3 Types of QuickBooks Desktop files, plus how to import an Accountant’s Copy file

There are a few different QuickBooks Desktop files you may or may not be familiar with, such as a portable company file, backup company, and accountant’s company. Each serves a different purpose.

Your backup company file contains everything you need to recreate your company file, in case of accidental loss or damage to your data. We’ve published a tutorial with best practices around how (and when) you should be backing up your company file, which you can check out here. This file type could be very large, and may not be easily transferred to another device.

A portable company file allows you to create a compact version of your company's financial data that can be emailed or temporarily moved to another computer. It differs from a backup company file in that it doesn’t contain elements like company logos, templates, or transaction log. This is how you’re able to create a smaller file size. It’s useful for review work, when someone needs access to your data, but doesn’t plan to make any changes to the file.

Lastly, an accountant’s copy allows you to create a compact version of your company file so that your accountant can make adjustments to past financial information (say, closing out your file for year-end) without disrupting your day-to-day accounting workflow. It uses something called a dividing date, meaning that everything prior to that date can be modified by your accountant, without impacting the daily accounting work you need to complete beyond that date, to keep your business moving forward. Once your accountant is complete with their work, you can import the Accountant's Copy into your current company data file, modifying only the information before the dividing date.

In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to go about importing your accountant’s copy. Let’s get started.

Accessing your Accountant’s Copy of your QuickBooks File

First, you’ll need to receive your updated Accountant’s Copy QuickBooks File. You can access their changes one of two ways:

• Option 1: Your accountant can send you an Accountant Changes file that you can save on your hard drive.

• Option 2: Your accountant can use the Accountant’s Copy File Transfer service to send their changes through the web.

Importing your Accountant’s Copy of your QuickBooks File

Before you bring in the updated accountant data from your Accountant’s Copy, you’ll want to create a backup company file in case anything goes wrong during your import.

If your accountant sent an Accountant’s Changes file using Option 1 (defined above), you’ll complete the following steps to import your data:1. Open QuickBooks Desktop and navigate to the File menu and then select Send Company File.

2. Select Accountant's Copy and then Client Activities.

3. Select Import Accountant Changes from File. Browse your computer for the file. It should have a .qby extension at the end of the filename.

If your accountant used the Accountant's Copy File Transfer Service (Option 2), you’ll complete the following steps to import your data:

1. Open QuickBooks Desktop and navigate to the File menu, and then select Send Company File.

2. Select Import Accountant’s Changes from Web. Follow the onscreen steps to import their changes.

Don’t Forget to Review Your Accountant’s Changes

While QuickBooks will add your accountant's changes automatically, it’s important to review their changes to ensure there aren’t any conflicts with work you’ve completed recently. If you have any questions at this stage, we recommend you contact your accountant. If you’re not ready to move forward, simply click Close. Otherwise, you can select Incorporate Accountant’s Changes. Select OK to confirm the changes and close any open windows. Select OK and Close again. At this point, QuickBooks will create a new backup of your company file.

At this point, it’s also a good idea to update the closing date and password-protect your QuickBooks data, so no unauthorized changes can occur. In the future, you can access a PDF with all updates included in this import by navigating to the desktop folder that holds your company file.