Create an Accountant's Copy of your company file in QuickBooks Desktop

Learn how to create a special version of your company file to send to your accountant.

An Accountant's Copy is a version of your company file that lets your accountant review your books and make changes without stopping your work. When they’re done, you can import their changes to update your books.

Note: These steps are for QuickBooks Desktop for Windows only.

Prerequisites

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise with Advanced Inventory features, you must turn them off before making an Accountant's Copy. You can turn them back on after sending the file.

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier, or don't use Advanced Inventory, skip this step.

Create and send an Accountant's Copy

You can send the Accountant's Copy to your accountant in two ways:

• Create a file (.qbx) to save on a portable drive (like a USB), attach to an email, or share via a cloud service.
• Use the Accountant's Copy File Transfer Service to send the file through a secure web service.

Create an Accountant's Copy file (.qbx)

1. Go to the File menu, select Send Company File, then Accountant's Copy, then Client Activities.
2. Select Save File, then Next.
3. Select Accountant's Copy, then Next.
4. Enter the dividing date and select Next.
5. Save the file. The file will have a .qbx extension.

You can now give this file to your accountant using a USB, email, or a cloud sharing service.

Send a file through the Accountant's Copy File Service

1. From the File menu, select Send Company File, then Accountant's Copy, then Client Activities.
2. Select Send to Accountant, then Next.
3. Select Accountant's Copy, then Next.
4. Enter the dividing date and select Next.
5. Enter your email address and your accountant's email address.
6. Create a password for the file. Your accountant will need this password to open it.
7. Select Send.

QuickBooks will close all open windows to send the file. Your accountant will receive an email from Intuit with a link to download the file. This link is valid for two weeks.

Information for the accountant

To access your client's file:

1. Open the email from Intuit and select the download link.
2. You will receive a second email with the one-time password your client created.
3. Enter the password to download the Accountant's Copy file.
4. Open the file in QuickBooks to start making changes.

Turn Advanced Inventory back on

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise and turned off your Advanced Inventory features, you can turn them back on after the Accountant's Copy is sent. You can keep them on while your accountant works, but you’ll need to turn them off again when you import their changes.

Note: If your accountant adds inventory transactions to their copy, the transactions won't include Advanced Inventory details like serial numbers, inventory sites, or lot numbers. You may need to add this information manually after importing the changes.

Pending changes and file restrictions

After you send the file, QuickBooks will show a reminder for Accountant's Changes Pending next to your company file name. Certain activities in your file will be restricted to prevent conflicts with your accountant's work.

This restriction remains until you import your accountant's changes or remove the Accountant's Copy restriction.

Next steps

Once your accountant sends the file back, you will need to import your accountant's changes.