Quickbooks 2009 for Mac vs. my accountant

April 2, 2009 5:50 PM

Using Quickbooks 2009 for Mac, can I send and receive my company file to and from my accountant, who uses Quickbooks on the PC?

I see I can "backup" my company file to a window's file type. But I don't really want a backup, do I?

posted by subpixel to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

I've never done it, but there's an option under the File menu to "create accountant's copy".
posted by raisingsand at 7:08 PM on April 2, 2009

Intuit products are funny about file sharing and upgrades. They come out with a new version pretty much every year...they know that since so many people share files with bookkeepers/clients, it will force upgrades aka more money for them.

But I digress.

It depends on what version of QB your accountant has. You *do* want a backup however, it will make sure that you save *all* the files (IIRC there are 3 or 4 associated with each company/account). If your version of QB is newer than your CPA you may be able to save with backwards compatibility. If your version is older, it should work on CPA's.
posted by radioamy at 7:17 PM on April 2, 2009

This KB article covers it. I think you should be able to convert back and forth (if your acct has QB 2009) but it might be a lengthy conversion process, and if you do this many times your likelihood of data damage is high. Definitely make sure to run whatever data integrity checks are available to you both before and after, and back up beforehand. For some reason QB company files' databases can be pretty fragile and conversion between platforms doesn't always go smoothly.

If you were both on Windows, you could create an accountant's copy that has all manner of nifty features that make it easier for your accountant to work with your data, and easier for you to import your accountant's changes. I have no idea whether QB Mac has this feature, but I would bet money that the accountant's copy doesn't cross platforms anyway, so don't get too excited about the idea.
posted by crinklebat at 8:16 PM on April 2, 2009

My QB for Mac 2009 opened and converted my QB for PC 2008 file without any trouble. I used the back-up copy from the PC which I had stored on a USB flash drive. QB for Mac saw the file when it asked what company I wanted to open. I haven't tried to go the other way - back to the PC - but you shouldn't have any trouble if all you want to do is read the copy. The accountant shouldn't accept your copy anyway if you made changes to a company record.
posted by birdwatcher at 5:54 AM on April 3, 2009