Article

Export QuickBooks data: Online and Desktop

By TrustPast

Updated October 22, 2026

Most trade companies keep two systems: the one the crews use, and the books. The books are usually QuickBooks. Every estimate the office typed up, every invoice that followed, and every bill paid for the materials sit there with a date on them. Here is what to count before you apply, why you don’t export anything to apply, and, for after an agreement, how Intuit’s own export works in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.

Version note. Checked against Intuit’s QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop help pages on 22 October 2026. Menus change. If a step differs, Intuit’s help page wins.

Count what you have; you do not export to apply

Polyshares publishes the order of things on its data handling page. “Intake asks for record counts, not files or exports.” And: “Nothing leaves your systems until Polyshares has made an offer and you have accepted it.”

Its QuickBooks guide says the same about this tool: “The intake only needs the size, so you do not have to run an export to fill it in. You also do not need to clean or scrub an export.”

So the first job is a count. Polyshares’ guide says what to count: “Report the transaction row count as records. Invoices, bills, receipts, payments and journal entries each count once. Leave customer, vendor and product lists out of the number.” Write down:

how many transactions the books hold, from the first to today;
how many estimates the company has sent, as our own advice, because for a trade company they are the record of how it priced work;
how many years the books go back, and whether an older system came before;
how many people log in to QuickBooks.

The export steps further down are for later, if Polyshares makes an offer and you accept it. Until then, the books stay where they are, and the bookkeeper keeps working in them on Monday.

See your estimate

Where QuickBooks shows how much you have

QuickBooks Online has no screen that shows the size of the books. Polyshares’ guide says so in its first line: “QuickBooks Online does not show a total data size anywhere.”

Its counting method is a report. Polyshares says to go to Reports, then Standard reports, find a transaction list report “such as Transaction List by Date,” set the period from the company’s first transaction to today, and run it. Then export it to Excel and count the rows. That count is a file on your computer. It isn’t sent anywhere.

For QuickBooks Desktop, Polyshares’ guide says to “run the same kind of transaction report in Desktop and report the row count as records.”

Here is the count to write down, as our own advice:

Transactions: the rows in an all-dates transaction report.
Estimates: the number of estimates, from a sales transaction list filtered to estimates.
Years: the date of the oldest transaction. Polyshares notes that if the company converted from other software, older history “may only appear as opening balances.”
Users: everyone with a QuickBooks login, including the outside bookkeeper.

Worth two minutes to see your range? Our estimate asks five questions about the company and its records.

Who can export, and what the plan allows

QuickBooks Online. Intuit’s export article does not name a required user role. Intuit does not publish this on the pages we read, so we name none. Polyshares’ guide notes the same gap and suggests the primary admin or a company admin, because those roles “can access everything in the account.”

QuickBooks Desktop lists. Intuit says to “Sign in to your company file as an admin.” If the file is in multi-user mode, switch to single-user mode first from the File menu.

QuickBooks Desktop reports. Intuit’s Desktop report article does not say who can export reports.

Desktop limits. Intuit says you “can’t export” transactions as IIF files. Its report article also describes an error about a “limit of 65,536 detail lines due to Microsoft Excel 2003, 2007, 2010, and 2013 limitations,” and suggests a newer Excel.

Online limits. Intuit does not publish a row or size limit for the Online export on the page we read.

The steps for QuickBooks Online, in Intuit’s words

These steps are for after an agreement with Polyshares says what is in scope. Each step names its source.

Step 1: Open the export tool

“Go to Settings and in the TOOLS column, select Export data.” Source: Intuit, export reports, lists and more.

Step 2: Give the reason

“Select the reason for exporting, then select Continue.” Source: Intuit, export reports, lists and more.

Step 3: Set the date range

“On the Reports tab, set the date from the Pre-selected date ranges dropdown.” Pick the range the agreement covers. Source: Intuit, export reports, lists and more.

Step 4: Choose the reports and lists

“Add or remove items from the Reports and Lists tabs by turning the switch on or off.” Turn off what the agreement leaves out, such as the employee list. Source: Intuit, export reports, lists and more.

Step 5: Export

“Select Export to Excel.” Then “Select OK to make sure that it’s done.” Source: Intuit, export reports, lists and more.

Step 6: Export the estimates

Estimates are not in the zip. Intuit says to open Sales transactions from the All apps menu under Sales & Get Paid, set the Type dropdown to Estimates, set the date range, and export to Excel. Source: Intuit, export reports, lists and more.

Step 7: Export the attachments, if they are in scope

In Settings, open Attachments from the LISTS column. Select the attachments, open the Batch actions dropdown, and choose Export. “Your attachments will be exported in a zip file.” Source: Intuit, export reports, lists and more.

The steps for QuickBooks Desktop, in Intuit’s words

Step 1: Export a report to Excel

“Go to Reports, then Reports Center.” “Find and double-click the report you want to export.” “Select the Excel dropdown, then Create New Worksheet or Update Existing Worksheet.” “When you’re ready to export, select OK.” On a Mac, go to Reports, find the report, and select Export. Source: Intuit, export reports as Excel workbooks in QuickBooks Desktop.

Step 2: Export lists as IIF files

“Sign in to your company file as an admin.” “Go to the File menu, then select Utilities.” “Select Export, then select Lists to IIF Files.” “Select the lists you want to export, then select OK.” Choose where to save the file, name it, and select Save. Source: Intuit, export, import and edit IIF files.

Intuit publishes no estimates-only export for Desktop on the pages we read. The documented route is a report, exported with the Excel button in step 1.

What the files contain

QuickBooks Online. Intuit says the Export data tool saves “info from posting transactions that impact your account balances,” such as invoices, receipts and bills. Reports and lists come as Excel files in one .zip file. Non-posting records are separate: Intuit lists estimates, purchase orders, customer statements, attachments, recurring templates, the chart of accounts, and products and services.

QuickBooks Desktop. Intuit says you can “export reports as Excel workbooks (.xlsx), CSV spreadsheets, or PDFs.” Lists come as IIF files. Intuit says: “You can import transactions but you can’t export them from QuickBooks.” So the Desktop transaction history comes out through reports.

Here is what that means in a trade company, as our own description. The estimates are the pricing history: every job the company quoted, the line items, the amount. The invoices show which estimates turned into work and what the job came to. The bills show what the materials cost. Lined up by customer and date, they show how a company priced, won and ran its jobs. The estimates and quotes page covers why lost estimates count. The job files page covers what the field side of the same job holds.

Check the export

Five checks, as our own advice:

Open the zip. Is there an Excel file for every report and list you turned on?
Check the dates. Does the oldest invoice match the year the books started?
Open the estimates file. Did it come out separately, as Intuit says it must?
Look for the lists you meant to leave out. If the employee list is there, run it again with the switch off.
On Desktop, check for the 65,536-line error. If it appears, Intuit points to a newer Excel.

The personal data in a QuickBooks export

Books are full of names. Customer names and addresses on every invoice and estimate. Vendor names and addresses on every bill. An employee list, if it is switched on. Bank and payment lines in the transaction reports.

Polyshares publishes how this is handled. Its data handling page says: “Names, emails, phone numbers, account numbers, and addresses are removed or replaced by a specialist PII partner before Polyshares or any buyer sees the record. Roles, timestamps, and the work itself are kept.” It also says that if the partner reviewing the sample “spots anything that reads as identifying, the record goes back for another pass before pricing continues.”

Polyshares’ QuickBooks guide adds: “Bank login details and payroll records are never needed, and the company picks which reports and lists leave QuickBooks.” And: “Polyshares does that work, so your team does not have to scrub records first.”

What is never included

Start with what Polyshares publishes. Its home page says the licence is “Defined material for a defined term. It does not cover what you hold on behalf of your own clients.” Its data handling page says names, emails, phone numbers, account numbers and addresses are removed or replaced before Polyshares or any buyer sees the record.

Now our own advice, which is ours and not Polyshares’:

Bank and card details. Account numbers, routing numbers and card numbers. Never licensed.
Bank logins. Polyshares’ guide says they are never needed. Nobody should ask for them.
Payroll and the employee list. Pay rates, tax forms, withholding. Switch the employee list off in step 4.
Customer and vendor contact details. Names, addresses, phone numbers and emails on invoices and bills.
Tax filings and tax IDs. The company’s returns and its customers’ tax numbers belong to the accountant’s file, not the record.
Anything a client owns under contract. Specs or drawings attached to an estimate may be the client’s.
Financing applications. A customer’s credit paperwork attached to a quote is theirs.

What is licensed is set out in Polyshares’ offer and the terms you agree, after Polyshares has read an anonymized sample.

What this means for a roofing company

Here is what a roofer usually keeps in QuickBooks, as our own description and not a list from any buyer. The estimates for full replacements and repairs, with squares and materials on the lines. The invoices that followed, including the supplements added after the insurance adjuster agreed them. The supplier bills for shingles and underlayment, job by job. The roofing companies page goes through the rest of a roofer’s record.

What this means for an auto-repair shop

An auto-repair shop often runs a shop system for repair orders and QuickBooks for the books. The invoices carry the parts and labour lines; the bills carry the parts suppliers. As our own advice, the repair orders in the shop system hold more of the work than the books do, so count both. The auto-repair shops page covers the shop’s record.

What this means for an HVAC or plumbing company

An HVAC or plumbing company usually runs a field tool beside QuickBooks, and the two hold different halves of each job. The HVAC companies page and the plumbing companies page cover what each trade keeps. If the field tool is Jobber, see the Jobber guide. If it is ServiceTitan, see the ServiceTitan guide.

Where we fit

We, TrustPast, explain the process and give you a range with our estimate. It is ours, not an offer. Polyshares pays us a referral fee. You pay us nothing. We never see your books, your export, or your files. How the de-identification works, in plain words, is on how it’s safe. Why buyers want records like these at all, and what they leave out, is on what data buyers actually want from a trade business.

Before you apply

Four things to settle first, as our own advice:

Count. Transactions, estimates, years, users. Write the four numbers down.
Don’t export for the application. Polyshares asks for counts.
Find the books before QuickBooks. If the company switched software, note how many years sit in the old system.
List what stays out. Bank details, payroll, customer contacts, tax filings, client-owned files.

Then answer the five questions. If the range is worth your time, apply.

TrustPast

Questions and answers

Do we have to export our QuickBooks to apply?

No. Polyshares says intake asks for record counts, not files or exports, and that nothing leaves your systems until Polyshares has made an offer and you have accepted it. Count the transactions and the years. Export only after an agreement says what is in scope.

Which QuickBooks Online user can run the export?

Intuit does not publish this. Its export article names no required role. Polyshares’ QuickBooks guide suggests the primary admin or a company admin, because those roles can access everything in the account.

Are estimates in the QuickBooks Online export zip?

No. Intuit says the Export data tool covers posting transactions, the ones that affect account balances, such as invoices, receipts and bills. Estimates are non-posting. Intuit says to export them from Sales transactions, with the Type set to Estimates.

Can we export transactions from QuickBooks Desktop as IIF files?

No. Intuit says you can import transactions but you can’t export them from QuickBooks. Desktop exports lists as IIF files, and reports as Excel workbooks, CSV files or PDFs.

Do the attachments come with the export?

Not in the Online export zip. Intuit says attachments are exported separately, from Settings, then Attachments in the LISTS column, with Batch actions then Export. They come as their own zip file.

Do we take out bank details and customer names first?

No. Polyshares says names, emails, phone numbers, account numbers and addresses are removed or replaced by a specialist PII partner before Polyshares or any buyer sees the record. Its QuickBooks guide says bank login details and payroll records are never needed.

What does it cost us?

Nothing. Polyshares says there is no fee and no commission. Polyshares pays TrustPast a referral fee; you pay us nothing.