Creating an Accountant’s Copy in QuickBooks

One of the ways for QuickBooks users to exchange data with their accountant is by creating an accountant’s copy of their QuickBooks file. This is a special copy of the file that allows users to keep working in their company file while the accountant reviews and makes adjustments in the accountant’s copy. When the accountant is finished, the accountant’s changes are sent back to the client who will then import them into the company file.

Some of the advantages to using an accountant’s copy are:

1. It allows clients an efficient way to create copies of their accounting records for the accountant to review.
2. It allows accountants to review clients’ records in their own office without clients losing time unable to work in their file
3. A list of changes made is generated in the file and is sent back to the client when the accountant’s copy file is returned to them
4. When a dividing date is set, it prevents clients from making changes to the same period as the accountant is reviewing

An accountant’s copy may be created only by the QuickBooks admin user and must be done in single-user mode.  A dividing date is selected so that transactions after that date may still be worked on by the user. Typically, a dividing date may be the end of a year, quarter, or month.

After an accountant’s copy of a user’s file has been made and before the accountant’s changes have been imported, the client cannot edit or delete accounts, add, edit or delete transactions dated on or before the dividing date, or reconcile accounts. It is important for the user not to cancel the accountant’s copy before any changes are imported. This will disable the ability of the accountant’s changes to be imported to the working file.

When a client receives the accountant’s changes to import, the changes can be reviewed along with notes made by the accountant. The user has an option to import all or none of the changes. Selecting just some of the changes to import is not an option.

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