Why People Generally Transfer QuickBooks Online to Desktop

Converting a file from one version of QuickBooks to another is not usually a complicated process. Many QuickBooks Online users have exported their files to and are now using QuickBooks Desktop instead. While it may have become absolutely necessary for them to do so for some reason, this process has its pros and cons.   

If you wish to transfer QuickBooks Online to Desktop and are thinking about the benefits of doing so, then this article is for you. Here, we have listed the various aspects of exporting a QBO file to its desktop version and the requirements to do the same. This article is in response to all the queries that we have received about when and why people make the transition into QB desktop, so keep reading to find some important answers regarding this process.

To begin with, many of you want to know why so many accountants and business owners have had to take this decision in the past and continue to do so. The answer depends on an organization’s requirements that change according to its growth. The growing needs of any business decide which version of accounting software like QuickBooks is the best fit for its operations. This helps business owners and accounting professionals decide why they should go with the transfer from QuickBooks Online to QuickBooks Desktop. 

Additionally, the Desktop version of QB has quite a few advantages that make some professionals consider switching to it. Firstly, you get to make use of many kinds of apps that have been customized to perform certain tasks. Having such apps brings excellent improvement in the efficiency of the company in terms of accounting-related tasks.

Secondly, the management of huge amounts of inventories and tedious job costing becomes more convenient for large-scale business organizations when they use QB desktop. On top of that, this version of QuickBooks is increasingly secure as all the company-related information is stored on your own computer and not over cloud storage. 

And finally, QB desktop is more cost-effective as an accounting solution as compared to QBO because you only have to pay once when you purchase the software. On the other hand, QBO incurs monthly charges which make it seem like a consistent expense.

As with any other conversion process, there are a few key points to think about before you proceed to transfer QuickBooks Online to Desktop. 

For instance, only those users who have the US edition of QBO can actually make the export to QB desktop. 

Also, you need to have the access level of an Administrator if you want to transfer your files into this version. 

Another requirement for this process to be completed is that you need to have Internet Explorer 10 or later on your device. In case you have the 64-bit application of QB desktop on your Windows-based computer, that will cause a problem for you because the file transfer process requires the 32-bit version of the application to be present on your computer. 

Last but not least, your computer needs to have ActiveX installed on it in order to continue.

If you have fulfilled all the above requirements, then you can complete the transfer from QuickBooks Online to Desktop very conveniently. The process itself is actually simple but it only seems difficult for those who have not done it before. 

Apart from that, the reason why converting from QBO to QB desktop is easy is because although each conversion process is variable, the company files in QBO are uncomplicated files that contain just a couple of apps. This reduces the entire process into just a few steps, thereby making it easier. For the sake of simplicity, we are talking about a typical QBO data file here. 

However, if your company file may be more complex based on the number of apps you have on it, so try to decide what parts of the company file you really need to transfer such as vendor, item, and customer lists. In that case, the best solution will probably be to export all the required lists to excel and later import them to QB desktop - this could simplify things to a large extent. 

There are certain things to watch out for as well before you proceed to transfer QuickBooks Online to Desktop. One of these includes the structure and coding of the programs that have been written which are sometimes different. This prevents the files of those different coding structures from transferring over. Some notable examples are the Recurring Transactions of QBO that will not convert into the Memorized transactions of QB desktop, Location Tracking, Shared reports and certain apps along with any automatic emailed reports as well. 

One easy way to understand this is that the more elements and apps your company file has the more complicated your task of conversion will get. This is because you will end up with a lot of pieces to convert and not all of them are compatible to do so. Also, if your QB Online company file has apps, then it is a must to find out which of them can be converted and whether any extra charges are involved.