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Make a copy of your QuickBooks Online Advanced company

by Intuit•93• Updated a day ago

Learn how to make a copy of your QuickBooks Online Advanced company to start a new one.

Copy your QuickBooks Online Advanced company to safely test changes or start a new company with the same data. This saves you time and eliminates possible data loss issues.

Note: In the next steps, we'll name the original company with your current data “Company A”. Then, we'll name the new blank company where we want to copy the data “Company B”.

  • You can name these companies anything you prefer.
  • Company A can use a QuickBooks Online account while Company B should use a QuickBooks Online Advanced account.
  • The primary admin and user should be the same for both the source and target companies.

If you only need to save your accounting data, you can review what data you can and can't back up.

Let's create a new company for you to copy to (Company B), then replace it with Company A’s info. Make sure of the following:

  • Company B shouldn’t have data and should have a QuickBooks Online Advanced account.
  • Company B should have a unique name.
  • Company B should be signed out once you're done setting up

Important: Company A and Company B should have the same lists setup. If they don't, you may see an error when copying data. For example:

  • The chart of accounts must all have the same number of accounts and the same account names.
  • All the Sales Tax Agencies must have the same name if you use Sales Tax.
  • The products and service bundle items must be created in Company B exactly as they are listed in Company A. This makes sure that the copy is complete and has no issues.

When you set up online backup and restore for both source and target companies, make sure to:

  • Turn on backup for Company A.
  • Turn off backup for Company B only.
  • Turn off all automation settings in both Company A and B:
    1. Go to Settings âš™, then from the YOUR COMPANY column, select Account and settings.
    2. From the Account and settings window, select Advanced.
    3. In the Automation section, turn off each option, then select Save.

Now, here’s how we'll copy the data from Company A to Company B.

  1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account with Company A.
  2. Go to Settings âš™, then from the TOOLS, select Back up company.
  3. Select Copy tab, then select Create Copy. Make sure the source company is Company A.
  4. In the Copy To â–Ľ dropdown, make sure the list includes Company B. If not, follow these steps:
    1. Select Add company.
    2. Select the Select Company â–Ľ dropdown.
    3. Select the company that's not yet listed in your Copy To list.
    4. Select Continue.
      Note: Make sure the Add company list includes Company B in the Copy To â–Ľ dropdown.
  1. Set the Date and Time of the backup you want to copy.
  2. Select Continue.
  1. Go to Settings âš™, then select Back up company.
  2. Select the Backups tab.
  3. Select the dropdown â–Ľ next to View for the backup date you want to copy from.
  4. Select Copy, then select your target company in Copy To.
    Note: The date and time is automatically selected.
  5. Select Continue.

After you make a copy of the company, you’ll be directed to the Backup and Restore Copy Precheck page. Follow these steps:

  1. From the Pre-Copy Configuration Check tab, select Next. If that option isn't available, read the message and select Take me there to fix it.
  2. In the Pre-Copy Confirmation Step, select the box, then Next.
  3. In the All Set tab, select Start Copy.

Depending on the amount of data you have, the time for completion of the copy may vary.

When you copy your company from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online Advanced, some data could appear unreadable. This also means that Online Backup and Restore won't save it.

Note: New journal entries might appear on your balance sheet. When the tool can't read your data, it may create journal entries to keep everything balanced. This can happen if you:

  • Make multiple copies generated in QuickBooks Online Advanced Backup and Restore.
  • Make duplicate lists and accounts.

The tool cannot delete them, so it makes them inactive. This increases the count for all lists and accounts affected.

If this happens, it’s best to purge the target company first before you copy data from the source company again.

Tip: Avoid making many copies for the same target company.

If you see an error message during the backup, you can select the Help(?) icon to contact the Support team. Select the Search tab, then select Contact Us to continue. We'll work with you and make sure to fix the error and get your company data into QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Online Advanced