Accounting Firm merger - how best to merge our quickbooks online accounts?

Hello there, @kpike.

Let me provide you with the answer to your query about merging QuickBooks Online (QBO) accounts.

In QBO, the ability to merge two or more company files into one company is currently unavailable. Each company is created as a separate file and can't be merged. If you want to consolidate and compare your QuickBooks companies, check out our authorized 3rd party app, Qvinci Consolidations.

Also, if you want to move all your clients from one profile to another. You won't lose any data and will still be able to access them in the old profile. Check this article for guidance: Move clients to another QuickBooks Online Accountant profile.

Otherwise,  if you'll want to input the data manually into the company you want to keep. Visit this article for details: Merge companies, data files, or copy lists in QuickBooks Online.

Additionally, I'm attaching this helpful guide for managing duplicate accounts, customers, or vendors: Merge duplicate accounts, customers, and vendors in QuickBooks Online.

Keep me posted if you have clarification or additional questions about managing your QuickBooks accounts. It's always a pleasure to help you out.

Wouldn't we be able to do something like - use one of our QBO Accounts as our new merged accountancy firm account.  Set up all the accountant employees as users and then ask the clients to give us accountant access to their QBO files (changing from the old Accountant to the New merged Accountant firm)?

It's great to hear from you again, @kpike.

Let me share some additional ways to merge your QuickBooks Online accounts seamlessly. Aside from using the third-party app recommended by my colleague, the method you've suggested is also an effective way to combine both accountancy firm accounts. 

You can choose a primary QBO Accountant and add team members to your accountant team. Afterward, this will enable your clients to add the main QBO Accountant as their accounting firm for their company. To do so, you can follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your QBO Accountant as an admin or a user with full access permission. 
2. Go to the Team menu and select Add User.
3. Enter your team member's full name and email address. 
4. In the Roles section, click the dropdown to choose a default or custom role. 
5. This is the only option; you can grant or deny more granular access to firm features. Select an option, such as Sales, Expense, Inventory, or Payroll, to expand access controls. 
6. Check or Uncheck View, Create, Edit, and Delete capabilities as needed.
7. In the Access to clients sections, select Edit client access.
8. Check or uncheck the boxes next to client names to grant or dent bookkeeping access for this team member. 
9. Once done, you can now hit the Send invitation.

You can also edit and update user information to ensure everyone at your accounting firm can access QuickBooks.

You can check this article out since it contains information on effectively tracking your clients: Manage clients in QuickBooks Online Accountant.

If you have other concerns regarding merging QBO accounts, please leave a comment below. I'm all ears if you have one.

@kpike 

Do you need to merge your own books or just migrate your QBO clients access under the same QBOA account?

We are merging all the customers from both firms into one account.  I do believe the new company account has more clients & has discounts payment plans which we do not have.  Which leads me to believe that we should use their account as our main hub.

Would she just have to update her email address on her account & change the company name?  She doesn't want to lose her discounts & such.

Hi there, @kpike.

Let me share some information about merging company accounts in QuickBooks Online. If you only want to merge the customers from both firms into one account and keep the payment discounts, you can export the customers from the other account and import them to another account you want to merge with. This way, you'll save both company's accounts with backed-up data.

If you want to combine both accountancy firm accounts, I recommend following my colleagues' procedures. Either use a third-party app or choose a primary QBO Accountant and add the other account as a team member to your accountant team. Adding guides here if you want to move the client to another QBOA profile.

After successfully merging everything, you may want to merge duplicate accounts, customers, and vendors if there are duplicates. You may also want to consider managing your clients in QuickBooks Online to customize their roles and access to the company account.

You can always post here in the Community if you have other questions besides merging company accounts in QuickBooks Online. I'd be glad to assist you anytime.