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Move your lists to QuickBooks Online
Learn how to move your lists and import them to QuickBooks Online.
Move your lists (vendors, customers, inventory, and chart of accounts) from QuickBooks Desktop or from a different QuickBooks Online company instead of creating them again. You can also save time when you set up items on your list all at once using Excel or CSV files.
If you need to import bank transactions too, don't do it manually. Link your bank account to QuickBooks Online to download and sort your transactions automatically.
Note: The Products and Services page isn’t available in the QuickBooks Ledger subscription tier.
Step 1: Export your list reports to Excel
From another QuickBooks Online company
Important: To protect your account security, make sure you are signed in as a Primary or Company admin.
Go to Reports
, then Standard reports (Take me there).Find and open the specific report you need:
Account List
Customer Contact List
Vendor Contact List
Product/Service List
Note: You can enter keywords in the Type report name here search bar, or select it from the ▼ dropdown menu.
Select Customize in the report header, then select the Columns ▼ dropdown. Make sure your columns match the exact layout before exporting. You can do the following:
Select and uncheck the boxes next to the column headers you want to add and remove from the columns.
Drag the columns to reorder them.
Required column format when you export your lists
| Report Type | Required Column Order & Layout |
| Account List | • Account # • Account Type • Detail Type • Description • Balance |
| Customer Contact List | • Customer • Company name • Phone • Website • Billing Street • Billing City • Billing State • Billing Zip • Billing Country |
| Vendor Contact List | • Vendor • Company Name • Email, Phone • Website • Street • City • State • Zip • Country |
| Product/Service List | • Product/Service • Type • Description • Price • Cost • Qty on hand Important: QuickBooks Desktop uses Average Costing, while QuickBooks Online uses FIFO (First-In, First-Out). You can import items with Qty on hand with QuickBooks Online. This creates a hard inventory starting value transaction dated on the day of the import. Note: You won’t be able to edit or log inventory impact prior to this date. |
Select Apply changes. Then, select Save As.
Select the Export icon, then select Export to Excel.
Select the Downloads icon on your browser. Then select the exported sheet for it to open in Microsoft Excel.
Note: Remove the header info (company name and report title) so that your column headers sit on row 1.Select Export to Excel or Export as CSV.
Note: If you’re a Mac user, make sure you select Windows CSV format to save it.
From a QuickBooks Desktop company
In QuickBooks Desktop, go to Reports, then select List. Select the list you want to move:
Account Listing
Item Listing
Customer Contact List
Vendor Contact List
Select Excel ▼ dropdown on the report toolbar, then select Create New Worksheet.
Select Export to create a comma separated values (.csv) file.
Enter the file name you want for the exported file, then select Save.
Find the Excel file and open it.
Note: Delete any blank formatting rows at the top so that your column headers sit on row 1.Select File and then Save for any changes. You can also press Ctrl+S.
Review these changes before you import lists
Before you move on, review the following:
Import sequence order: Always import your Chart of Accounts first. Your products and services must map to existing income and expense accounts. If you import items before accounts, the import will fail.
Inventory tracking: QuickBooks Online tracks costs in a different way than QuickBooks Desktop. When you move your data, your inventory is locked on the migration date. This also means you can't change your inventory history before that date.
Step 2: Import your lists to QuickBooks Online
Once your files are cleaned and saved, you can load them directly into your new company file.
For detailed, step-by-step field mapping instructions for each list type, refer to our specialized guides:
Tip: If you want to see how your Excel files should look, you can download these sample templates:
Troubleshooting Common Import Errors
"This item is already in your company" error
You will likely hit a conflict warning on default system items like Hours or Services that QuickBooks Online creates automatically.
Note: To fix this, simply uncheck these specific rows in the import wizard screen. The rest of your new list items will import completely fine without them.
"Account does not exist" or mapping errors
You can get an error that states that your income or expense account doesn't exist when you import your product and services. This means that item is looking for an account name that isn't on your Chart of Accounts yet.
Note: To fix this, you need to cancel the current item that you’re trying to import. Import your Chart of Accounts first, or add the missing account to your Chart of Accounts. Then try to import the item again.
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