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Delete your data and start over in QuickBooks Online

SOLVED•by QuickBooks•QuickBooks Online•1361•Updated 1 week ago

Learn how to delete your data in QuickBooks Online and start over with new books.

Sometimes you need to start fresh with a new QuickBooks Online company. If you're a new customer, you can simply start over. If you've used QuickBooks for a while, you need to create a new company.

To watch more how-to videos, visit our video section.

Start over in QuickBooks Online

Before you get started:

  • Make sure you're signed into QuickBooks Online as an admin user.
  • These steps help you delete your data for one QuickBooks Online company. If you need to delete all your Intuit data, find out more about managing data or check out our privacy center.
  • If you'd like to reuse your current lists after starting over, find out more about moving your lists to a new company.

Your next steps depend on your subscription level, and whether you've been using QuickBooks for longer than 60 days.

You'll need to cancel your current QuickBooks Online company and start a new one.

Step 1: Cancel your current company

Follow these steps to cancel your account. If you use payroll, you should cancel your payroll subscription too.

Note: When you cancel QuickBooks, we hang on to your data for one year before deleting it. This allows some buffer time if you decide to come back to your previous account.

Step 2: Start a new company

  1. Sign up for QuickBooks Online.
  2. Enter your user ID and password. You can use the same user ID and password you used before.
  3. Optional: If you use payroll, make sure to add Payroll in Step 2 of the sign-up process.

Be careful: Before you start, be absolutely sure you want to delete everything. Watch out for the following:

  • If you have banks or other third party apps connected, purging your company can permanently damage these connections for your company.
  • Don't use these steps if you use QuickBooks Online Accountant. This will cause damage to your account that we can't undo. Instead, import a blank QuickBooks Desktop file to start over.
  • This process doesn't cancel your QuickBooks or Payroll subscriptions. However, it will completely clear out your books. You'll need to reenter any employee or historical info you want to keep.
  • These next steps are only for QuickBooks Essentials, Plus, and Advanced users. If you use QuickBooks Simple Start, follow the steps above for companies over 60 days old.

Delete your company data

  1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online account. (You'll need to sign in as an admin user.)
  2. Look at the URL in your browser's address bar. Delete all the text after the last / and enter purgecompany.
    For example:
    • Before: https://…qbo.intuit.com/app/homepage
    • After: https://…qbo.intuit.com/app/purgecompany
  3. To confirm you want to delete your company data, enter Yes.
  4. Select OK, then Wipe data.

Once the process is finished, you can start your books from scratch.

On-demand assistance

Set up a live video appointment or message your QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper whenever you need help. Learn more about QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping.

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