Yes, you can export from QuickBooks Online to Desktop with Intuit's migration tool. Start on the Export Overview page in Online, request the data, download a QBXML file and import it into a new Desktop company file. Lists, transactions and cleared status carry over. Payroll history, recurring templates and the audit log do not, and some transactions change shape.
Can you export from QuickBooks Online to Desktop at all?
Exporting from QuickBooks Online to Desktop is possible through a free migration tool that Intuit provides, not through a menu item inside the Online company. The tool runs on the computer where QuickBooks Desktop is installed and builds a new Desktop company file from an export the Online company prepares.
Intuit's Using the migration tool to move data from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop is the US article that walks through it. It reaches the tool from an Online page called Export Overview, and it requires QuickBooks Desktop to be downloaded and open during the import.
On versions, Intuit's US pages are thinner than firms might like. The How data transfers from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop article says to install, activate and update Desktop to the latest release before opening the converted file, and that a trial copy works if the firm owns no license. Neither article names a minimum Online plan or Desktop version. The Desktop Migration Tool FAQs page recommends Google Chrome for the browser side.
Size can block the export. The transfer article sets a ceiling of 4,000,000 targets and warns that complex files may error during conversion.
What carries over from QuickBooks Online to a Desktop file
What carries over from QuickBooks Online to a Desktop file is most of the ledger: the chart of accounts, customers, vendors, and posted transactions. What stays behind is the history and automation that only Online keeps, such as payroll detail, recurring templates and the audit log. Some transactions also arrive in a different form.
The table below summarizes Intuit's transfer article for Online to Desktop. The right column gives a workaround for each item that does not survive.
| Carries over to Desktop | Stays behind, and the workaround |
|---|---|
| Chart of accounts. Deleted accounts arrive as inactive, with their history kept. | Payroll history and employee tax setup. Keep the Online payroll reports as PDFs and set up Desktop payroll fresh. |
| Customers, vendors and employees, including deleted names as inactive. | Recurring transaction templates. Run the Recurring Template List report first and rebuild the ones still needed. |
| Projects, which become customer:jobs. | Estimates and purchase orders. Run Open Estimates and Open Purchase Orders, export them to Excel, and re-enter what is still open. |
| Cleared status, shown as a bold check mark for transactions reconciled in Online. | The audit log. Keep read-only access to Online, or export the history the client needs before access ends. |
| Invoices and bills, though ones with several A/R or A/P split rows break into separate journal entries. | Historical sales tax payments and manual adjustments. Record them by hand in Desktop. |
| Transfers, which become journal entries, and cash purchases, which become checks. | Bundles. Rebuild them as group items in Desktop. |
| Inventory items, valued at average cost going forward. | FIFO cost layers. Compare ending inventory with the Online FIFO value and adjust. |
| Sales tax tracking, with agency settings arriving as service items instead of tax codes. | Contact notes, delivery preferences and tax-exempt check marks. Export the customer list from Online before the move. |
Three items firms often ask about get little or no mention on Intuit's transfer page: bank rules and reconciliation reports are not listed, and the only attachments it mentions are timesheet attachments, which do not transfer. Treat all three as staying behind. Intuit's Export your QuickBooks Online data article says attachments can be selected under Settings, Attachments, and exported with Batch actions into a zip file. Save the Online reconciliation reports as PDFs, and rebuild any bank rules in Desktop by hand.
The customer-side gaps are why a separate customer export is worth the five minutes. The steps are in exporting the customer list from QuickBooks Online.
Running the QuickBooks Online to Desktop export, step by step
The QuickBooks Online to Desktop export runs in three stages: download the migration tool, request and download the Online data as a QBXML file, then import that file into Desktop. Requesting the data can take a while, because Intuit's confirmation email arrives later for larger files, so start early in the day.
The migration tool article gives the sequence.
Stage 1: Get the tool
- Sign in to QuickBooks Online and open the Export Overview page, which Intuit's article links to directly.
- Select Get Started, then Download tool, and keep the page open.
- Install the tool and accept the license terms.
Stage 2: Request and download the data
- On Prepare to export, select Continue.
- Choose All financial data or All financial data without transactions. Intuit notes that inventory is not exported for products and services.
- On Request your data, continue, then enter a name and email address.
- Wait for the confirmation email, and check the Online homepage for updates.
- Return to Export Overview, continue to the download step and download the QBXML file. Save it somewhere easy to find.
Stage 3: Import into Desktop
- Open QuickBooks Desktop and stay on the No Company Open screen.
- Open the Desktop migration tool, browse to the QBXML file, and select Import.
- Name and save the new company file.
- When the Certificate window appears, select Yes, Always and allow the application to access personal data. If the window never appears, run the tool or QuickBooks as Administrator.
- Select Confirm and wait. Intuit warns that large migrations can take hours.
Checking the result
Intuit's instruction is to run a Profit and Loss on the accrual basis in both products and compare. If they differ, close the Desktop company, re-run the import and compare again; if they still differ, Intuit says to enter manual adjustments in both products. The transfer article adds the Trial Balance to that comparison.
An example for a fictional client, Copperline Studio LLC: Online accrual net income for the year is $184,602.77, and the Desktop file shows $184,602.77. The trial balances agree account by account at $1,240,118.30 each side. Only then is the Desktop file ready to use.
Why move a client's books from QuickBooks Online to Desktop?
Moving a client's books from QuickBooks Online to Desktop makes sense when the firm needs a file it controls after the Online subscription ends, or a reviewer works only in Desktop. The move is not a sync. Once the Desktop file exists, the two companies go their separate ways.
Common reasons, each with what to watch:
- A year-end archive. A firm wants a frozen copy of the books on its own server. Intuit's FAQ is clear that the migration tool does not create a backup of the Online data itself; it copies data into a Desktop file, which needs Desktop to open. The same page notes that QuickBooks Online Advanced users can turn on the Backup and Restore app.
- A Desktop-only reviewer. An outside reviewer or a partner works in Desktop. A copy as of the review date may be enough, and the client keeps working in Online.
- Ending the Online subscription. A client closing the business, or leaving Online for good, needs the history somewhere. Run the export while the subscription is still active and the firm can still sign in.
Before any of these, pull the reports that do not survive. Open invoices are the obvious one, because the firm will need them to collect after the move. The steps for lists, line detail and PDF copies are in how to export invoices from QuickBooks.
Bank activity after the move is a separate job. Desktop has its own import paths, which which file types QuickBooks Desktop takes for bank transactions sets out. The wider walkthrough of importing bank transactions into QuickBooks Desktop covers Web Connect files and banks without them.
Online to Desktop export problems with multicurrency and payroll
Online to Desktop export problems cluster around multicurrency and payroll, because both depend on data Online stores that Desktop handles differently. Multicurrency transactions can arrive with changed values, and payroll history does not arrive at all. Check both before the client relies on the Desktop file.
Multicurrency. Intuit's transfer article lists multicurrency as a partial transfer. Transactions in currencies other than US dollars may lose their original valuation, and Intuit says to review foreign currency accounts right after the move. An example: a fictional client billing a Canadian customer in CAD should compare that customer's open balance in both currencies, and the realized gain or loss account, between the two files.
Payroll. Active Online payroll histories and employee tax setups do not transfer. Paychecks arrive as checks for net wages, without line-item tax detail. Intuit's suggestion is to subscribe to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll or set up manual payroll in Desktop. For a client mid-year, the firm has to plan how each employee's year-to-date figures will reach Desktop before the next payroll there, with the Online payroll reports as the record.
Inventory. FIFO layers do not carry over, and Desktop values inventory at average cost going forward. Cost of goods sold and inventory value can drift from the Online figures. Compare ending inventory with the Online FIFO value and post an adjustment if the firm decides one is needed.
Field length. Desktop has fixed character limits on fields, and Intuit says longer values are cut short on import. Long item descriptions and memo text are where this shows up first.
None of these block the export. They are the reasons the trial balance check in the previous section is not optional.
When a fresh Desktop file beats an Online to Desktop export
A fresh Desktop file beats an Online to Desktop export when the client needs only current balances and open items, not years of transaction detail. Building a new file from a trial balance, plus open invoices and bills, avoids payroll gaps, split journal entries and inventory revaluation entirely.
The fresh-file route has four parts:
- Lists. Export customers, vendors, the chart of accounts and items from Online, and import them into the new Desktop file.
- Opening balances. Run the Online trial balance as of the cutover date and enter it as an opening journal entry. Run it on the basis the books are kept on; the section on QuickBooks trial balance date ranges and accounting basis explains why that choice changes the figures.
- Open items. Enter each open invoice and unpaid bill individually rather than as one A/R or A/P line, so aging reports work from day one.
- History. Keep the Online reports, saved as PDF and Excel, as the record of everything before the cutover.
An example cutover for Copperline Studio LLC as of December 31: the trial balance shows A/R of $22,740.00 across seven open invoices. The opening entry posts everything except A/R and A/P. The seven invoices are then entered one by one, and Desktop's A/R total lands on $22,740.00.
The fresh file loses transaction detail before the cutover. If the reason for the move is a full archive, the migration tool is the better route. If the reason is a clean working file, the fresh start is usually faster to verify.
When the client's year-end trial balance or general ledger reaches the firm as a PDF, Schema CPA can read it into rows and export them to Excel or CSV for the opening entry; it does not post anything into QuickBooks. The document types it reads are listed in the documents section of the homepage.
Moving in the opposite direction, from a Desktop file into Online, follows different rules and limits. Start with what moves when you convert QuickBooks Desktop to Online.