One of the best features of QuickBooks accounting software is the Accountant’s Review feature. Accountant’s Review allows you to send a copy of your accounting records to your accountants without losing the ability to continue using the system. While your accountants are reviewing your data, you can continue to enter transactions and maintain your company file, but with some minor limitations.

Your accountants can use the Accountant’s Review copy of the file to create and enter general journal entries in order to adjust the data. They also can add new general ledger accounts. However, they cannot add new customers or vendors nor can they edit transactions created before the Accountant’s Review copy was created.

Once the accountants are finished reviewing the data, they can send you a file that you import back into your company file to upload the adjustments they made. The system is then returned to full capability.

Creating the Accountant’s Review File

To create an Accountant’s Review file, use the following steps:

 1. Open the Company file.

 2. From the File menu at the top of the screen, choose Accountant’s Review, and then Create Accountant’s Copy (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: File » Accountant’s Review submenus.

 3. A Save Accountant’s Copy to… window will appear. Select the location where you wish to save the Accountant’s file, and then click Save (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Save Accountant’s Copy To… window.

 4. When the file is created, you will receive the message: “An Accountant Copy transfer file has been successfully created.” Click OK to return to QuickBooks.

 5. You can then e-mail or send the created accountant’s copy file to your accountants.

Importing the Accountant’s Review File Back into Your Company File

After completing their review, your accountants will return their changes so you can import them back into your company file.

Import their changes as follows:

 1. Open the Company file.

 2. From the File menu at the top of the screen, choose Accountant’s Review, and then Import Accountant’s Changes (see Figure 1).

 3. The system will prompt you to first back up your company file. This is a safety measure in case of any problems that occur during the import of the accountant’s changes.

See our backup instructions for help in backing up your company file.

 4. Once the backup process is complete, you will receive the message: “Your data has been backed up successfully.” Click OK to start the import process.

 5. An Import Changes from Accountant’s Copy window will appear. Navigate to the file that you received from your accountant, and then click Open (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Import Changes from Accountant’s Copy window.

 6. When the import is complete, you will receive the message, “Your data has been imported.” Click OK to return to QuickBooks.

The Accountant’s Review feature in QuickBooks is a great way to allow your accountant to review your company file for mid-year tax planning or year-end adjustments while still allowing your accounting process to remain fully operational. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you have on this process.