Keeping Two Sets of Books

This week I moved client data from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, and I received an unexpected email. The email was from Intuit, and the message was to input data in both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop until you are ready to commit. The reasoning was just in case there was buyer's remorse.

Two sets of books feel like overkill and might even temp your client back out of the conversion. But your client might genuinely regret the move. Here's why. Not all areas of QuickBooks Desktop convert easily to QuickBooks Online. I found it's the little things that might get missed during the initial review to see if they are a good fit for converting. Examples might be having access to multiple Accounts Receivable accounts or Invoice printing. Although you can customize QuickBooks Online, it might not always fit the needs of your client.

Moving QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online

Migrating a QuickBooks Desktop Company file to QuickBooks Online begins by getting your Desktop file ready that includes making certain that the Desktop file is up-to-date and fully verifiable. It also means making certain that the desktop company file isn't too big to export to QBO. These steps must be taken prior to 'Exporting your Desktop Company File to QuickBooks Online'.

While we like to think that every conversion from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online works 100% of the time, even Intuit tells you in their references and guides that some of your QuickBooks Desktop lists and reports won't be converted because of feature differences.  In addition there are differences in how QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online track inventory, and if you use advanced features such as advanced inventory capabilities in QuickBooks Enterprise, it may be possible that only QuickBooks Online Advanced will meet your requirements. They provide guidance on fixing a variety of errors that may occur when converting from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online.

But assuming you have a successful conversion, there are still things that need to be done.

Intuit provides a list of things you should do after converting from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online (this list also includes steps to take if you converted from QuickBooks for Mac to QBO). The list includes a variety of reports you should run and check your data between your source (QB-Desktop) data and target (QB-Online) data. You should be aware that financial reports may not necessarily match using the 'cash basis accounting method'. This is because QuickBooks Desktop and Online don't consider transactions as paid the same way.  If you had inventory in QuickBooks Desktop, your reports will likely not match up if you imported your inventory information due to FIFO recalculations that will have taken place under QBO. 

So, while we are not suggesting keeping two sets of books because your clients might get confused. It is necessary for a short time period, and maybe for a longer period depending on the mismatches that do occur between QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online until those are fully reconciled and rectified. In addition, your clients may see it as an easy way to learn new things, and especially the differences between 'the two sets of books.'