Switch From QuickBooks — Keep the Data
Every migration guide tells you how to move open balances and vendors — and quietly drops ten years of transaction history, notes and audit trail on the floor. Before you switch to Xero, Sage, Quicken or a new QuickBooks version, we stand up a read-only archive of the old file: the full history stays searchable in a browser forever, at archive pricing.
Xero, Sage, Quicken, or a new QuickBooks version — the old file shouldn't die with the switch
The Leaving or Upgrading QuickBooks Trapped-Data Problem
Migrations drop history
Vendor migration tools move balances, open invoices and lists — not the line-level transaction history, attachments and notes behind them.
The old subscription becomes hostage
Cancel QuickBooks Online and your history goes dark. Cancel Desktop maintenance and the file still opens — until the PC dies.
Audits don't respect your migration date
HMRC can look back six years. 'We moved systems' isn't a defence for history you can't produce.
Two systems during the overlap
For months after the switch you still need the old file — last year's comparatives, disputed invoices, the accountant's adjustments.
How It Works
Agent on your server
A lightweight agent installs beside your existing system — reads the data store directly, makes outbound connections only. No open ports, no VPN, no firewall changes.
Continuous replica
Your records flow to an encrypted, read-only cloud copy via a private tunnel — change-tracking, not dumps. The production system never takes the load.
Web dashboard
Your team searches, reports and browses from any browser or phone — scoped and audited. Answers from the data, not access to the server.
What Your Team Can Finally Do
Audit-grade archive
The archive is read-only and immutable — exactly what a future enquiry wants. Read access is logged, the data stays for as long as you need it, and there's no dependency on your Intuit subscription status.
Common Leaving or Upgrading QuickBooks Scenarios
The Xero switch
Move to Xero with opening balances like everyone else — but keep the QuickBooks years in a dashboard instead of a dying file on a laptop.
The Desktop-to-Online jump
Intuit's converter drops detail. Archive the Desktop file first, then migrate — the history stays whole even when the conversion truncates it.
The version upgrade
Upgrading Enterprise versions? Archive the old file first — version upgrades can fail silently on old data, and the archive is the safety net.
Leaving or Upgrading QuickBooks Data Access Pricing
Every plan includes the agent, the replica and the dashboard. Setup is scoped to your systems — most installs are live within two weeks.
Archive
£29/mo
1 week setup
- ✓1 company file archived
- ✓Read-only web archive
- ✓Full search & reports
- ✓HMRC access support
- ✓3 named users
- ✓Email support
Archive + Live
£149/mo
1–2 week setup
- ✓Old file archived
- ✓New system live-synced
- ✓Side-by-side dashboards
- ✓Transition-period support
- ✓15 named users
- ✓Priority support
Practice / Estate
Custom
Scoped project
- ✓Unlimited archived files
- ✓Per-client archives
- ✓Branded archive portal
- ✓SSO + audit feed
- ✓Long-term retention SLA
- ✓Dedicated engineer
Archive pricing is deliberately low — the migration cost is already sunk. This is insurance for your history, not another subscription.
Leaving or Upgrading QuickBooks Data Access FAQ
We're migrating to Xero — do we still need this?+
Most migration tools move balances and open items, not the transaction history behind them. If HMRC asks about March three years ago, the dashboard answers — the conversion file won't.
Does the archive need QuickBooks installed?+
No — once the replica is built, the archive lives entirely in the cloud. You can cancel the QuickBooks subscription, retire the PC, and the history stays online.
What about the overlap period while both systems run?+
The 'Archive + Live' tier syncs both — your QuickBooks history and your new system side by side, so comparatives are trivial during the transition year.
We haven't decided what to switch to — is it still worth doing?+
Yes — the archive is the prerequisite for any safe exit. Build it while QuickBooks is healthy and the switch becomes a choice, not a hostage negotiation.
Your Leaving or Upgrading QuickBooks Data, Reachable
If the answers your team needs live in a system nobody can reach, that's fixable — without migration, without VPN, without new infrastructure.