Switch from QuickBooks Desktop

QuickBooks Desktop can write lists to an IIF file, and report exports come in as Excel or CSV. Pop Books accepts .iif, .xlsx and .csv from QuickBooks Desktop.

What to export

1. Choose File, then Utilities, then Export, then Lists to IIF Files. Tick the chart of accounts, customers and vendors, and save the file.
2. Open Reports, then Accountant and Taxes, then Trial Balance. Make the To date your cut-over date and export to Excel or CSV.
3. For open items, export Open Invoices (under Customers and Receivables) and Unpaid Bills Detail (under Vendors and Payables), dated at your cut-over date.
4. Only for full history: export the Journal or General Ledger for all dates.

An IIF file with transactions needs a tool that writes them. Pop Books reads IIF files but does not make them.

Then, in Pop Books

1. Choose Switch from… in the side rail and pick QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Drop in your files, or paste cells. Pop Books checks the columns and shows what it found. You can change any match.
3. Choose your cut-over date. This is the day you start in Pop Books.
4. Choose what to bring in. Balances at the cut-over date is recommended. Full general ledger history brings in every journal.
5. Run the dry run. It shows what would come in and any rows to look at. Nothing is written.
6. Choose Bring it in.
7. Download the proof check (PDF). It sets the old trial balance next to the new one at the cut-over date and lists any difference.

Good to know

• You can choose Undo this switch for 30 days. Documents are voided and entries reversed. The history keeps both.
• Credit notes and partly paid documents are not brought in as documents. They are listed as rows to look at.
• Menu names change between releases of QuickBooks Desktop. If a name differs, look for the closest one.
• No real export from QuickBooks Desktop has been tried yet. The steps come from its documentation.
• Pop Books never signs in to QuickBooks Desktop and makes no network call to it.