If you’re thinking about changing who keeps your books, you might be wondering if you have to wait for January. You don’t. The year doesn’t start over, and most of what matters is already sitting in your QuickBooks file.
People change bookkeepers for ordinary reasons. A business grows, or somebody retires. Whatever the reason, here’s what comes with you and what to line up first.
Your file stays put
Your books live in your QuickBooks company. Every transaction, every reconciled month, your customer and vendor lists, and the receipts attached along the way are all in there. A bookkeeper works inside that file as an invited user.
So nothing gets boxed up and sent anywhere. You invite the new person in, and once the handoff is done you remove the access you no longer need. Both are a few clicks on the Manage users screen.
And since it’s the same file, it’s still one year. Your profit and loss runs January through December like it would have anyway.
Not on QuickBooks? Then getting you onto it is the first step, and any past records that need to come over get priced with the catch-up work.
Two things to check first
Who the primary admin is. That’s the main owner of the QuickBooks account. You can see it under Settings, then Manage users. If it’s you, you’re set. If it’s your current bookkeeper, ask them to transfer that role to you before anything else changes. It’s a standard step, and you’ll get an email to accept it.
Who pays Intuit for the subscription. Some bookkeepers pay for it through their firm at a discounted rate. If that’s how yours is set up, the billing gets moved over to you. Intuit says that doesn’t affect your accounting data. Your price won’t be the same, since the firm’s discount stays with the firm, and the file is read-only until you add your own billing info. (My clients keep the subscription in their own name for this reason. More on that here.)
Where I pick up
The cleanest handoff point is the end of a month that’s been reconciled. I find the last one and work forward from there. If the months since are caught up, I keep going. Any that are behind count as catch-up work. You get one flat price for it once I’ve seen the file, and nothing starts until you have that number.
What isn’t in the file
A few things live outside QuickBooks, so ask for them while everyone still has access. That’s statements or receipts kept in a shared folder or a portal, and notes on anything unusual, like a loan or a customer who pays in pieces. Ask about open questions on the current month too.
The other thing that doesn’t transfer is what your last bookkeeper knew about your business. So expect more questions from me in the first month than in the ones after it. That’s me learning how you run things.
If you have payroll
Changing who keeps your books doesn’t have to change who runs your payroll. If you do want payroll to move, bring it up at the start. The pay your employees already received this year has to be entered in the new system, because it goes on their W-2s.
Is mid-year a bad time?
No. I’d take a start partway through the year over a January one. Your preparer is going to want the books early in the year, and the extra months help. (Here’s what they’ll ask for.)
If you’re weighing a change, the first conversation is free. We’ll look at where your file stands and what the handoff would take.
Keep reading: How to Choose a Bookkeeper (And What to Avoid)
Book a free consult