If you?re using your QuickBooks software for a business, it?s very likely you will need to share your data with an accountant or another third party at some point. Often that person will need to make some changes to the file. It is not always practical to give them a copy of the file and wait for them to make the changes and return it. Fortunately QuickBooks includes an 'Accountant?s Copy' feature which allows you to keep your file and continue entering transactions in the?current period? And, at the same time, allows your accountant to make changes to the file in the Accountant?s Copy.
You can then easily merge the two files together by importing the Accountant?s changes into your company file using QuickBooks. What You Should Know About Accountant's Copy Before you create an Accountant?s Copy you should decide what the dividing date will be. You will only be able to enter transactions in the current period, which is any date after the dividing date once the Accountant?s copy is created. Your accountant will create transactions on or before the dividing date. There may be restrictions on what you can do while an Accountant?s copy is active. It is very important you do NOT remove the restrictions without importing the changes your accountant has made to that point.
Creating an Accountant's Copy You need to decide how you want to deliver the Accountant?s Copy file to your accountant. You can create a file which can be given to your accountant through e-mail (assuming it?s not too large) or on a storage device, or you can use an Intuit Web service.
Create a file:. Choose File Accountant's Copy Client Activities Save File. Confirm you want to create an Accountant's Copy and click Next.
Choose a dividing date. Click Next. (Optional) Change the suggested location for the file and the filename that QuickBooks suggests for the accountant's copy. The file must have a.qbx extension. Click Save. Give the Accountant's Copy transfer file (.qbx) to your accountant and continue work. Use the Accountant?s Copy file transfer, an Intuit Web service:.
Choose File Accountant's Copy Client Activities Send To Accountant. Confirm you want to create an Accountant's Copy and click Next.
Choose a dividing date. Click Next. Enter and re-enter the accountant?s e-mail address. Enter your name and e-mail address.
Click Next. Create a file transfer password to encrypt the file. Your accountant will need this password to open the file.
You should also give your accountant the Admin password to your file. Click Send. After creating an Accountant's copy, QuickBooks displays 'Accountant's Changes Pending' in the title bar.
Limitations When an Accountant's Copy Exists There are limitations to what you can do after creating an Accountant's Copy. These restrictions will prevent you from doing work that will conflict with your accountant's work. Transactions:. You can work only on transactions dated after the dividing date.
Accounts:. You can add a new account, but you cannot add a new subaccount to an existing account. Existing accounts: You cannot edit, merge, or make an existing account inactive.
New accounts: You can edit an account or make any account inactive that you created while your accountant has the Accountant's Copy. Lists (other than Chart of Accounts):.
You can edit, sort, and make list items inactive. You cannot delete or merge list items. Reconciling:. You can reconcile your accounts while your accountant has an Accountant's Copy. All reconciliations that include transactions in the current period (after the dividing date) are saved and will not be undone. To prevent conflicts with your accountant's changes, reconciliations that include transactions dated on or before the dividing date will be undone when you import your accountant's changes.
If your accountant has reconciled or undone a reconciliation for any period, any reconciliations you did will be undone when you import your accountant's changes. Import Your Accountant's Changes The easiest way to incorporate your accountant?s changes into your live file is to import them. If your accountant sends you an accountant's change file (.qby) with the changes, save the file to your computer in a place you will remember. Note: You must be logged into QuickBooks as the Administrator to import accountant?s changes using one of the following methods: Import Accountant's Changes from the web: Your accountant can send you an Accountant's Changes file through the Web. If you receive an email that says your accountant has sent changes for you to import, you have 30 days to download the changes. To download these changes directly:. Open the company file from which you created the Accountant's Copy.
Choose File Accountant's Copy Client Activities Import Accountant's Changes from Web. After the Accountant's Changes file downloads, the change listing opens. Import Accountant's Changes from a file: Only begin these steps after you have saved the change file from your accountant.
Open the company file from which you created the Accountant's Copy. Choose File Accountant's Copy Client Activities Import Accountant's Changes from File. Locate the accountant's changes file (.qby), and click Open. The second method opens both the accountant's change file and QuickBooks.
It doesn't matter if QuickBooks is open or closed when you use this method. To use this method, double click the.qby file.
If QuickBooks is open, the company file that matches the accountant's change file must be open. If QuickBooks is closed, the last company file opened must be the one that matches the accountant's change file. After you have opened the accountant's change file, continue with the following seven steps:. Review your accountant's changes. You can use the + and - to expand or collapse each change to see the details.
To see or hide details for all the changes, click Expand All or Collapse All. If any of your accountant's changes conflict with work you've done since saving the Accountant's Copy, a message displays below the change with an explanation of what to do.
(Recommended) Click Print to print a copy of your accountant's changes, or click Save As PDF to save a PDF file of your changes. This step is recommended so you have a record of your accountant's changes. After reviewing the changes, click Incorporate Accountant's Changes. Or click Close if you choose not to import the changes.
Click OK to back up your company file. In the Save Backup Copy window, choose a location for your backup file and click OK. Click OK again when the backup is complete. Review the incorporated changes in the Incorporate Accountant's Changes window. Click Close. After you successfully incorporate your accountant?s changes, QuickBooks will NO longer display 'Accountant's Changes Pending' in the title bar. Remove Accountant's Copy restrictions There may be times when you need to?kill?
The Accountant's Copy in order to work as if you did not create an Accountant's Copy. Once you do this, you will NOT be able to import your accountant's changes. All changes will have to be made manually by referring to a printout or PDF file of your accountant's changes. Always consult with your accountant before you remove the Accountant's Copy restrictions. Choose File Accountant's Copy Remove Restrictions. If you're sure you want to remove the restrictions, select the checkbox and click OK.
Although accountant?s copies can be somewhat restrictive it is usually the best way to continue to work in a current period while someone makes changes to a defined historical period.
Editor’s note: Dear Addy is a new advice column on using QuickBooks we are launching here on Little Square. This is a place to answer your direct questions about QuickBooks and share them with other users.
If you have a question for Addy, click We want to hear from you in the top right corner and send us your question. Dear Addy, I recently upgraded from a PC to a MAC and am running QB 2011 for MAC.
Can You Make An Accountant's Copy In Quickbooks For Mac
Normally at the end of the year, I just bring my accountant a zip drive with a backup of my QB on it from the PC. How do I get her the info she needs now that I am running a MAC and she has a PC? Is there anything I need to know to make the end of the year easier for her and me? – Alma Dear Alma, Welcome to the land of QuickBooks for Mac! This is a great question and one I’m sure a lot of people are having this time of year as we all get ready for tax season. Getting your file to your accountant is much the same as it was for you previously.
Can You Make An Accountant's Copy In Qb For Mac 2017
You’ll save a file and get it to your accountant. It’s called “round-tripping” which means your company file is going from the Mac to your accountant’s Windows computer and back to your Mac. In a nutshell, what you’ll do is save your company file as a Windows backup file (File Back Up to QuickBooks Windows).
What is db2? 2. about db2 for mac. Then your accountant will open that file, do the work she needs to do, then save the file as a Mac file (File Utilities Copy Company File for QuickBooks Mac). Then the accountant sends the file back to you and you open it on your Mac. Here are links to two articles that explain these steps in detail.
One critical thing to noteto round-trip your file, you and your accountant must be on the same version of QuickBooks. So if you are using QuickBooks 2011 for Mac, your accountant must be on some 2011 version of QuickBooks for Windows. Thanks for writing!