Find out how your books will move from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop.
When you move from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop, you may notice differences in how your books appear. Don’t worry, we’ll help you understand how your books were moved.
Before you move you’ll need a recent version of QuickBooks Desktop installed before you start. You can download a trial to use as an alternative.
How your books move from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop
Features
| Moves to QuickBooks Desktop | Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|
Multi-Currency • Your move may fail, leading to an empty QuickBooks Desktop file. • Transactions not in United States Dollars (USD) will copy as USD. | |
Payroll • Once you setup a payroll subscription or manual payroll in QuickBooks Desktop you can create paychecks. | |
| Reconcile • All reconciled transactions will have a bold checkmark in the cleared column. • All cleared transactions will have a light checkmark in the cleared column. | Budgets • Reconciliation reports won’t move. |
| Sales Tax • Sales tax listed as line items on invoices. • Sales tax items and rates move as service items. • Sales tax payments and adjustments won’t move. | |
| Projects • Projects move to QuickBooks Desktop as Customer Jobs. |
Lists
QuickBooks Desktop has list and field limits. When lists or fields exceed these limits, they're shortened. To review the limits, check out:
- Maximum number of list entries (list limits and custom fields)
- Character limitations for fields in QuickBooks
| Moves to QuickBooks Desktop | Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|
| Chart of accounts • Account detail types don't move. • Account numbers only appear if you turn on the account number preference. • Deleted accounts move as inactive accounts without account numbers. | Chart of accounts • Inventory Shrinkage account doesn't move |
| Class list Deleted classes move as inactive classes. | |
| Customers • Full name and Company name are both limited to 41 characters. • Billing Address and Shipping Address are both limited to three lines of 41 characters each. • E-mail addresses are limited to 81 characters. • Deleted customers move as inactive customers. | Customers • Customer credit card information doesn't move due to PCI compliance. • Customer notes • Preferred delivery method • Mobile number • Pager number • Is Taxable |
| Vendors If you have 1099 vendors, you need to edit and remove the 1099 status before you move your books. • Full name and Company name are both limited to 41 characters. • Print on Check As is limited to 41 characters. • Addresses are limited to three lines with 41 characters each. • E-mail addresses are limited to 81 characters. • Deleted vendors will export as inactive vendors. | Vendors • Vendor Notes • Mobile number • Pager number |
| Employees • Full name is limited to 39 characters. • Deleted employees are moved as inactive employees. | Employees • Employee notes |
| Other lists The following lists don't exist in QuickBooks Online. You'll see general items on them in QuickBooks Desktop. • Customer type • Job type • Memorized reports • Other names • Payroll item • Price level • Sales rep • Ship via • Templates • To do • Vendor types | |
| Payment method list | |
| Terms |
Products and Services
| Moves to QuickBooks Desktop | Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|
| Bundle | |
| Inventory • Inventory Asset account • Cost of goods sold account • Purchase account • Sales account • Quantity on hand • Asset values Important: QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop have different calculation methods. Make sure to check the Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory asset accounts after you convert. | |
| Categories • Categories move to QuickBooks Desktop as Parent items. • Categories will become the same item type as the Products and Services listed under them in QuickBooks Online. |
Preferences
| Moves to QuickBooks Desktop | Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|
| Company info | |
| Users | |
| Location list |
Reports
Accrual basis reports in QuickBooks Online will match your reports in QuickBooks Desktop. Cash basis reports may not match.
| Moves to QuickBooks Desktop | Doesn't Move |
|---|---|
| Audit log | |
| Reconciliation | |
| Memorized reports |
Transactions
| Moves to QuickBooks Desktop | Doesn't move to QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|
| Cash purchases • Cash purchases move as checks | Estimates Purchase order Recurring transactions |
| Time Tracking • All-time activity moves except locations. QuickBooks Desktop doesn't track locations. • Activities will move, but physical timesheets won’t. | |
| Checks • Checks with blank number fields are auto-assigned a number. | |
| Credit Memos Sales Receipts Received payments Bills Bill Payments Invoices Refund receipts | |
| General Journal Entries • Transactions with multiple accounts receivable or accounts payable lines move to multiple journal entries. | |
| Deposits | Deposits • Billable status on deposits doesn’t copy. |
| Transfer Funds • Transfer funds copy as journal entries. | |
| Paychecks • Paychecks move over as checks. | |
| Liability adjustments • Paychecks move over as checks. | |
| Inventory Adjustments | |
| Credit Card Payments |