Copying Data between QuickBooks Files

Summary

I have a new client that runs a large service station. On 12/31/98 the CPA prepared Financial Statements and a list of AJE's. None of the AJE's have been entered in client's books. The client has written all of his checks, payroll, paid the payroll liabilities and Sales Tax. He has not entered any income. My hope was that I could enter the '98 balances from the Financial Statements on my computer as beginning balances, and then copy the data he has entered from his computer to mine, sort of on top of my beginning balances and then enter all the other data to bring the books up to date. The QuickBooks tech that I spoke to said I couldn’t transfer his data to my computer. Is that right or do you see a better answer?

Question

I have a new client that runs a large service station. On 12/31/98 the CPA prepared Financial Statements and a list of AJE's. None of the AJE's have been entered in client's books. The client has written all of his checks, payroll, paid the payroll liabilities and Sales Tax. He has not entered any income. My hope was that I could enter the '98 balances from the Financial Statements on my computer as beginning balances, and then copy the data he has entered from his computer to mine, sort of on top of my beginning balances and then enter all the other data to bring the books up to date. The QuickBooks tech that I spoke to said I couldn’t transfer his data to my computer. Is that right or do you see a better answer?

Answer

The QuickBooks technical support person is correct. There is no way to "copy" data from one QuickBooks company file to another. However, if you want, you can use his file to enter all your opening balances from the 98 financials. Then you can enter the total sales (in summary) by entering one transaction (Journal Entry, Cash Sale, or Invoice). This will record the income, and A/R (or cash if you use a JE or Cash Sale). Then put the cash into your bank account and reconcile with the bank statements. So don't waste your time creating a new file at your office because you won't be able to get his transactions transferred to your file. Instead, work on his file to enter the opening balances and then add in the sales information.