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Join nowI have a client using QBO Essentials who wants to use Quickbooks Desktop for Mac. I'm afraid they will not like it and will want to return to QBO. I need to make sure I can use a 2020 trial version of Desktop for Mac to download the data file, yet be able to transfer it back to QBO Essentials if need be. My question regards the particular setup of my client, who is under my QBO Accountant version. If I need to change them back to QBO Essentials do I upload the data file with a different name? I don't want to get rid of the current QBO company file until I verify the data transfer to the desktop version is correct. Does it matter which desktop version I choose for the trial, ie. Pro, Premier, etc. to facilitate the data file download and possible return to QBO Essentials?
Hi @misha6,
I'm here to share some insights as to how you can successfully convert your QuickBooks Online (QBO) company to QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) for Mac.
The first thing to note is that you'll have to convert the QBO company file to a QBDT for Windows file. You can view this article to download the trial versions of different QBDT versions, including one for QBDT Mac 2020: Download a trial of QuickBooks Desktop. I suggest going with the Pro 2020 version, then convert it to QBDT Mac 2020.
At that point, follow these steps to convert the QBDT for Windows file to QBDT for Mac:
To understand what can or can't be done during the conversion process, take a look at this article: Limitations when you convert from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop. There's a list of reminders, as well as a section of what happens to portions of your company file during the process, such as the Audit log, Chart of Accounts, and so on.
If ever your customer decides to go back to QBO, it's possible as well. View this article for the steps: Converting a Desktop for Mac file to Online.
Feel free to post a comment below, in case you have other questions. I'll be sure to get back to you.
In step #6 of your answer you say to save a copy of the file to a DVD, external hard drive, etc. Is that just to have an external copy of the file as a backup? Because in step #7 you say to Browse and locate the file you want to restore. That would be the file that I originally saved on my computer, right?
Hi misha6. Thanks for responding. To help clarify the instructions a bit I'll start from the top.
In order to perform the process as stated above the file needs to be exported from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop for Windows and then convert the file to QuickBooks for Mac.
The reason for this is because Mac computers do not support the installation of Internet Explorer, which is required for the export process due to the ActiveX controller.
All the steps from 1-6 will be performed on the Windows PC version of QuickBooks. Once you have the file on the external storage device of your choosing, you will move the file to the Mac to be used inside of QuickBooks for Mac.
If you have any more questions, just leave a reply and I'll be sure to respond as soon as possible.
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