Using the CS QuickBooks Data Utility

Show expandable text

We moved!

Help articles have been migrated to the new Help and Support. You can find help for your products and accounts, discover FAQs, explore training, and contact us!

You or your clients can use the CS QuickBooks Data Utility, v.15.0 or higher, to create export files from QuickBooks when the client data cannot be directly opened in QuickBooks during the import process—for example, when QuickBooks is installed in a different location than Accounting CS such as, in a Virtual Office CS, Software as a Service, or other terminal server environment.

  • The CS QuickBooks Data Utility v.15.0 or higher is designed to work with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Enterprise editions (versions currently supported by Intuit). The utility is available from the download page of the CS website.
  • To use the feature, the CS QuickBooks Data Utility (provided with Accounting CS) must be installed in the same network location or workstation where QuickBooks is installed.
  • Using the export files created with the CS QuickBooks Data Utility, you can import all data and transactions into Accounting CS.
  • The utility's Export data to Accountant option creates a set of XML files and combines them into a single, secure file that you can then import into Accounting CS. That file contains all of the QuickBooks data for the selected company and for the specified date range. You can then save the export file to a folder on your local drive and select that export file during the import of QuickBooks data into Accounting CS. The name of the export file created by the utility also includes the QuickBooks company name (for example, CSExport from 01-01-yy to 12-31-yy Client Name.QBW.qbexportdata).

Installing the CS QuickBooks Data Utility (accountant's office)

The following steps apply to a local or network installation of Accounting CS. If you run the application in Virtual Office CS, you will instead need to download the CS QuickBooks Data Utility by clicking the CS QuickBooks Data Utility link on the My Product Downloads page of our website. (Note that you need to be logged in to your CS Professional Suite web account to access this page.) Be sure to click the Using the CS QuickBooks Data Utility PDF link to download and read important information about this utility before proceeding with the download.

  1. From the Windows taskbar, choose Start > Run, and enter D:\Wincsi\Accounting CS\QBDataUtility\QBDataUtilitySetup.exe (where D represents the hard drive or network location where the Accounting CS application files are installed.

    Note: If a prior version of the utility exists on your computer, the Application Maintenance dialog opens automatically. Click the Remove option and then click Next through the prompts. After the prior version as been completely removed, double-click the QBDataUtilitySetup.exe file again to install the latest version of the utility.

  2. Respond to the prompts by accepting all of the default selections to accomplish both of the following:
    • Install the CS QuickBooks Data Utility to d:\Program Files\Creative Solutions\QB Data Utility\
    • Create a new CS QuickBooks Data Utility shortcut icon on your desktop

If your client will be creating the export files from QuickBooks, also do the following steps:

  1. Transmit the QBDataUtilitySetup.exe file to your client (on removable media or via email) for local installation on the network drive or workstation where the client has installed QuickBooks.

    Note: If your client uses QuickBooks Pro through Right Networks, the CS QuickBooks Data Utility is installed for them automatically to the h:\Program Files\Creative Solutions\QB Data Utility\ folder.

  2. Give or send one of the documents listed below, as appropriate, to your QuickBooks client.

Note: If you have difficulty opening a PDF guide, you might need to download and install the latest version of Adobe Reader from the Download page of the Adobe website.

Creating the export file using the CS QuickBooks Data Utility (accountant's office or client's office)

  1. Open QuickBooks as an administrator (by right-clicking the application icon and choosing Run as administrator), but do not open the company database.
  2. Open the CS QuickBooks Data Utility as an administrator (by right-clicking the utility icon and choosing Run as administrator).
  3. Click the Export data to Accountant option.
  4. In the Date Range to Export section of the dialog, specify the date range to include in the export file by doing either of the following:
    • Select one of the options from the drop-down list in the Dates field (This Month; This Calendar Quarter; This Calendar Year; Last Month; Last Calendar Quarter; Last Calendar Year; or Custom).
    • Enter the From/To dates using the MMDDYY date format.
  5. Enter or browse to the file location for the QuickBooks company data file (.QBW).
  6. Enter or browse to the location where the export file is to be saved.
  7. In QuickBooks, open the company database.
  8. In the CS QuickBooks Data Utility, click the Export button.
  9. The QuickBooks - Application Certificate dialog opens automatically in QuickBooks. Click the Yes, always; allow access to the data even if QuickBooks is not running option. Mark the Allow this application to access personal data such as Social Security Numbers and customer credit card information checkbox and then click Continue.
  10. At the confirmation dialog, click Done to complete the creation of the export files.

The name of the export file created by the utility includes the date range specified by the user plus the QuickBooks company name (for example, CSExport from 01-01-yy to 12-31-yy Client Name.QBW.qbexportdata).

Do not rename the export file or Accounting CS will generate an error.

Exception Properties: ActualValue: null ParamName: startIndex Stack Trace: at System.String.Substring(Int32 startIndex, Int32 length) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.ImportRetrieve.RetrieveOptions.get_CompanyName() at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.QuickbooksRetrieve.QuickbooksDataRetriever.RetrieveSourceData(Boolean needToUnzipFile) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.QuickbooksRetrieve.QuickbooksImportWizardController.RetrieveQuickbooksData(QuickbooksRetrieveDataModel retrieveDataModel, Boolean needToUnzipFile) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.QuickbooksRetrieve.QuickbooksImportWizardController.RetrieveData(QuickbooksRetrieveDataModel quickbooksRetrieveDataModel, Boolean needToUnzipFile) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.QuickbooksRetrieve.QuickbooksImportWizardController.RunQuickBooksRetrieve(QuickbooksRetrieveDataModel quickbooksRetrieveDataModel) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.QuickbooksRetrieve.QuickbooksImportWizardController.RunRetrieve(QuickbooksRetrieveDataModel quickbooksRetrieveDataModel, Object tab) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.QuickbooksRetrieve.QuickbooksImportWizardController.OkToExitTab(Object tab) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.Wizard.WizardController.ViewNextClicked(Object sender, EventArgs e) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.Wizard.WizardDialog.TryToFireEvent(EventHandler eventHandler) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.Wizard.WizardDialog.WizardSharedNextClicked(Object sender, EventArgs e) at CS.Accounting.UI.Main.Wizard.WizardShared.nextButton_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e) at Infragistics.Win.Misc.UltraButtonBase.OnClick(EventArgs e) at Infragistics.Win.Misc.UltraButton.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

Saving the export file to a location you can browse to during the import process (accountant's office)

If the client has created the export file to send to you, save that file in a folder on your own network or workstation to which you can browse during the import process. Note that you can import data multiple times from this same export file if necessary.

Importing data from the export file (accountant's office)

To open the Import Client Data Wizard in Accounting CS, choose File > Import > Client Data.

Prior to importing QuickBooks data, you must select QuickBooks as the import source in the Setup > Clients > Integration tab.

See also

Sending payroll journal entries and/or reconciliation adjustments to QuickBooks

To transfer payroll journal entries and/or reconciliation adjustments to QuickBooks Pro via IIF format files, use the following procedures before continuing with the steps in the next section of this topic.

Note: The ability to send all types of adjustments back to QuickBooks will be available with a future release of Accounting CS.

Importing data from the accountant into QuickBooks using the CS QuickBooks Data Utility (accountant's office or client's office)

  1. Open QuickBooks as an administrator (by right-clicking the application icon and choosing Run as administrator) and open the company database.
  2. Open the CS QuickBooks Data Utility as an administrator (by right-clicking the utility icon and choosing Run as administrator).
  3. Mark the Retrieve data from Accountant option.
  4. Enter or browse to the folder location for the QuickBooks company data file (.QBW).
  5. Enter or browse to the folder location for the file to be retrieved.
  6. Click the Retrieve button.
  7. The QuickBooks - Application Certificate dialog opens automatically in QuickBooks. Click the Yes, always; allow access to the data even if QuickBooks is not running option. Mark the Allow this application to access personal data such as Social Security Numbers and customer credit card information checkbox and then click Continue.
  8. At the confirmation prompt, click OK to complete the retrieval process.

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for the feedback!