Question
Add "condense data" to QuickBooks Online
This is a discussion post. Thoughts welcome.
I am required by law to maintain my business records for seven years. I don't want to retain any more than that.
In QuickBooks Desktop, I could condense the data. Arguably, given the limitations of the day, this was more for performance and storage reasons than anything else, and QuickBooks Online doesn't have such restrictions. I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to record-keeping, and I have a pretty strong approach to personal and business privacy (e.g., I'd love to see the European Union's "right to be forgotten" applied worldwide, or at least in North America).
I would like to see the "condense data" function available in QuickBooks Online, along the lines of the following:
* Select the fiscal year-end up to which data will be condensed. Do not allow me to select any date later than the seven-year legal minimum.
* For income and expense accounts, delete all transactions on or prior to the selected date (they all get rolled up into retained earnings at year-end).
* For asset and liability accounts, roll up all transactions on or prior to the selected date, including prior years' roll ups, into a single transaction dated as of the purge date and then delete them.
* Delete all orphaned attachments associated with the deleted transactions.
- Some attachments may not be orphaned, e.g., an invoice for a reimbursable expense where the invoice is in the fiscal year after the one in which the expense was incurred.
* Delete the audit trail associated with any deleted transaction.
* For customers, suppliers, accounts, product categories, currencies, etc., identify which ones haven't been used in the time since the purge and give me the option to select which ones to delete.
- Asset and liability accounts must have a zero balance for this to apply to them.
I am required by law to maintain my business records for seven years. I don't want to retain any more than that.
In QuickBooks Desktop, I could condense the data. Arguably, given the limitations of the day, this was more for performance and storage reasons than anything else, and QuickBooks Online doesn't have such restrictions. I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to record-keeping, and I have a pretty strong approach to personal and business privacy (e.g., I'd love to see the European Union's "right to be forgotten" applied worldwide, or at least in North America).
I would like to see the "condense data" function available in QuickBooks Online, along the lines of the following:
* Select the fiscal year-end up to which data will be condensed. Do not allow me to select any date later than the seven-year legal minimum.
* For income and expense accounts, delete all transactions on or prior to the selected date (they all get rolled up into retained earnings at year-end).
* For asset and liability accounts, roll up all transactions on or prior to the selected date, including prior years' roll ups, into a single transaction dated as of the purge date and then delete them.
* Delete all orphaned attachments associated with the deleted transactions.
- Some attachments may not be orphaned, e.g., an invoice for a reimbursable expense where the invoice is in the fiscal year after the one in which the expense was incurred.
* Delete the audit trail associated with any deleted transaction.
* For customers, suppliers, accounts, product categories, currencies, etc., identify which ones haven't been used in the time since the purge and give me the option to select which ones to delete.
- Asset and liability accounts must have a zero balance for this to apply to them.