The importer brings over the majority of your core accounting information, including:

• Company information

• Bank accounts (up to 25)

• Chart of Accounts (sub-accounts are flattened to a single level)

• Vendors, Customers, Employees, Contractors

• Items and Services

• Bills, Checks (including bill payments & payroll checks), Invoices, Deposits, Payments

• Journal Entries

• Sales Receipts (imported as journal entries)

• Classes

These items must be recreated manually in BJB:

• Custom fields

• Inventory adjustments & inventory groups

• Estimates

• Payroll check detail (the check itself imports, but not the withholding detail)

• Credit card payments

• Period closing entries

Yes — a few important ones:

• All banking transactions will import as reconciled
  → It’s best to import at the start of a new period and make sure your QuickBooks bank accounts are fully reconciled beforehand.

• Credit card transactions cannot be imported
  → You’ll enter them as a lump-sum journal entry once the import is complete. Guidance is provided.

• Invoice numbers will reset
  → Imported invoices start at #1 in BJB, but the original QB invoice number is stored in the “Custom” field on each invoice.

• Sub-accounts are flattened
  → After import, you can rebuild headers/sub-accounts in Accounting → Manage Chart of Accounts.

• Outstanding checks/debits must be manually marked as outstanding
  → Because everything imports as reconciled.

Yes. Importing QuickBooks requires a third-party connector called QODBC in order for any external importer to read your QuickBooks database.

You have two options:

Option 1 — Purchase QODBC yourself

• Price: $149

• Must be the QuickBooks Desktop version

• There is a 30-day free trial available, but this version only imports 100 transactions and is not sufficient for most companies.
  
  

Option 2 — “Done For You” Import Service

• Price: $299 per company

• We handle the entire migration for you

• No QODBC purchase required

Here’s the high-level overview:

1. Create a brand-new company in Brass Jacks Bookkeeper (this will be your destination file).

2. BJB creates a staging area to prepare the database.

3. You open your QuickBooks Desktop company (not as admin).

4. You run the BJB QuickBooks Importer tool (also not as admin).

5. QODBC connects the two programs and transfers the data.

6. Once the import finishes, BJB moves the updated database back into place.

7. You re-open BJB, complete the import, and review your data.

Import speed varies by database size — small files may finish in 5 minutes, large files may take 20 minutes or more.

We recommend a few post-import checks:

• Compare the Trial Balance in QB vs. BJB

• Rebuild sub-accounts/header structure in Chart of Accounts

• Enter credit card activity as a journal entry

• Mark any true outstanding checks/debits as outstanding

• Review invoices to note the original QB invoice number stored in the “Custom” field

Yes, you can follow the full walkthrough here:

Instructional Video

Yes. Once your import is complete, you can continue all bookkeeping and payroll tasks entirely inside Brass Jacks Bookkeeper.

Many users choose BJB because it gives them what QB Desktop used to offer: speed, stability, clarity, and control.