Moving from QuickBooks Online (QBO) to Mercury Books

This guide will walk you through how to bring your QBO chart of accounts and trial balances to Mercury Books. 

When you're done here you’ll have:

• Your QBO chart of accounts in Books.
• Your opening balances from QBO to Books. 
• Mercury and external bank and card accounts synced as of  your start date.
• A clean starting point to begin using Mercury Books! 

Note: Detailed transaction history, vendor info, invoices, and customer lists are currently unable to be migrated to Books. Should you wish to access this data, it is recommended that you maintain read access to your QBO account and/or export any relevant data you may need to access. It is recommended that you consult with your accountant to ensure you are capturing the data you need.

Time required to migrate: 30 - 45 mins

Before you begin migrating

In order to begin setup, you will need to have/know the items below:

• Will you be using cash or accrual basis accounting?
• The date you will close your QBO books and switch to Mercury Books: this determines your Books start date. 
  • Books defaults to a January 1, 2026 start date, so a switch-over date of December 31, 2025 is recommended but not required.
  • Switching mid-year (ex: June 30) requires one more step (refer to step 7 below).Reconcile QBO through your switch-over date to close out you can refer to the QuickBooks help article here. 
• Download the Chart of Account Conversion Tool → Link here
  • If you’re signed into a Google account, select File > Make a copy
  • Otherwise, select File > Download to save the spreadsheet
• Start with a new Books instance. This guide assumes you’re starting from the Books onboarding screen. If you have already begun onboarding, reach out to us via customer support and we can reset your account to start fresh. 
   

Part 1: Chart of accounts

1. Export your Chart of Accounts (CoA) from QuickBooks

In QuickBooks, go to Settings (gear icon) → Chart of accounts → Run report, then export to Excel or CSV.

2. Convert the CoA  for Books

Books uses different account types than QuickBooks and requires that all GL accounts need a number. The CoA converter allows you to quickly map QBO  accounts into Books for a seamless import. 

1. Open the converter file
2. Paste all rows from your QuickBooks’ export into the Input tab. Don’t paste headers
3. Download the Export tab as a CSV

Existing account numbers carry over as 5-digit codes, and missing ones are generated. You can change any number later in Books.

3. Import your CoA into Books

From the Books onboarding screen, choose Import custom chart of accounts and upload your CSV export from the converter file. 

4. Resolve any errors

Books will highlight rows with errors in red. The most common are:

• Missing or duplicate account numbers
• Account numbers: Books already uses for default and required accounts (i.e. Accounts Receivable, Retained Earnings). An account type Books doesn't recognize

Once all errors are resolved, you are ready to import your Chart of Accounts into Books.

Part 2: Beginning Balances

5. Your Books Start Date

Your Books start date is the day after your switch-over date, and Mercury accounts sync automatically from it. The default is January 1, 2026, or your incorporation date if later.

If you're switching on a different date, change it in Settings → Books details so Mercury transactions already in QuickBooks aren't counted twice. 

Start date can only be moved to an earlier date in time (example: 1/1/2026 → 8/1/2025). If you need to move the start date to a later date in time, reach out to customer support.

6. Enter your opening balances

In QuickBooks, run a Balance Sheet report as of your switch over date. Eg. Balance sheet as of 12/31/2025 if Books start date is 1/1/2026. 

Then, in Books, go to Chart of Accounts, edit each account, and enter its balance from the report as the opening balance.

Skip these accounts to avoid counting them twice:

7. Switching mid-year? Add your year-to-date income and expenses

Skip this step if your switch-over date is your fiscal year-end.

In QuickBooks, run a Profit and Loss report from the start of your fiscal year to your switch-over date. Enter each income and expense account's total as its opening balance, as in step 7.

Books now has everything you've recorded in QuickBooks.

Part 3: Connect your other accounts

8. Connect your other banks and cards

From the setup checklist on your Books home page, connect each non-Mercury bank and credit card account via Plaid. For each one:

• Start date: your Books start date
• Opening balance: the closing balance from the day before your start date. e.g., For a July 1 start, use the June 30 balance

Confirm your Books opening balances match QBO

In the left side panel in Books, select Chart of Accounts and check that each account's opening balance matches your ending balances in QBO. For Plaid-connected accounts, you will want to reconcile the balances to the balances the day before your start date.

If you work with an accountant, have them review. Then you can set QuickBooks to read-only and keep it for your records.

FAQs

Will my transaction details move to Books?

No. Individual transaction details before your start date will not transfer from QBO.

Will open invoices and bills transfer over fromQuickBooks?

Mercury bills and invoices after your start date will sync to Books; external invoices will not.

Can I change account numbers after importing?

Yes, you can edit account numbers and names at any time.

My balances don't match. What should I check first?

Look for an account that has an opening balance from step 6 and was also connected via Plaid, or a start date that isn't the day after your switch-over date. Both cause double counting.

Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.