Change sub-customers into projects QuickBooks Online

Step 1: Turn on Projects

If you haven't already, turn on the Projects feature.

Step 2: Review your sub-customer settings

Before you can convert a sub-customer, adjust these settings:

1. Go to Projects (Take me there).
2. Find and select the sub-customer. If the status is Not started, select In progress from the Status dropdown▼.
3. Select the sub-customer's profile, then select Edit.
4. Make sure you select the Is a sub-customer checkbox.
5. Review and select the parent customer. This is the account that's connected to the project.
6. Select Bill parent customer checkbox, then select Save.

Step 3: Check the parent customer for the sub-customer

Make sure the sub-customer is connected to only one parent customer. It can't be a sub-customer of a sub-customer.

1. Go to Projects (Take me there).
2. Find and select the sub-customer.
3. Select the sub-customer's profile, then select Edit.
4. From the Parent customer dropdown, select the parent company. Then, select Save.

Also, make sure your sub-customer doesn't have any sub-customers:

1. Go to Projects (Take me there).
2. Check for any sub-customers of the sub-customer you want to convert.
3. Select the sub-customer's profile, then select Edit.
4. Select and uncheck the Is a sub-customer checkbox. If there are more sub-customers, remove them as well.
5. Select Save.

Step 4: Convert a sub-customer to a project

You can either create a new project from a sub-customer or merge the sub-customer with an existing project.

Create a new project from a sub-customer

This wipes the slate clean. Your sub-customer's existing transactions won't transfer over.

1. Go to Projects (Take me there).
2. Select the New project ▼ dropdown and then Convert from sub-customer. Or,  look for the Do you organize sub-customers as projects? message and select the Convert now link.
   
3. Select the sub-customer you want to convert.
4. Select Convert, then select Continue to confirm. Remember, your existing transactions won't transfer over.

This creates a brand new project. Now you can go to the Projects menu to start working on it.

Merge a sub-customer with an existing project

This transfers your existing sub-customer transactions to an existing project.

1. Go to Projects (Take me there).
2. Find the project you want to merge your sub-customer with.
3. Copy the name of the project.
4. Go to Projects (Take me there).
5. Find and select the sub-customer.
6. Select the sub-customer's profile, then select Edit.
7. In the edit window, change the Customer display name to match the project name exactly.
8. Select Save.

Note: Your sub-customer info such as addresses, tax code, and payment and billing info won't transfer over to the project.

Follow "Step 4: Add existing expenses to a project" and "Step 5: Add existing timesheets to a project" in the main project article. Use these steps to add any transaction to a project.

If you migrate to QuickBooks Online from QuickBooks Desktop, you'll see jobs as sub-customers. To start using projects, follow the previous sections. You can either change your sub-customers into Projects or move specific transactions.

Projects are very similar to the Jobs in QuickBooks Desktop. In QuickBooks Online, project tracking only works with transactions of a project.