Copying Chart of Accounts to New Company in QB Desktop Premier & Importing Information

Do you only need to import CoA or also need to keep the same Lists and Preferences?

Hi there, @NameUser. It's my pleasure to help you copy your Chart of Accounts and vendor information to your new company file in QuickBooks Desktop. 

Since you already have existing company files, you don’t need to start company files from scratch. You can copy and use accounts, lists (customers, vendors, items, etc.), templates, and preferences from an existing company file to get started.

To get started, create a copy of an existing company file. Then condense the file to remove all the transactions. This gives you a basic framework to use for your new company file. 

To create a copy of an existing company file, follow the steps below:

1. Open QuickBooks Desktop and the company file you want to copy.
2. Press F2 to open the Product Information window.
3. Look in the File Information section. This shows where your company file is saved on your computer.
4. If you haven’t already, follow the steps to back up your company file.
5. Use the backup to restore your company file.
6. Rename the file when you restore it. This creates a unique copy of your original company file. Save the new file to a unique folder.

You should now have two separate company files, the original and the one you restored from a backup. Then proceed to Step 2 in this article to remove transactions from the copied company file and start fresh: Create new company files from existing ones in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you want to start a new company file, you can import Customer, Vendor, Items, and Chart of Accounts from an Excel spreadsheet in QuickBooks Desktop. There are several options you can use to import them, like Standard import and Advanced import.  For more details, about importing into different formats, see this article: Import or export MS Excel files.

For other alternative methods to transfer your lists and tailor QuickBooks to better suit your business needs, you may find these articles helpful:

• Export, import, and edit IIF files
• Create a QuickBooks Desktop company file

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any further inquiries regarding importing lists or if you have questions about effectively managing your business's growth in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). I'm here to assist. Take care. 

Hello @NameUser

Re: If yes, how do I do this?  Would prefer a regular user in plain English answer.

To simplify the answer, you can do the following.

Go to:

• File > Utilities > Export > List to IIF files
  

   

• Choose the lists you'd like to transfer over.

Now you should have an IIF file to import over to your new company.

Go to:

• On the new company go File > Utilities > Import > IIF Files...

Let me know if this helps.

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