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Learn how features and data move from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop

by Intuit•17• Updated 1 week ago

Find out how your books will move from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop.

When you move from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop, you may notice differences in how your books appear. Don’t worry, we’ll help you understand how your books were moved.

Before you move you’ll need a recent version of QuickBooks Desktop installed before you start. You can download a trial to use as an alternative.

How your books move from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop

Features

Moves to QuickBooks Desktop	Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop
	Multi-Currency • Your move may fail, leading to an empty QuickBooks Desktop file. • Transactions not in United States Dollars (USD) will copy as USD.
	Payroll • Once you setup a payroll subscription or manual payroll in QuickBooks Desktop you can create paychecks.
Reconcile • All reconciled transactions will have a bold checkmark in the cleared column. • All cleared transactions will have a light checkmark in the cleared column.	Budgets • Reconciliation reports won’t move.
Sales Tax • Sales tax listed as line items on invoices. • Sales tax items and rates move as service items. • Sales tax payments and adjustments won’t move.
Projects • Projects move to QuickBooks Desktop as Customer Jobs.

Lists

QuickBooks Desktop has list and field limits. When lists or fields exceed these limits, they're shortened. To review the limits, check out:

Moves to QuickBooks Desktop	Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop
Chart of accounts • Account detail types don't move. • Account numbers only appear if you turn on the account number preference. • Deleted accounts move as inactive accounts without account numbers.	Chart of accounts • Inventory Shrinkage account doesn't move
Class list Deleted classes move as inactive classes.
Customers • Full name and Company name are both limited to 41 characters. • Billing Address and Shipping Address are both limited to three lines of 41 characters each. • E-mail addresses are limited to 81 characters. • Deleted customers move as inactive customers.	Customers • Customer credit card information doesn't move due to PCI compliance. • Customer notes • Preferred delivery method • Mobile number • Pager number • Is Taxable
Vendors If you have 1099 vendors, you need to edit and remove the 1099 status before you move your books. • Full name and Company name are both limited to 41 characters. • Print on Check As is limited to 41 characters. • Addresses are limited to three lines with 41 characters each. • E-mail addresses are limited to 81 characters. • Deleted vendors will export as inactive vendors.	Vendors • Vendor Notes • Mobile number • Pager number
Employees • Full name is limited to 39 characters. • Deleted employees are moved as inactive employees.	Employees • Employee notes
	Other lists The following lists don't exist in QuickBooks Online. You'll see general items on them in QuickBooks Desktop. • Customer type • Job type • Memorized reports • Other names • Payroll item • Price level • Sales rep • Ship via • Templates • To do • Vendor types
Payment method list
	Terms

Products and Services

Moves to QuickBooks Desktop	Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop
	Bundle
Inventory • Inventory Asset account • Cost of goods sold account • Purchase account • Sales account • Quantity on hand • Asset values Important: QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop have different calculation methods. Make sure to check the Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory asset accounts after you convert.
Categories • Categories move to QuickBooks Desktop as Parent items. • Categories will become the same item type as the Products and Services listed under them in QuickBooks Online.

Preferences

Moves to QuickBooks Desktop	Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop
	Company info
	Users
	Location list

Reports

Accrual basis reports in QuickBooks Online will match your reports in QuickBooks Desktop. Cash basis reports may not match.

Moves to QuickBooks Desktop	Doesn't Move
	Audit log
	Reconciliation
	Memorized reports

Transactions

Moves to QuickBooks Desktop	Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop
Cash purchases • Cash purchases move as checks	Estimates Purchase order Recurring transactions
Time Tracking • All-time activity moves except locations. QuickBooks Desktop doesn't track locations. • Activities will move, but physical timesheets won’t.
Checks • Checks with blank number fields are auto-assigned a number.
Credit Memos Sales Receipts Received payments Bills Bill Payments Invoices Refund receipts
General Journal Entries • Transactions with multiple accounts receivable or accounts payable lines move to multiple journal entries.
Deposits	Deposits • Billable status on deposits doesn’t copy.
Transfer Funds • Transfer funds copy as journal entries.
Paychecks • Paychecks move over as checks.
Liability adjustments • Paychecks move over as checks.
	Inventory Adjustments
	Credit Card Payments

QuickBooks Online AdvancedQuickBooks Online EssentialsQuickBooks Online PlusQuickBooks Online Simple Start

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