QuickBooks backup file type [Revel pos documentation, manuals]

Who says you can’t add hours to your day? In this article I share with you my favorite QuickBooks® Accountant tools and how they help me save time and make more money working with a client’s QuickBooks files. Each of these tools is included with QuickBooks Accountant 2014, QuickBooks Accountant Plus 2014 subscription and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Accountant 14.0.

Working with client’s QuickBooks company files offers the following flexibility:

What file type you choose to receive from your clients.
How you manage the file types you receive from your clients.
How to efficiently communicate with your clients about transaction specific questions.
The method you choose to make changes to the client’s QuickBooks company file.
Ease in forwarding the changes you have made for the client to include in the QuickBooks company file.

Receive Client Files

First, choose the type of file you want to use for your review. Here is a list of QuickBooks file types and their features or limitations when wanting to work with the file at your office.

QBW: Regular Working Copy of the Data

Each client file is originally created in a .QBW file type. Here is a list of some of the advantages and limitations of sharing this type of data file:

The accountant has access to all transaction activities.
The accountant cannot take the file to his office, work in the file and later merge changes into the business owner’s file unless the client agrees not to work in the file while the accountant has possession of it.
The accountant can use the Send General Journal Entries feature. More details provided later in this article.
The file can often be too large to send as an attachment in an email.

QBB: QuickBooks Backup File

This file type remains as it has for years and is the best choice for securing a data backup of your work. Consider the following when choosing this file type for sharing data:

The file cannot be opened first without being restored.
When restored, the file extension becomes .QBW (see the pros and cons listed earlier).
Changes made to a restored version of this file type cannot be merged later into the original data file.
Often the size of the backup file prevents it from being attached in an email.

QBM: QuickBooks Portable Company File

The .QBM file type has been offered for several years; however, consider the following when choosing this file type for sharing data:

The compressed file size makes a .QBM a perfect choice for attaching to an email or moving from one computer location to another
When restored, the file extension becomes a .QBW (see the pros and cons listed earlier)
Changes made to a restored version of this file type cannot be merged later into the original data file