How to Create an Accountants Copy
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An Accountant’s Copy in QuickBooks is usually created so that the Accountant can do work on the company file at the end of the fiscal year. While the Accountant does the work, you as the end-user can still be working on the new fiscal year but you will not be allowed to go back to the previous year. This is done to protect the integrity of the data that the Accountant is working on.

Once the Accountant is finished making changes and creating the year-end adjusting journal entries, he or she will return the copy so that it can be imported into the working company file with the additions completed. This then updates the company file without affecting any work that was done after what is called the dividing date.

To create an accountant's copy file and send without using the file transfer service:

  1. From the File menu, Accountant's Copy, and then select Save File
  2. Note: In QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Accountant
  3. Edition, select the File menu and then Client Activities to save the file
  4. Select Accountant's Copy and click Next
  5. Set the dividing date (Be sure to coordinate with your accountant before choosing this date) and click Next
  6. Select a location to save the file and click Save
  7. Give the Accountant's copy transfer file (.qbx) to you accountant and continue working

To send an accountants copy file using the QuickBooks file transfer service:

Note: The accountant will have two weeks to download the accountant's copy from the email you send in these steps. However, once they download the file, the accountant can take as much time as you both agree on to work on the file and send it back to you.

  1. From the File menu, Accountant's Copy, and then select Send to Accountant
  2. Note: In QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Accountant
  3. Edition, select the File menu and then Client Activities to send to the accountant
  4. Click Next to confirm the accountant's copy
  5. Set the dividing date (Be sure to coordinate with your accountant before choosing this date) and click Next
  6. Enter in the accountant's e-mail address
  7. Reenter the accountant's e-mail address
  8. Enter your name
  9. Enter you e-mail address
  10. Click Next
  11. Create the file transfer password to encrypt file for security
  12. Reenter the password
  13. Enter any notes to your accountant
  14. Click Send