Two files, one preview
The Chart of Accounts and Journal CSV exports are the financial source. Nothing posts until you approve the preview.
Leaving QuickBooks
What moving a client off QuickBooks actually costs you.
This is the real reason firms stay on QuickBooks, so it deserves a straight answer rather than a one-click promise. Here is what transfers, what does not, how long the first client takes, and why you should move exactly one to start.
Watch a company move
A QuickBooks company brought across, in full.
The exports, the preview, the verification. Decide from watching it rather than from our promises.
3 min 52 secSee every walkthrough
Nothing is replaced by accident
Replacing existing books requires an explicit, current confirmation, so a re-upload cannot quietly wipe reviewed data.
Keep QuickBooks as long as you want
Run one client in parallel for a close. Nothing forces you to cancel anything on a schedule.
01
The honest version
Moving a set of books between accounting systems is real work. Any vendor telling you it is one click is describing a demo, not your client with four years of history and a messy chart.
What is true: the accounting history moves as two CSV files, you see exactly what will post before it posts, and the part nobody can automate — reconnecting bank logins — is a Plaid connection you would perform on any new system.
02
The order that keeps it clean
Agree the cutoff date first. Export the Chart of Accounts and Journal report CSVs from the same QuickBooks company at the same point in time. Upload both, review the preview against QuickBooks at the cutoff, then import.
Only after the imported books look right do you connect Plaid, starting from the cutoff so new activity does not duplicate imported history.
- Agree the cutoff date
- Export both CSVs at the same moment
- Preview, validate, then import
- Connect banks from the cutoff forward
03
Verify before it becomes the client's books
After import, check the trial balance, Income Statement, Balance Sheet, registers, bank-account mappings, and reconciliation starting points against QuickBooks at the cutoff.
Do not approve an import because every row landed. A complete import can still carry the wrong account types or the wrong cutoff, and that is far cheaper to catch now than in three months.
Questions
What firms usually ask.
Can I switch from QuickBooks Online to LedgerHQ?
Yes. LedgerHQ imports the QuickBooks Chart of Accounts and Journal report CSV exports, previews the resulting books before anything posts, and then connects bank accounts through Plaid from a cutoff date you choose. Firms typically move one client first and run it in parallel for a close.
How long does it take to move one client?
The import itself is two exports, an upload, and a preview review. The work that takes real time is verifying the resulting books against QuickBooks at the cutoff and reconnecting the bank accounts — which is why moving a single client first is the sensible way to find out what your own data looks like.
Do QuickBooks bank connections transfer?
No, and no product can transfer them. Bank connections are re-established in LedgerHQ through Plaid after the accounting history and cutoff are reviewed.
What does not come across?
The import moves accounting history. It does not copy QuickBooks settings, attachments, payroll records, bank connections, or third-party app integrations.
Will importing overwrite books already in LedgerHQ?
Only if the preview shows a replacement and an authorized user explicitly confirms that current replacement plan.
Do we have to leave QuickBooks entirely?
No. Keep the QuickBooks subscription for as long as you want read-only history or clients you have not moved. LedgerHQ bills per active company, so the two can overlap indefinitely.
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