Migration of QB Desktop with Classes to QBO Essentials

Which QB Desktop year version does your client use?

While waiting for your response to 4gals' clarification question, rfinercpa. I'll share some information about transitioning from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online Essential while maintaining the classes.

QuickBooks Essential does not include a class feature. It is available in QuickBooks Online Plus. However, it's important to note that migrating from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online does not automatically transfer the class feature.

This also means that when your client upgrades from Essentials to Plus, they won't have access to the class transaction history. However, we can manually track classes using the Plus version.

Before migrating, please also note that creating a backup in the QuickBooks Desktop company file is important so the client still has a copy of their important data. The steps below will guide you through the process.

1. QuickBooks, go to the File menu and select Switch to Single-user Mode.
2. Go to the File menu again and hover over Back up Company. Then, select Create Local Backup.
3. In the window, select Local Backup and then Next.
4. In the Local Backup Only section, select Browse and select where you want to save your backup company file.
5. Set the number of backups you want to keep. This is optional.
6. This runs a test to make sure your backup file is in good shape before you save.
7. When you're ready, select OK.
8. Select Save. Then, Next.

And yes, similar to QuickBooks Desktop, there are certain things that you can see but your client cannot. When using QBOA and invited as an accountant to their books, you'll have additional privileges. You can utilize accountant-specific tools to assist them in tax preparation. 

For further information on how to categorize your transactions by class in QBO, please refer to these guides:

• Track your transactions by class in QuickBooks Online.
• Use classes to track income, expenses, or profitability by business segment.

Please let me know if you have more concerns while working classes in your client's books. QuickBooks Community is always here to help. 

@rfinercpa 

You need to purchase a 3rd party service to convert data with class. You can convert data to QBO Essentials as is and ask your client to access their historical data in their QB Desktop for good to lower their conversion costs.