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Accounting · Migration guide

Moving from QuickBooks to FreshBooks

Reviewed by Switchpoint Editors ·

Why teams switch

The honest reasons

What's wrong with QuickBooks

  • Aggressive price hikes
  • Clunky UI

What FreshBooks does better

  • Best-in-class invoicing
  • Time tracking

Switching cost

What it actually takes

QBO → Xero has paid migration services that handle 2 years of history cleanly. DIY is 1-2 weeks for a typical SMB. Painful parts are payroll, locked prior periods, and 1099 history — confirm your migration covers all three.

Step by step

A safe cutover plan

  1. 1

    Audit

    Inventory every workspace, project, or asset in QuickBooks you actually use. Most teams discover 30-40% is dormant.

  2. 2

    Export

    Run QuickBooks's official export. Note exactly which fields, relations, or attachments lose fidelity — those are your manual rebuild.

  3. 3

    Rebuild structure in FreshBooks

    Set up FreshBooks skeleton (workspaces, teams, permissions) before importing. Importing into an empty workspace creates a mess.

  4. 4

    Import cleanest layer first

    Bring in the data that maps 1:1. Defer custom fields, automations, and integrations.

  5. 5

    Parallel run for 1-2 weeks

    Keep QuickBooks read-only. Anything you find missing in FreshBooks, fix during this window.

  6. 6

    Cut over integrations

    Switch every webhook, Zap, link, and bookmark. This is the longest part — budget for it.

  7. 7

    Archive, don't delete

    Keep QuickBooks archived for 90 days. You will need it.

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