive an email once the copy from Company A to Company B has finished. Depending on the amount of data you have, times for completion may vary.

Next steps: Fix copy and restore issues

Did you migrate your company from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online Advanced? Some data may come over that isn't readable in QuickBooks Online. That also means the Online Backup and Restore feature won't save it.

This is very uncommon, but if you see an error message during the backup, select the Contact Us link in the app. We'll work with you to fix the error and get the data into QuickBooks.

It's also very uncommon, but you may see new journal entries on your balance sheet. The tool may create journal entries when it can't read your data to make sure everything stays balanced. You may see these journal entries if you:

• Changed an item's expense account, but didn't update open or existing transactions.
• Used account-based lines marked as billable on bills or expenses for sales forms (invoices, sales receipts and so on).
• Used item-based lines marked as billable and using markup on bills or expenses for sales forms (invoices, sales receipts and so on).
• Imported transactions from QuickBooks Desktop using custom Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable accounts.
• Migrated data from QuickBooks Desktop that QuickBooks Online Advanced can't read.