QuickBooks Desktop Company Files

The superglue agent can read the data of a QuickBooks Desktop company from a portable company file. You export the file in QuickBooks and attach it in a chat. Nothing needs to be installed on the QuickBooks computer. Use this for migrations and one-time exports.

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A portable company file is a one-time copy. If superglue must write data back to QuickBooks Desktop while the client still works in it, connect the QuickBooks computer through the Secure Gateway instead.

What the agent gets

• Records in QuickBooks SDK format. The agent extracts accounts, customers and jobs, vendors, employees, items, classes, terms, and other lists, the company information, and transactions such as invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, payments, bills, checks, deposits, journal entries, purchase orders, estimates, and sales orders. The records have the same fields and IDs as the QuickBooks SDK, so a migration plan built on SDK fields also works with the file.
• Payroll history. Paychecks, payroll liability checks, liability adjustments, and year-to-date payroll amounts come as records too. The QuickBooks SDK has no export for them.
• Everything else. Memorized transactions, to-dos, notes, budgets, item history, mileage, bank feed lines, and price rules come as records. Data without a record type, such as payroll tax setup and sent emails, comes as table rows.
• A coverage report. The agent tells you which values are encrypted in the file and how many attachments the company has.

Export the company file

1. Open the company in QuickBooks Desktop

   1. Open the company file and sign in as the Admin user.
   2. If other users work in the file, ask them to close it. If QuickBooks asks you to switch to single-user mode, select File > Switch to Single-user Mode.

2. Create a portable company file

   1. Select File > Create Copy.
   2. Select Portable company file, then select Next.
   3. Choose a folder and a file name, then select Save. QuickBooks closes and opens the company file again while it creates the copy.
   4. QuickBooks writes a file that ends in .QBM. superglue accepts portable company files up to 400 MB.

3. Export the attachments

   1. QuickBooks keeps attached documents outside the company file, in the Attach folder in the same folder as the company file.
   2. If the client needs its attachments in the new system, compress the Attach folder into a zip file.

Read the file in superglue

1. Open a chat with the superglue agent and attach the .QBM file. If you exported attachments, also attach the zip file.
2. Tell the agent what you need, for example: “Read this QuickBooks file and list all open invoices by customer.”
3. The agent extracts the file. This takes a few seconds for a small company and a few minutes for a large one. The agent then tells you which record types it found, which values are encrypted, and how many attachments it expects.

What the file does not contain

• Encrypted values. QuickBooks encrypts social security numbers, tax IDs, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers in the file. The agent cannot read them. Collect them from the client if the new system needs them.
• Attachments. Attached documents are in the Attach folder. Export them as described above.
• Later changes. The file contains the data at the time of the copy. Create a new portable company file to get newer data.

Limits

• The agent reads only portable company files (.QBM). It cannot read a company file (.QBW) or a backup (.QBB).
• In company files created before 2007, some account IDs can differ from the IDs that the QuickBooks SDK shows. The IDs are consistent within the extracted data.