After your conversion has completed, there are some essential steps to do before getting started with the QuickBooks Online (see the details for each step below):
- Configure your QuickBooks Online account
- Reconcile your bank accounts
- Enable GST in QuickBooks Online
- Verify the conversion
- Change Petty Cash account in QuickBooks Online (Optional
- Match the unmatched entries
- Check retained earnings
- Check and change your account types
- If you used multi-currency, revalue your foreign nominal codes (and banks)
This page also provides a detailed overview of additional steps that you need to take before you can begin using your new QuickBooks Online account.
Step 1 - Configure your QuickBooks Online account
A. Set the start of your financial year
The most important setting is the start of your financial year.
1. Login to QuickBooks Online.
2. Click on the cog in the right top.
3. Go to Account and Settings.
4. In Advanced settings - set your start of the financial year to the correct month (this has to align with your old settings in the previous system)
B. Reconnect your bank accounts
You will also have to reconnect your bank accounts in QuickBooks Online (via the regular process).
Set up and manage your bank connection with QuickBooks Online
Step 2 - Reconcile your bank accounts
After the conversion, QuickBooks Online does not know the state of the transactions on the bank accounts. As far as QuickBooks Online is concerned, all bank accounts are unreconciled, hence, we need to reconcile them.
For each bank account, follow the following steps:
1. Open the bank account
Open the bank account by clicking on it in the overview of the home screen (or from the left side menu: Accounting > Chart of Accounts).
2. Click "Reconcile" in the right top
Click "Get started" in the wizard.
If a popup appears, select Maybe later > Click Let's get reconciled
3. Fill in the fields and click Start reconciling.
In the Ending balance use the ending balance of the account. (This should match the last reconciled balance in Xero).
The information will be available from the reports that are included in the pre-conversion checklist.
If you did not do it, take the balance from the balance sheet available from the left side menu: Accounting > Chart of Accounts.
The Ending date is the date of the last reconciliation performed in the source system.
4. Select the transactions to reconcile
If you have followed the pre-conversion checklist and have reconciled your bank account fully, you can select all transactions for reconciliation. Otherwise, you need to deselect some unreconciled.
If all transactions have been reconciled, select all transactions by clicking the radio button on the right hand side. The QuickBooks Online will ask you to confirm if you want to select all transactions. Click Yes, select all.
You can still deselect any transaction, if needed, by clicking the radio button on the right hand side of each transaction.
5. Finish reconciling
To finish reconciling click Finish now.
Now, QuickBooks Online can start tracking your bank transactions.
Step 3 - Enable GST in QuickBooks Online
Since Dataswitcher does not convert GST, we need to enable GST.
1. Select GST from the left-side menu and select Get Started.
2. In the GST section, select the accounting method and BAS lodgement frequency that applies to your business.
3. If your business is obligated to report Pay-as-you-go Withholding, select the PAYG Withholding box to “tick” it, then select your reporting frequency.
4. If your business is obliged to report PAYG Instalments, select the PAYG Instalments box to “tick” it, then select your reporting method (instalment amount or instalment rate method) and reporting frequency.
5. If you report any of the following taxes, select Other Taxes and tick the ones that apply to your business:
a) Fringe Benefit Tax
b) Fuel Tax Credit
c) Wine Equalisation Tax
d) Luxury Car Tax
6. Select Save and Finish.
Step 4 - Verify the conversion results.
After you have finished the post-conversion steps above, you will need to double check your conversion.
Click here to find out how to check your conversion.
Step 5 - Change Petty Cash account in QuickBooks Online (Optional)
Optionally, you can change the Petty Cash account in QuickBooks Online to be reflected as a bank account.
Select the cash account and do the following changes:
1. Change the account type to "Cash at bank and in hand"
2. Change the Detail type to "Cash on hand" to make the account appear in your bank accounts overview on the dashboard.
Step 6 - Match the unmatched entries
Because of the limitations in QuickBooks Online API, you will need to manually link journal entries to bills, or in some cases also to sales invoices.
The final balance of the supplier or customer account should be fine. If you do not link the journal entries (for example, purchase on accounts) to the invoices, the trial balance may show incorrect balances as the trial balance uses this information to determine the open supplier or customer amounts.
For every supplier or customer, follow these steps below:
1. Open a supplier or customer.
2. If the open amount does not equal the overdue or outstanding amount, go to step 3. Otherwise, proceed to the next supplier or customer.
3. Click "New cheque" or "New Payment" in the right top menu.
4. Click "Add all"
5. QuickBooks Online will automatically make a payment or receipt linking the journal entries and the bills (the cheque or payment amount should be 0.00).
6. Click Save and close.
Please be aware of this limitation, as the limitation might also mean your trial balances for debtors and creditors for the conversion might not be correct. The reason could be that you are using the current date when making the single payment or receipt to match the unmatched transactions.
You might also need to do this in some cases, where the journal entry was not linked to a sales invoice.
You can also read this article for more information about this issue.
Step 7 - Check retained earnings
Make sure have checked the retained earnings before and after the conversion date.
Step 8 - Check and change your account types
Dataswitcher brings over the main types for nominal codes, but not all the specific types (sub-types) that exist in your Xero company file. You are free to change the types of nominal codes after the conversion based on your preference and requirement.
In some cases where the account ranges are incorrect in the source system, we brought balance accounts over as Profit and Loss accounts. This may affect the retained earnings of prior fiscal years.
Step 9 - If you used multi-currency, revalue your foreign nominal codes (and bank accounts)
Refer to this support article if multi currency conversion is not supported and the conversion has been done in home currency.