QuickBooks ProAdvisors may be called to support QuickBooks users while importing data into TurboTax, or TurboTax users wishing to import their QuickBooks data. This article is intended exclusively as a resource to ProAdvisors for such purposes.
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Basic Requirements for Importing Data from QuickBooks:
If you have set up QuickBooks to collect tax-related income and expense information, you can import your income tax data into TurboTax. This feature is called TaxLink. You must install QuickBooks on your computer and set up your company’s file before installing TurboTax. If a QuickBooks company file has not been created before TurboTax is installed, you cannot import data since TurboTax will be unable to set up all the connections required for the QuickBooks TaxLink. Your TurboTax version must support your QuickBooks Company ‘income tax form’.
You must be using QuickBooks 2007 through 2014 If you want to transfer information from last year’s TurboTax return into the current year’s return, you must import that data BEFORE you import your QuickBooks data.Enter all financial data in QuickBooks BEFORE importing. Assign ‘tax lines’ in QuickBooks BEFORE importing.QuickBooks requires Administrator, single-user status during import.
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Steps To Take In QuickBooks Before Importing to TurboTax:
1) Confirm that all your tax-related (usually income and expense) accounts are mapped to the correct tax lines.
2) When you set-up your Company, QuickBooks would have mapped all accounts it created if you selected a ‘tax form’ for your company.
3) If you set-up your Chart of Accounts manually, or before selecting a ‘tax form’ for your company, you will need to assign tax lines manually.
4) Edit each Account in your Chart of Accounts to assign the Tax Mapping for the account. QuickBooks will display the accounts appropriate to your ‘tax form’ in the drop-down box.
5) You can confirm the tax line tracking for your QuickBooks data using a variety of QuickBooks reports from the Tax and Accountant Reports menu.
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Steps to Take in TurboTax to Import Data from QuickBooks:
1) In TurboTax open the tax return you want to import information into.
2) If you have NOT created the tax return yet, do so now.
3) If you plan to transfer data from last year's tax file into this year's tax return, you should do so before you import any QuickBooks data.
4) Using the Easy Step mode of TurboTax, you will have the option to import QuickBooks data during the Business section of your tax return. You may option to switch to Go to Forms mode and then select QuickBooks Import from the File Menu.
5) TurboTax will display any QuickBooks files that it finds on your computer. You may need to browse to alternative or network file locations for the correct QuickBooks file. Confirm the correct QuickBooks data file is identified for import.
6) With the correct QuickBooks file selected, click Continue.
TurboTax begins the import process. Depending on your file size and complexity this process can take some time. Allow TurboTax to finish the import process.
7) TurboTax will ask you to confirm the basis for your tax return (cash or accrual).
If your fiscal year is not the calendar year, TurboTax will ask you to confirm your Fiscal Year start and end dates. Select Continue.
8) TurboTax will begin the process of preliminarily assigning your imported data to the tax return.
9) TurboTax will display any QuickBooks data that was not mapped to tax lines, allowing you to map that data.
The most common tax form lines will be shown in the drop-down box adjacent to the QuickBooks account and amount data pending import.
If you can not identify the appropriate tax form or line from the drop-down list, additional tax form/line options are accessible from the last line of the drop-down options.
10) Once you have assigned all missing tax lines in TurboTax, you are ready to proceed, select Continue. There is an option to snd the tax line changes you made in TurboTax back to your Chart of Accounts in QuickBooks, to do so, checkmark the box Save these Categories in QuickBooks.
11) TurboTax may 'question' some tax line assignments if they conflict with normal mapping, or commonly have multiple mapping possibilities.
Confirm or change the tax line mapping for any such accounts. Select Continue.
12) TurboTax begins posting your QuickBooks data to the actual tax forms/lines of your tax return. Do NOT interrupt this process or attempt to change modes in TurboTax during this posting process.
Upon completion of the importing process, finish your tax return normally.
Disclosures:
TurboTax is ‘personal’ tax preparation software, it is not intended or licensed for commercial use; accordingly this article is NOT intended to infer that TurboTax should be used contrary to its intended or licensed use.
This article is written solely as a guide for use by QuickBooks ProAdvisors, or other consultants, in supporting either QuickBooks users attempting to import the data into TurboTax, or TurboTax users attempting to import QuickBooks data.
This article was written, and adapted from, a guide and PowerPoint presentation for a webinar titled: QuickBooks at Tax-time - Using QuickBooks Data with Intuit Tax Software Products.
QuickBooks and TurboTax are registered trademarks and trademarked products of Intuit.