how do i disconnect or make an account inactive without losing all expenses??

I can help you how to achieve that, @rbkoffice. Let me provide supplemental information before showing you the steps of disconnecting or making an account inactive in QuickBooks Online.

First, do you want to make inactive an account from the Chart of Accounts? If so, let me explain this further to you.

Making inactive accounts in QuickBooks instead is a smart move because it allows you to retain past transaction data for reporting purposes. Thus, you can still access historical information without cluttering your active accounts. If you ever need to refer back to those inactive accounts, you'll have the necessary data readily available.

Here's how:

1. Go to Settings and select Chart of Accounts.
2. Find the account you want to remove.
3. Select the Action dropdown and choose Make inactive.

If you want to visit your inactive accounts in your chart of accounts:

1. Select Settings, then choose the Chart of accounts.
2. Next to the printer icon, pick the Settings ⚙ icon.
3. Select the Include inactive checkbox.

Furthermore, if you want to deactivate a banking account, it is recommended to disconnect it instead. By disconnecting the account in QuickBooks, you prevent new transactions from being downloaded, but your existing accounting data remains unchanged. See this for more details: Disconnect accounts connected to online banking in QuickBooks Online.

One more note: QuickBooks deletes transactions that still need to be categorized in the For review tab. If these transactions are more than 90 days old, you're unable to download them into QuickBooks again. Otherwise, you need to upload them manually.

I'm also adding this article with what-to-know details before making the account inactive: Make an account inactive on your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

I'll be here to provide more assistance with handling your accounts in QuickBooks Online. Have a pleasant day.

Just to be clear, I can disconnect an account but still hold all the data and expenses. I don't want to lose any expenses and do not need any transactions from the accounts for this year, 2023 just 2020-2022. So, the best thing to do is disconnect the account NOT make the account inactive, correct? I really do not want to lose any data but don't want the accounts to keep updating. Thank you in advance for your advice.

Hi rbkoffice,

I understand you're skeptical about inactivating the account after disconnecting it from online banking. It's okay. You can leave it active after the disconnection process. I would also prefer having it that way if this happens to me.

To provide clarification, it's important to note that making the account inactive or active will have no impact on your historical transactions.

Count me in for any additional questions you may have. I will be very happy to help you again! Take care, and enjoy the rest of the day!

Thanks! when you say historical transactions, you are also referring to transactions that have been expensed? and can you still run expense reports without the account being active?

Great to have you back, @rbkoffice. I'm here to clarify a few things about making an account inactive in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Yes, you're correct that all recorded transactions associated with any deactivated account will stay intact, whether it's an income or expense transaction. QuickBooks makes accounts inactive instead of deleting them so that you can access past transaction data for reporting purposes.

In other words, your existing transactions don't disappear after deactivating an account and stay on your financial reports. You can also read through this article to learn more about this process: Make an account inactive on your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

Keep me posted if you still have more questions about managing your accounts in QBO. I'll be here to lend a helping hand. Have a great day ahead!

When I go to make an account inactive this message shows up,

"To make this account inactive, QuickBooks will zero out its balance.

You're about to make 1 account inactive. This will remove it from the account and category fields on your transactions. You can make it active again later if you need to. Continue?"

What does it mean it will be removed from the account and category fields on transactions? Will the bank information be removed from the transactions already expensed?

Also, I noticed that you could pull up an account and disable it, what happens when you disable a bank account? What does it do to all the transactions that have been expensed in Quickbooks when you disable an account?? 

Just to be clear of what I'm looking to do, I would like to keep all transactions with all the bank information in QuickBooks from 2020 to the end of 2022, I will not be using this account for 2023 since we opened a new account for the business but cannot lose any data for the years before 2023. 

Hope this makes sense...

Thanks again!

It's great that you want to ensure the safety of your financial data while managing your QuickBooks accounts, @rbkoffice. In this guide, I'll explain the implications of making an account inactive and disabling a bank account.

Making an Account Inactive:

• When you choose to make an account inactive in QuickBooks, it means that the account will no longer appear as an option in the account and category fields on your transactions. This action does not remove or alter any past transactions; it simply prevents the account from being used in future transactions.
• The bank information associated with transactions that have already been expensed will not be affected. All historical data, including transactions from 2020 to the end of 2022, will remain intact and accessible in your QuickBooks account.
• Before making a balance sheet account inactive, ensure that the balance is corrected to zero. If the balance is not zero, QuickBooks Online will make an automatic adjustment entry to zero out the non-zero balance of the inactive account. The automatic entry posts to the Opening Balance Equity account, which is equivalent to posting to previous years. This entry could potentially cause incorrect tax information to be filed.

Disabling Bank Accounts:

• Disabling a bank account is a different action compared to making an account inactive. When you disable a bank account, you are typically disconnecting it from online banking, which stops QuickBooks from downloading new transactions from that account. 
• This action doesn't delete or alter any previously recorded transactions in QuickBooks. Your historical transactions, including those from 2020 to the end of 2022, will still be accessible, and their data will remain unchanged. You can continue to view and manage them as needed.

Furthermore, you can always make an inactive account active again later if the need arises, ensuring that you retain access to your historical data.

If you have any more questions or need further assistance, please feel free to reach out. We're here to help you navigate QuickBooks and ensure your financial data remains intact and organized.