Online Guides and Tools for Converting to QuickBooks from Other Accounting Systems - EZ Ledger Inc.

Why Choose QuickBooks Over Other Accounting Software?

Intuit’s QuickBooks is known in the industry as one of the leaders in accounting software. Designed with small to medium sized businesses in mind, QuickBooks helps business owners with all of their accounting needs. In fact, according to their website, 87% of customers says QuickBooks is essential for running their business.

While there are many different software available to you, QuickBooks offers some of the most extensive accounting capabilities on the market today. It’s easy to use interface makes it simple for business owners to quickly learn how the software works. In addition, since it has been popular since the ‘90s, their decades of experience and extensive online resources help business owners solve any problem they are experiencing with the software.

If you’re thinking of switching from a different accounting system to QuickBooks, it’s important that you convert all of your data for a seamless transition. Learn about the benefits of switching to QuickBooks below, as well as helpful resources on how to switch accounting systems without losing any important business information.

QuickBooks vs. Sage 50

While there are some similarities between QuickBooks and Sage, the two platforms have different specialties. QuickBooks focuses in bookkeeping, and offers a full suite of tools to help manage your business. Some of these tools include payroll management and financial management tools. Formerly known as Peachtree, Sage One offers a few basic bookkeeping features, but concentrates more on client invoicing and project management. Some business owners use Sage with QuickBooks, depending on their business’ needs.

Still, the applications overlap with one another, with both offering the ability to track income and expenses. QuickBooks has an advantage over Sage in that regard with its ability to automatically sync transaction information across bank accounts.

How to Convert from Sage 50 to QuickBooks

Whether you’re switching from Sage to QuickBooks or use both applications, you can convert your Sage files to use on QuickBooks both quickly and at no extra cost. QuickBooks offers a step-by-step guide in their Community Support section that clearly outlines how to use their QuickBooks Conversion tool. This tool can convert key lists, balances, and transactions, including:

Account lists
Employee lists
Item lists
Customer lists
Vendor lists
Account balances
Customer transactions
Vendor transactions
Employee list (with contact information and social security number
Payroll general ledger account balance information

However, the tool cannot convert the following information:

Paychecks (will be converted to journal entries)
Employee year to date information
Payroll items
Individual employee wage or deduction information
Fixed asset items
Work tickets
Closed/Partially closed sales orders, purchase orders, and estimates

Users can also manually import a Sage 50/Simply Accounting data set to Inuit by following the steps highlighted here.

QuickBooks vs. Xero

Arguably the two biggest names in cloud accounting software are QuickBooks and Xero. These two softwares are comparable in many key components, but one clear advantage of QuickBooks over Xero is that QuickBooks offers a well-organized UI, making it easy for business owners to navigate the software. Xero, on the other hand, has quite a steep learning curve and the setup is extremely intensive.

How to Convert from Xero to QuickBooks

If you’re switching from Xero to QuickBooks, you want to make sure that the files you need are successfully transferred over to your new accounting software. There are many different ways to go about this. You can provide your Xero administrator user name and password as well as the version of QuickBooks to third party vendors, who will do the work for you.

Business owners also have the option of converting their Xero files themselves. To do this, follow the steps outlined by QBO Chat here. Before you begin, it is advised that you lock your Xero file for the dates before the conversion so that no one makes changes after you begin. In addition, you should save a copy of the balance sheet and income statement reports for all dates. Be sure to use both cash and accrual methods and also the detailed Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable reports.

You will also need to decide whether or not you want the historical transactions to be part of the new file. If so, you are going to need to decide how far back you should be including.

QuickBooks Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online

So you’ve decided on QuickBooks, but now you must ask yourself this question: QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop? While both versions of QuickBooks are great, there are many benefits to switching to the online version. For starters, Inuit is pushing their online version of the software by reducing the number of desktop versions available to their customers.

There are many advantages to QuickBooks Online. For those unfamiliar with either version, online is significantly easier to learn and use than Intuit’s desktop offering. In addition, QuickBooks Online can be accessed anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. The desktop version of QuickBooks can only be accessed on the computer you installed the software on. In addition, choosing QuickBooks Online gives you the option of more than 250 different integrations to help customize your software to fit your business’ needs.

How to Convert from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online

If you’re looking to convert from Desktop to Online, use the following guides below to help make this process run smooth and efficiently:

Although they are both Intuit products, there are limitations on what data can be converted and imported to QuickBooks online. Intuit has a clear list of their import limitations, so there are no surprises when you make the switch.

It’s important to note that you can only import your data to QuickBooks within 60 days of your subscription start date. If you’ve had QuickBooks online for more than 60 days, you will either have to find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor or setup a new QuickBooks Online subscription with a different email.

You will also want to prepare your data for export. To do this, make sure you complete the following:

Update your data: Now is the perfect time to update your customers and vendors contact information!
Complete outstanding tasks: To ensure nothing gets lost, it’s ideal to convert at the end of the month, quarter, or year. If you need to convert sooner, make sure that payroll has been processed, all bank accounts are reconciled, and any inventory adjustments have been made.
Backup your data: Having a backup of your data file is never a bad idea. To do this on QuickBooks Desktop, go to file à back up company à create local backup.