What you will learn
- Which QuickBooks exports to capture before cutover.
- How to set up FIRMA entities, accounts, contacts, and opening balances.
- Which validations should pass before go-live.
- How to keep QuickBooks as a read-only reference after migration.
Migration principle
A clean migration is not a file upload. It is a controlled handoff from one accounting system to another. The goal is to preserve the historical record, create a reliable starting point in FIRMA, and give the owner and accountant enough evidence to trust the first reporting period.
Do not delete QuickBooks after cutover. Keep it as a read-only reference until the accountant is comfortable that beginning balances, open AR, open AP, reconciliations, and key reports match the migration plan.
Migration checklist
Phase 1 - Before You Migrate (In QuickBooks)
- Export all transactions for full history or at least the last 3 years.
- Export the Chart of Accounts.
- Export customer and vendor lists.
- Export open invoices and AR aging.
- Export open bills and AP aging.
- Run final P&L and Balance Sheet as the pre-migration baseline.
- Note fiscal year end and current open period.
- Export bank reconciliation reports for the last 3 months.
- Download attached documents, including receipts and invoices stored in QuickBooks.
Phase 2 - Set Up FIRMA
- Create your FIRMA account.
- Add all entities one by one. FIRMA supports unlimited entities.
- Import your Chart of Accounts from CSV.
- Set opening balances from your final QuickBooks Balance Sheet.
- Import customer and vendor contacts.
- Invite your accountant or bookkeeper with entity-level access control.
Phase 3 - Validate
- Verify the opening balance sheet matches the QuickBooks export.
- Check that accounts are mapped correctly.
- Run a test journal entry and approve it through the workflow.
- Confirm bank connections are live and transactions are flowing.
Phase 4 - Go Live
- Import open AR invoices.
- Import open AP bills.
- Archive the QuickBooks account as read-only reference. Do not delete it.
- Brief the team on the FIRMA approval workflow.
- Schedule a 30-day check-in with your accountant.
What to compare after migration
After setup, compare the final QuickBooks reports to the first FIRMA reports. Focus on cash, AR, AP, retained earnings, opening equity, revenue, expenses, and any suspense or uncategorized accounts.
If your business has multiple LLCs, validate each entity separately before trusting a group view. A consolidated report is only as reliable as the entity-level books beneath it.
How FIRMA handles this
FIRMA's onboarding includes a migration walkthrough. Start free, import your data, and keep your accountant in the loop through review-first workflows and entity-level access.
Start free →Build cleaner multi-entity financials.
Start with the guide, then use FIRMA to keep entity-level work, approvals, evidence, and reporting in one place.
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