If you have a new business or are new to running a business, getting started correctly can be a big deal. The same applies to setting up your first set of books.
While QuickBooks Online is pretty easy to configure, if you don’t take the time to do a little pre-planning, you can set things up inconsistent with how you need to run your business or even improperly. When that happens, you need to make changes.
Of course, one option for making changes like this is to add a subscription for a new QBO Company and maintain your current one until you can manually transfer data from the old format into the new company you have set up differently.
But if you have only been using QuickBooks for 60 days or less, you can purge all your data from your existing QuickBooks company and start over configured differently.
Purging your QuickBooks Company data eliminates all data within the file, regardless of the originating source. For example, data imported from QuickBooks Time is purged, as are bank and credit-card transactions imported from connected sources.
Make sure to disconnect all connected banks, credit cards, and third-party apps connected to your QuickBooks Company center. All related data from such sources will be purged as part of the process.
Prerequisites to Purging your QBO File
- Purging file data only works with QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus and Advanced; it is not available for QuickBooks Simple-start subscribers.
- The purging process is only available during the initial 60 days following the start of a new subscription.
- Purging can only be performed by the QuickBooks Online Company File Admin.
- Make sure to disconnect all connected banks, credit cards, and third-party apps connected to your QuickBooks Company center. All related data from such sources will be purged as part of the process.
Steps to Purge Your QBO File*
(1) Sign in to QuickBooks Online as the Admin user.
(2) If you have more than one company file, make sure you select the Company you want to purge.
(3) Once signed in, change the URL from https://app.qbo.intuit.com/app/homepage to where it reads: https://app.qbo.intuit.com/app/purgecompany, then click Enter.
(4) Read the onscreen instructions to purge your data. The information includes the days left from the initial 60-day period to purge your data.
(5) When you are sure you want to purge your data, enter YES to confirm you agree to delete all your company data.
(6) Select OK
(7) Select your industry from the drop-down menu.
(8) Choose, Create accounts based on my industry. (The standard Chart of Accounts for your chosen industry type will be set up in your company after your existing data has been purged.)
(9) Select Wipe data (You should receive a message from QuickBooks that all your company data has been deleted.)
Once the wipe is complete, you will be able to start over.
Be aware, if you have had your company file longer than the 60-day purge period, you will need to start a new subscription.
*- Note, if you have problems performing these steps, try signing in to QuickBooks Online via the 'incognito' mode of your browser.
Disclosures:
As used herein, QuickBooks® and QuickBooks Online Essentials, Plus, and Advanced refer to registered trademarks of Intuit Inc., a publicly-traded corporation headquartered in Mountain View, California.
Feature content, including graphic materials, have been adapted from Intuit source content including QuickBooks 'Help' resource materials. Source content and materials have been adapted and are furnished for educational purposes only by Insightful Accountant.
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