# How do I back up or export my accounting data itself, and what happens to my books if I lose access to the software?

Applies to: United States · Updated 2026-09-30

Keep your own copy of the books outside the software. Know what you hold: a backup restores into the same software, an export can be read without it, and saved reports cannot rebuild transactions. A complete copy has transaction detail, lists, opening balances, attachments, period-end reports and the change history; prove it by opening it and test-restoring any backup. If access is lost, export anything still viewable, recover the login or admin role, then rebuild from bank and payment records.

## Is what you already hold a copy of your books?

Three different things get called a backup, and they rebuild different amounts.

| What you hold | What it serves | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| A restorable backup, such as a QuickBooks Desktop .qbb file | Restoring the whole company file into the same software | Open without a copy of that software, in a release able to restore it |
| A data export, such as spreadsheet files of reports and lists | Reading the selected transactions and lists without the software, or loading them into another system | Restore as a working company file |
| A report archive, such as saved PDFs of statements | Showing totals as reported on each date | Show the transactions behind those totals, or load anywhere |

Intuit's help page on backing up a QuickBooks Desktop company file says the backup saves everything currently in the company file, but not payroll forms. The IRS's FAQ on electronic accounting software records says the IRS requests accounting software backup files in examinations, because the backup is an exact copy of the original books of entry, and that its testing cannot adequately be performed on records already converted into Excel spreadsheets.

If all you hold is reports, you hold no copy of the books: take an export or a backup now. Loading an export into a different system is a migration, covered in the guide on moving books between accounting systems.

## What must a complete copy of the books contain?

Check your copy against this inventory:

- **Transaction detail.** Every posted transaction, line by line, for the whole history, plus non-posting documents such as estimates and purchase orders.
- **Lists.** The chart of accounts with account descriptions, and the customer, vendor, item and employee lists.
- **Opening balances.** The balances the books started from, with the entries that recorded them.
- **Attachments.** The receipts, bills and other source documents attached to transactions, as files.
- **Period-end reports.** The trial balance, balance sheet and profit and loss at each year-end and at the copy date, and the bank reconciliation reports.
- **Change record.** The software's audit log or change history, run as a report and exported or saved as its own file. Intuit's QuickBooks Online Advanced backup page lists audit log entries as data that can't be backed up.
- **System description.** The product, version and plan; how data flows into and through it (bank feeds, apps, payroll); the controls that keep processing accurate and that govern who can add, change or delete entries; the chart of accounts with account descriptions; and the copy date, who made the copy and how. The IRS's Publication 583 requires a description showing the data flow, those controls and the chart of accounts.

## How do you take a copy from a hosted or an installed system?

Each product does this its own way; the QuickBooks pages below are examples, so find your own product's equivalents.

### What if the books are in a hosted subscription?

Intuit's help page on exporting QuickBooks Online data describes exporting your reports and lists as Excel files in one .zip file, which saves information from posting transactions that affect account balances. The same page has you export non-posting transactions, such as estimates and purchase orders, separately, and export attachments separately as a zip file, and says third-party apps can also back up QuickBooks Online data. Its export tool has you switch reports on or off and pick from pre-selected date ranges: switch on reports that list individual transactions, pick the widest range, and check that the earliest transactions are in the file.

For QuickBooks Online Advanced and Intuit Enterprise Suite, Intuit's backup-and-restore page says the backup holds some of your data but not all of it: it includes attachments, but not recurring transactions, bank feeds and rules, custom reports and form templates, reconciliation reports or audit log entries, and reconciled transactions do not stay reconciled. It also says backups older than one year won't be retrievable. You can save those backups to Google Drive and export them, but the same page says that right now you can't restore data from that cloud archive, and that restoring overwrites all company data back to the chosen date. So for QuickBooks Online, the copy you hold outside Intuit's servers is, in practice, an export; check whether your own product offers a backup you can hold and restore.

### What if the product is installed on your own computer?

Intuit's help page on backing up a QuickBooks Desktop company file describes a backup file with a .qbb extension and a complete verification option that runs a test to make sure the backup file is in good shape before you save. Intuit's restore page says a backup kept on an external device or a hosting service must be moved to your local hard drive before you restore it.

Because the business already holds the file, the risks are a failed drive, a corrupted file and a version that will not open it, so keep one copy off the premises. Intuit's view-only page for QuickBooks Desktop says you can open and edit company files at any time with a compatible license or active subscription, so plan on one to restore a backup. In view-only mode, the page says, you can view reports but not create transactions; it does not say view-only mode restores backups, and after its one year you'll have to renew your subscription to view your data. Export reports and lists to spreadsheets too, since those stay readable without a license, and test-restore each backup in the release you would use.

The same page says view-only mode is available in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows 2023 R3 and newer and QuickBooks for Mac Plus 2024 and newer, currently only for Pro Plus, Premier Plus and Enterprise, and only to company file admins. It says to update from 2023 R1 or QuickBooks for Mac 2023 and to switch to single-user mode before you cancel, and that view-only mode won't work on Rightworks hosting or after QuickBooks is reinstalled, so do not count on it after a failed drive.

## Isn't the vendor already keeping a copy for you?

Not one you control. Intuit's QuickBooks Online Terms of Service (version 02122026) say Intuit does not provide any warranties with respect to data loss or the platform's availability, and that it may modify, suspend or discontinue the platform at any time; the same terms say your content remains yours, meaning you keep your intellectual property rights in it, which is not a promise to return it. Intuit's own backup service for Desktop ends with its subscription: Intuit's QuickBooks Desktop cancellation policies say it keeps Intuit Data Protect backed-up files for 30 days after you cancel that subscription.

Handing records to a provider does not hand over the duty either. The IRS's Rev. Proc. 98-25 says a taxpayer's use of a third party for services, such as custodial or management services, in respect of machine-sensible records does not relieve the taxpayer of its recordkeeping obligations and responsibilities under section 6001 and the procedure.

## What happens to the data in each way of losing access?

Other vendors set their own outcomes, so read yours while you still have access.

| Loss state | QuickBooks Online | QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled or lapsed | Intuit's after-cancellation page: for a paid subscription, read-only access for one year, during which you can export data to Excel or to a desktop version of QuickBooks; a cancelled or expired free trial's data is available for 90 days, and you must export within those 90 days. Intuit's resubscribe page: company data preserved for 365 days after the cancellation date | Intuit's view-only page: view-only access for 1 year after the subscription ends, where available (see conditions above), without editing, then renewal needed to view. Intuit's subscription questions page: after a cancelled Desktop Plus subscription expires, you can export existing data within the same 12 months, on Windows 2023 R3 or newer or Mac Plus 2024 or newer, and you lose Intuit customer support, Data Recovery services and plan services such as Intuit Data Protect |
| Unpaid | Intuit's after-cancellation page: after a declined card, 14 days of full access to update billing, then suspension until you re-subscribe | Intuit's cancellation policies: after missed payments the file goes on hold for a week and won't open until you renew or set up view-only mode |
| Product withdrawn | Intuit's terms: Intuit may discontinue the platform at any time | Intuit's page for new US subscribers: new subscriptions of several Desktop products stopped after September 30, 2024; existing Desktop Plus subscribers can still renew, with security updates and support continuing, though the page says availability, terms and support options are subject to change without notice |
| Locked out, or the admin has left | Intuit's page on requesting the primary admin role, in the recovery steps below | The same request page, which covers both products' Intuit accounts (billing, user management, support plan), not a lost company-file password |
| Deliberate move | Intuit's after-cancellation page recommends exporting your data before you cancel; printed reports alone are a report archive, not a copy | Before the subscription ends, take and test a backup and an export, including attachments, which Intuit's view-only page says view-only mode will not show |

None of these pages promises the data after its window ends, so plan as if it is gone then. If access has lapsed but the vendor still holds the data, the window is your deadline: export everything on the inventory now.

## Will an export still be usable later, and do attachments come with it?

A spreadsheet export opens without the accounting software. What it loses is the working structure: it cannot be restored as a company file, and links between records, such as which payment settled which invoice or which transactions were reconciled, survive only as far as the exported reports show them. Include the reports that carry those links, such as open invoices, unpaid bills and reconciliation reports.

Do not assume attachments travel with a ledger export. Intuit's view-only page for QuickBooks Desktop says that in view-only mode you won't be able to view attachments linked to transactions. Whatever the product, prove attachments are in the copy by opening a sample from the copy itself.

## What routine keeps the copy trustworthy?

In Rev. Proc. 98-25 the IRS calls records management a business decision solely within the taxpayer's discretion, and lists as recommended practices labeling records, a secure storage environment, back-up copies, an offsite storage location, and testing to confirm records integrity. A routine built on that looks like this:

- **Cadence.** Take a copy after each month-end close, and again before any plan change, cancellation or change of bookkeeper.
- **Location.** Keep one copy outside the vendor's system and off the premises, in storage the business controls and protects like the books.
- **Custody.** Make sure at least two people know where the copy is and can open or restore it.
- **Labels.** Name each copy with the business, product, version and cut-off date.

Then prove each copy before relying on it:

1. **Open it.** Open every file from where the copy is stored, on a different computer from the one that made it if you can.
2. **Tie the totals.** Compare the copy's trial balance with the live system's at the same date, account by account.
3. **Trace a sample.** Pick a few transactions from a bank statement, find each in the copy and open its attachment.
4. **Test-restore any backup.** Restore it into a separate folder, never over the live file: Intuit's restore page for QuickBooks Desktop says not to overwrite anything unless you know you want to, and that you can save the backup in a completely separate folder. Where restoring overwrites the live company, as Intuit's QuickBooks Online Advanced backup page describes, verify the export instead.
5. **Record the test.** Note the date, who tested and what matched, and keep the note with the copy.

## How do you keep access to the account inside the business?

Intuit's page on changing the QuickBooks Online primary admin says the primary admin is the main person who has access to every part of a QuickBooks account, and that the new primary admin must already have the Admin role before the role can be transferred. Set the account up so no single departure removes it:

- **Owner as primary admin.** Hold the primary admin role yourself, on a login tied to an email address the business controls.
- **A second admin.** Give a second trusted person the Admin role, so someone else can still reach and export the books. While the primary admin can still sign in, Intuit's page on changing the primary admin lets them hand over the role directly (on Simple Start, by contacting Intuit); if they cannot, the request in step 4 below is still needed.
- **Business-held recovery.** Keep recovery email addresses and phone numbers on accounts the business controls.
- **Company file admin.** For an installed product, make sure the business holds the company file's admin login and password and a second person can use them. The IRS's FAQ on electronic accounting software records says those credentials are needed to read most data files, and Intuit's view-only page says only company file admins can access view-only mode.

If a bookkeeper or accountant set up the account or holds the primary admin role, Intuit's page on transferring primary admin access back to a client says it is not recommended for firms to be the primary admin, and describes the firm transferring the role back: the client receives an email with a link and accepts the role. Ask for that transfer while relations are good, accept only a transfer you asked for, and take your own copy meanwhile. For QuickBooks Desktop, Intuit's view-only page says you still own your data regardless of subscription status, though after view-only mode's year you'll have to renew your subscription to view it; keep the file and its copies on machines the business controls. A former bookkeeper who will not release your file is a separate problem.

## What should you do if access is already lost?

Work through these in order, and go straight to step 5 if the vendor no longer holds the data at all:

1. **Use any remaining window.** If the account is read-only or view-only, export everything on the inventory, attachments included, before anything else. Intuit's view-only page says QuickBooks Desktop view-only mode won't show attachments linked to transactions, and that you can open and edit company files with a compatible license or active subscription; Intuit's after-cancellation page for QuickBooks Online does not say whether attachments can still be exported.
2. **Recover your own login.** Use the vendor's own sign-in recovery for a forgotten password or a lost second sign-in factor.
3. **Go through whoever holds it.** If a bookkeeper, accountant or firm holds the subscription, ask them to transfer the primary admin role to you; if they will not, step 4 is the owner's route.
4. **Reclaim the admin role.** If the primary admin has left, or the firm will not transfer the role, ask Intuit for it. Intuit's page on changing the primary admin says that if the primary admin has left and no one can sign in as them, the standard transfer steps can't be followed and you must submit a request to its account protection team. Intuit's page on requesting to be the primary admin, which says to proceed if you can't get the role assigned to you, asks for a driver's license, government-issued ID or passport, plus ownership documents that vary by business type, such as articles of organization or an operating agreement for an LLC.
5. **Rebuild from outside records.** Request statements and transaction downloads for the missing period from each bank, card issuer and payment platform the business uses; each sets how far back and in what form it provides them. Rebuilding the books from those records is its own task.

## Do federal tax rules require the data to stay readable without the software?

The IRS's Publication 583 says that if you use a computerized system, you must be able to produce sufficient legible records to support and verify entries made on your return and determine your correct tax liability; the machine-sensible records must reconcile with your books and return, and must provide enough detail to identify the underlying source documents. It adds that you must keep all machine-sensible records and a complete description of the computerized portion of your recordkeeping system, covering the points under System description in the inventory above.

Rev. Proc. 98-25, on the IRS's Automated records page, requires the machine-sensible records it covers to be made available to the IRS upon request and to be capable of being processed: able to be retrieved, manipulated, printed on paper and output on electronic media. That definition does not require the program that created the data to be available, unless the program is necessary to a tax-related computation or to the retrieval of the data. It does not settle whether your accounting software is necessary to a tax-related computation, and so whether a copy that can be processed without the software is enough on its own; ask a tax professional.

The procedure binds a business with assets of $10 million or more at the end of its taxable year, counting a controlled group of corporations as one with its assets aggregated. A business with less must comply if all or part of the information section 6001 requires is not in its hardcopy books and records but is available in machine-sensible records, if machine-sensible records were used for computations that cannot reasonably be verified or recomputed without a computer, or if the IRS (the text names the District Director) notifies it that machine-sensible records must be retained; further rules cover certain foreign-owned or foreign corporations and insurance companies. The IRS's FAQ on electronic accounting software records adds that the procedure's exemptions do not exempt any business from producing electronic books and records that exist because it keeps its books in software.

For records it covers, the procedure also requires the taxpayer to promptly notify its District Director if machine-sensible records are lost, stolen, destroyed, damaged, or otherwise no longer capable of being processed, or are found to be incomplete or materially inaccurate, except as its section 9.02 provides for losing only part of the data from one storage unit under a federal records sampling standard; the notice must identify the affected records and include a plan for how, and in what timeframe, they will be replaced or restored. If your access is gone for good and your copy does not hold all of the records, or you find records incomplete or materially inaccurate, ask a tax professional how that notice applies to you.

These are federal rules; check your state tax agency's record rules separately. How long to keep the copy is a separate question.

## Sources

1. Intuit Inc. — *Export your QuickBooks Online data*, updated 8/3/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/list-management/export-reports-lists-data-quickbooks-online/L1xleDrLp_US_en_US
2. Intuit Inc. — *What happens to my QuickBooks Online data after I cancel?*, updated 8/5/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/access-permissions/happens-quickbooks-online-data-cancel/L6qDpbE1B_US_en_US
3. Intuit Inc. — *Resubscribe to QuickBooks Online*, updated 8/4/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/account-status/resubscribe-reactivate-quickbooks-online/L7VrcgRP2_US_en_US
4. Intuit Inc. — *Back up and restore your QuickBooks Online Advanced company*, updated 8/28/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/back-data/back-restore-quickbooks-online-advanced-company/L9sTCQn9P_US_en_US
5. Intuit Inc. — *Back up your QuickBooks Desktop company file*, updated 8/3/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/back-data/back-quickbooks-desktop-company-file/L9qYBI54v_US_en_US
6. Intuit Inc. — *Restore a backup of your company file*, updated 8/3/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/back-data/restore-backup-company-file/L2FptZyV1_US_en_US
7. Intuit Inc. — *Renew your subscription or use view-only mode in QuickBooks Desktop*, updated 8/5/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/cancel-products-services/renew-subscription-use-view-mode-quickbooks-2023/L4IUEYTMg_US_en_US
8. Intuit Inc. — *Common QuickBooks Desktop questions on subscriptions and support*, updated 8/3/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/new-subscriptions/common-quickbooks-desktop-questions/L6qndvmPy_US_en_US
9. Intuit Inc. — *QuickBooks Desktop cancellation policies*, updated 8/5/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/cancel-products-services/quickbooks-desktop-cancelation-policies/L34kSFKjU_US_en_US
10. Intuit Inc. — *Can't buy QuickBooks Desktop as a new US subscriber*, updated 8/4/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/new-subscriptions/us-quickbooks-desktop-sold-july-2024/L5lkQNq7L_US_en_US
11. Intuit Inc. — *QBO Terms of Service for QuickBooks - US*, version 02122026. https://www.intuit.com/legal/terms/en-us/quickbooks/online/
12. Intuit Inc. — *Change the primary admin role in QuickBooks Online and Intuit Enterprise Suite*, updated 9/8/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/primary-administrator/change-primary-admin-user-quickbooks-online/L9TU91iOk_US_en_US
13. Intuit Inc. — *Request to be the primary admin or contact in QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online*, updated 9/1/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/primary-administrator/request-primary-admin-contact/L2P0XAUIT_US_en_US
14. Intuit Inc. — *Transfer primary admin access back to your QuickBooks Online client*, updated 8/5/2026. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/manage-client/transfer-primary-admin-access-back-quickbooks/L4vCcWCAw_US_en_US
15. Internal Revenue Service — *Publication 583 (12/2024), Starting a Business and Keeping Records*, revised December 2024. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p583
16. Internal Revenue Service — *Automated records (text of Rev. Proc. 98-25)*, page last reviewed or updated 21-Aug-2026. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/automated-records
17. Internal Revenue Service — *Use of electronic accounting software records: Frequently asked questions and answers*, page last reviewed or updated 03-Jul-2026. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/use-of-electronic-accounting-software-records-frequently-asked-questions-and-answers

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