Quickbooks, Bookkeeping and Accounting Blog

The recommended method for giving your accountant access to your QuickBooks company file is via an Accountant’s Copy, which allows you to continue to work in QuickBooks while your accountant makes changes to your QuickBooks file.  You can then import the changes your accountant made into your company file. For information on using the Accountant’s Copy, see Exchanging QuickBooks Files With Your Accountant. In this blog, however, I am going to talk about QuickBooks Portable Company files.

A QuickBooks Portable Company File is a compact version of your QuickBooks company file. Depending on the quantity of data in your file, it may even be small enough to be sent by e-mail. Because of this, the easiest way to send your company data to another person (such as your accountant) or to move your company data to another location is by first saving your company file as a portable company file.

When your accountant receives the portable company file, he or she can open it to view your data or to make changes. Be aware, however, that you cannot merge the copy of your QuickBooks file that your accountant is working in with your own copy of your QuickBooks file. Therefore, if your accountant is making changes to your data, you should not make any until you have received your file back from your accountant. If your accountant only needs to make a few changes, you might ask them to note what they are so that you can make them yourself.

Finally, be aware that your accountant will need your administrator password to save your file as a portable company file so that they can send it back to you.

For specific instructions on creating and restoring QuickBooks portable company files, see Creating QuickBooks Portable Company Files and Restoring Your QuickBooks Portable Company File.