Is Updating QuickBooks Hard? (Spoiler: It Depends)

Question: Is it hard to update from my QuickBooks Premier from an earlier year to the current year?

Answer: That depends on how old your current QuickBooks is. If it’s from the last three or four years, it should be a matter of installing your new QuickBooks Premier and merely opening the old QuickBoos Premier Company File or Backup in the new year.

If your QuickBooks Premier is significantly older, you may have to have someone with multiple years of QB Premier software open it in step—say 2006 and then 2013—before opening it in the current year. This past year, I brought a distributor’s QuickBook’s Premier file from 1999 to current!

Always be sure to back up your old file before doing anything in the new software regardless of how many years you are updating. Keep in mind that your old QuickBooks will no longer be able to open your company file once it’s been opened in the current year software, as your information will have been updated and formatted to the new Premier.

Also, run your balance sheet and income statement on the accrual basis before updating, and compare it to the statements in the new year to be sure no data was corrupted in the process.

Please email accounting questions you would like considered for the column to HGatter@AccountingSupportLLC.com with the subject line of "Ask the Accountant."