QuickBooks Desktop to Online migration

How migration is priced

A migration is really two jobs stacked: moving the historical data across correctly, and getting the new QuickBooks Online company built right. So we price it as exactly those two published offers instead of inventing a separate figure for the occasion.

Most migrations bring across 3 to 12 months of history instead of a full multi-year archive. Older closed years usually stay accessible in a read-only Desktop file instead of being ported line by line, which keeps the Cleanup portion proportional to what the new file actually needs to open with. We recommend the split before quoting anything.

What doesn't survive a straight conversion

None of this shows up until someone runs a report six weeks later and it doesn't match what Desktop used to show. Catching it during the move rather than after is most of what this offer is for.

Why move now instead of waiting

Intuit has stopped selling new QuickBooks Desktop subscriptions, so every year the remaining installs run further behind on support and integrations, and the pool of bookkeepers who still know Desktop well keeps shrinking. Moving a client on your firm's schedule, before a payroll or bank-feed integration they rely on drops Desktop support, is a far smaller job than moving under pressure once it does.

There's no requirement to move everything at once, either. A company running Desktop on a single machine can migrate the current fiscal year first and bring older years across later, or leave them in a read-only archive for good. We recommend a specific split for that file instead of handing you an all-or-nothing plan.

The other common trigger is a client outgrowing what Desktop was built for: a second location added, a remote bookkeeper hired, or a lender who wants to see numbers online instead of receiving an emailed file. QuickBooks Online was built for exactly that kind of access. Desktop wasn't.

Who this is for

Client companies still running QuickBooks Desktop, whether that's Pro, Premier or Enterprise, on a single machine or a small office network, ready to move to QuickBooks Online but needing the historical data and reporting structure to survive intact. It fits whether the file has one user or several, and whether it's been maintained well or is overdue for a cleanup either way.

It's not the right fit for a client who wants to stay on Desktop. We won't talk anyone out of a decision that's working for them. If the file is already on QuickBooks Online and just behind, that's cleanup or catch-up, not a migration.

What's included

• A pre-migration audit of the Desktop file, covering what will convert cleanly, what won't, and what needs rebuilding, not moving.
• The new QuickBooks Online company built, with the chart of accounts mapped from the old one, bank feeds connected, and class or location tracking rebuilt where Desktop used job costing.
• Historical periods reconciled in the new company to the same statement balances the old file showed.
• A written handover note covering what changed in the move, what was rebuilt instead of converted, and what stays behind in the read-only archive.

What has to be provided

A current backup file of the client's QuickBooks Desktop company, admin access to create the new QuickBooks Online company, and bank statements for any period that needs reconciling further back than the bank feed will carry over on its own. If Desktop sits on a shared network drive rather than a single machine, knowing who holds admin rights on that install speeds up day one.

If the QuickBooks Online subscription isn't purchased yet, a note on the client's approximate annual revenue and how many people will need their own login lets us recommend the right subscription tier before the file is built. Moving a company into too small a tier and having to upgrade mid-setup is an avoidable extra step.

Turnaround

Most migrations run 10 to 15 business days from receiving the Desktop backup to a reconciled, documented QuickBooks Online company. That's longer than a same-size cleanup alone, because the new company has to be built before any data can land in it. Files with heavy job costing or inventory usually run toward the longer end.

What happens on day one

We open the Desktop backup and run the pre-migration audit before anything gets created in QuickBooks Online. The goal is to know what won't convert cleanly before the new company exists instead of discovering it afterwards. Your firm gets a written map of what's moving, what's being rebuilt and what's staying behind in a read-only archive, inside the first few days.

Does the old Desktop file keep working during the move?

Yes. The Desktop company isn't touched or disabled during the migration, so the client's invoicing, payroll and reporting keep running there without interruption while the new QuickBooks Online company is built and checked. Most run both in parallel for one to two weeks after the new company is ready, entering new transactions in QuickBooks Online while confirming everything from Desktop landed correctly, before switching over for good.

What happens to payroll and other connected apps?

Payroll almost always needs its own reconnection step, separate from the accounting data. Most payroll providers treat a move to QuickBooks Online as a new company setup on their side, not an automatic follow-along. Any point-of-sale, inventory or time-tracking integration that fed the old Desktop file needs the same check: some connect to QuickBooks Online natively, some need a different connector entirely, and a few have no Online equivalent at all. The pre-migration audit lists every connected app we find in the Desktop file, so none of it surfaces as a surprise mid-move.

Related

A client already on QuickBooks Online but behind? See cleanup or catch-up. Once the new company is running, it can go straight onto a monthly close under your firm's name. Every figure above is on the pricing page.