How do you run reports?

In QuickBooks Desktop, you can open a report by selecting Reports from the top menu, and finding the report you want from the dropdown.

In QuickBooks Online, you open reports from the Reports Center, which is accessible from the left-hand navigation, as shown here:

You can look for reports by category, or type the report name into the search field.

Which reports should you compare?

You don’t need to check every report in QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online. Critical ones to compare between both versions of the client’s company file are: 

• A/P and A/R Aging Summary reports
• Sales Tax Liability reports and Payroll Tax Liability reports for the most recent period
• Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports

Let’s compare Balance Sheet reports. Run accrual-based Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports for all dates in both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online. Then compare the totals to make sure they match.

Here’s an example of a Balance Sheet report in QuickBooks Desktop…

… and the equivalent report in QuickBooks Online.

What if you converted inventory?

If you turned on inventory and chose a FIFO start date that’s different from the conversion date, Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold should both be off by an equal but opposite amount. To make sure inventory balances agree as of that date, you can run the Balance Sheet report as of the FIFO start date in both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online.

What if you find a discrepancy?

If any reports don’t agree, you need to take the following steps:

• Open the conversion report that was emailed to you as an accountant user, and review each of the tabs at the bottom to see if there were any errors or things that couldn’t convert

• Go back to the QuickBooks Desktop file and try verifying it again to make sure the file isn’t corrupted
• Try doing the conversion again. Note that this will overwrite the data in the QuickBooks Online company

Review recurring transactions

The memorized transactions in QuickBooks Desktop convert to QuickBooks Online as recurring transactions, so you don’t need to set these up again in QuickBooks Online.

However, any memorized transactions set to be entered automatically do not convert as scheduled recurring transactions in QuickBooks Online. They convert either as a reminder or an unscheduled transaction.

Therefore, you need to review all recurring transactions—especially any set to be entered automatically in QuickBooks Desktop.

How do you find memorized transactions that are set to be entered automatically in QuickBooks Desktop?

To open the Memorized Transactions List, go to Lists > Memorized Transactions List from the top menu. 

Transactions with a checkmark in the Auto column are set to be entered automatically.

If a transaction has a date entered in the Next Date column but no checkmark in the Auto column, it will appear in the Reminders list in QuickBooks Online. 

How do you find the recurring transactions list in QuickBooks Online?

To find the recurring transactions list in QuickBooks Online:

• Select the Gear icon, followed by Recurring transactions

In the Recurring Transactions list, look at the Type and Next Date columns to make sure these agree with the information on the Memorized Transactions List in QuickBooks Desktop. Note that there are no transaction groups in the Recurring Transactions list in QuickBooks Online, unlike in QuickBooks Desktop

How do you change any unscheduled transactions or reminders to scheduled transactions?

If you need to convert any transactions that show as Unscheduled or Reminder in the Type column:

1. Select Edit from the dropdown in the Action column. This opens the recurring transaction

Use the Type dropdown to change the transaction type to Scheduled

Then fill in the schedule details

When you’re ready, select Save template 

When you go back to the Recurring Transactions list, you’ll see that this transaction is now set as a Scheduled one.