How to back up QuickBooks Online: three options
Intuit’s own help pages describe three ways to keep a copy of your QuickBooks Online company data:
- Export to Excel. Download your main reports and lists as an Excel file, then export everything else one area at a time. Intuit’s export guide covers Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced.
- Online Backup and Restore. A built-in app on QuickBooks Online Advanced. Once turned on, it backs up the company automatically and can restore it to an earlier date and time. Intuit says QuickBooks Online Accountant doesn’t support it.
- A third-party backup app. Intuit’s export guide points to apps in the QuickBooks App Center for backing up QuickBooks Online data.
Intuit’s UK pricing page also says, in its description of the mobile app, that “QuickBooks automatically backs up your data to the cloud and syncs across all your devices”. Intuit’s help pages don’t describe a way to restore from that copy. The only restore they describe is Online Backup and Restore, on Advanced.
How to download your QuickBooks Online data to Excel
The Export data tool downloads the Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance and General Ledger reports, plus your Customer, Supplier and Employee lists, together in one Excel file. Intuit’s steps:
- Step 1. Select Settings (the gear icon), then Export data.
- Step 2. On the Reports tab, choose a date range from the Pre-selected date ranges dropdown.
- Step 3. Turn each report and list on or off on the Reports and Lists tabs.
- Step 4. Select Export to Excel, choose a folder and select Save.
- Step 5. Select OK to confirm.
Everything else is exported from the area of QuickBooks it lives in:
- Estimates. All apps, then Sales & Get Paid, then Sales transactions. Set Type to Estimates, set the date range and select the export icon.
- Purchase orders. All apps, then Expenses & Bills, then Expense transactions. Choose Purchase order, filter by date and select the export icon.
- Customer statements. All apps, then Customer Hub, then Customers & leads. Open the customer’s Statements tab and download each statement as a PDF.
- Attachments. Settings, then Attachments. Tick the files, then Batch Actions, then Export. They download as a zip file.
- Recurring templates. Reports, then Standard reports, then the Recurring Template List, then Export to Excel.
- Chart of accounts. Reports, then Standard reports, then the Account List, then Export to Excel.
- Products and services. All apps, then Sales & Get Paid, then Products & services. Select More, then Run reports, then Export to Excel.
On QuickBooks Sole Trader, the Export data tool covers only the Profit and Loss report and the Customer List.
How to turn on Online Backup and Restore in QuickBooks Online Advanced
Once it’s turned on, Intuit says the app backs up your company automatically and then tracks changes to it. It can only restore to a point after it was switched on, so turn it on before you need it:
- Step 1. Select Settings (the gear icon), then Account and settings.
- Step 2. Select Advanced, then Backup.
- Step 3. Select Edit and turn on the Turn on backups switch.
- Step 4. Select Save, then Done.
To take a backup on demand, go to Settings, then Back up company, then Run manual backup, choose Full and select Back up.
To restore, go to Settings, then Back up company, then Restore. Intuit says a restore “completely replaces the current file with an older version”.
What Online Backup and Restore keeps and misses
Intuit says the app backs up transactions (invoices, bills, payments, journal entries and more), lists (accounts, customers, suppliers, items, VAT codes and rates and more), attachments, company information and preferences. These are the exceptions Intuit lists, as checked on 28 October 2026.
| Data | What Intuit says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing rules | Not backed up | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Recurring transactions | Not backed up | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Bank feeds and bank rules | Not backed up, including the links between bank feeds and transactions | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Reconciliation | Reconciliation reports aren’t backed up, and reconciled transactions don’t stay reconciled | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Delayed credits and charges | Not backed up (the invoices they’re linked to are) | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Billable expenses | Account-based billable expenses, and item-based ones with a markup, aren’t backed up | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Custom reports and form templates | Not backed up | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Activity log | Records aren’t backed up | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Budgets | Can’t be restored; Intuit says to save them as a CSV file | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Stock history and adjustments | Can’t be restored | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| VAT rates that use expense accounts | Restored into liability accounts instead | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Personal cloud archive | Saved in .cab format, which can’t currently be restored | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
| Anything older | Restores go back to within the previous calendar year only | QuickBooks Support (UK) |
Where Intuit’s options fall short
- The Excel export is partial. One click gets four reports and three lists. Estimates, purchase orders, statements, attachments, recurring templates, the chart of accounts and products and services each take their own export.
- Someone has to remember. The Excel export runs when a person runs it. A small business on Simple Start, Essentials or Plus has no Online Backup and Restore to fall back on.
- Restores are all or nothing. Online Backup and Restore overwrites the whole company back to the date you pick. Intuit says it doesn’t “undelete” specific items, so a restore to recover one invoice also removes everything entered since.
- It only works if it was on. There’s nothing to restore from before the app was switched on.
- One year of history. Restores reach back to within the previous calendar year. A limited company must keep its records for 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to.
How long UK businesses must keep their accounting records
GOV.UK says a limited company must keep records for 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, and longer in some cases. If records are lost and can’t be replaced, the company must try to recreate them and tell its Corporation Tax office. HMRC can fine you £3,000, or you can be disqualified as a director, for not keeping accounting records.
Sole traders must keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year.
Online Backup and Restore reaches back to within the previous calendar year. After you cancel QuickBooks Online, you keep read-only access for 1 year. For the years before that, your records are whatever copies you kept yourself.
What each QuickBooks Online backup option costs
- Export to Excel. Part of QuickBooks Online. Intuit’s export guide applies to Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced.
- Online Backup and Restore. Included in the Advanced plan, which Intuit’s UK pricing page listed at £123 a month on 27 October 2026, with 90% off for the first 6 months. Check the page for today’s price.
- A third-party backup app. Priced by each app’s own provider.
- CloudVision. We don’t publish a price list. After a free 15-minute demo or a free 30-day trial, you get a scoped, no-obligation proposal with no hidden fees. See how CloudVision pricing works.
Which QuickBooks Online backup option fits
| Compared on | Export to Excel | Online Backup and Restore | Independent backup (CloudVision) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | All plans (Sole Trader exports only the Profit and Loss report and the Customer List) | Advanced only | Your QuickBooks Online company (QuickBooks Desktop isn’t covered) |
| What you get | Excel files, PDF statements and a zip of attachments on your computer | Backups held by Intuit inside QuickBooks. You can also save them to Google Drive, but Intuit says those can’t currently be restored | An independent copy, stored in the UK by default and encrypted at rest and in transit |
| How often | Whenever someone runs it | Automatically, once turned on | As frequently as real time, with each company checked against a 24-hour backup SLA |
| Getting data back | Files to work from | The whole company, replaced back to a date and time | Restored for you by our UK team, 24/7 |
| How far back | As far as the files you’ve kept | Within the previous calendar year | Retention configurable to your policy |
| Who checks it | You | You | Our UK team, with results in the CloudVision Daily Backup Report every morning |
Intuit’s options as described on its UK help pages, checked on 28 October 2026.
Use the Excel export for a year-end record and before you cancel, as Intuit recommends. Turn on Online Backup and Restore if you’re on Advanced, so a recent bad import or bulk change can be rolled back. Add an independent backup when you need history beyond a year, you aren’t on Advanced, or you want someone else checking it every day.
Your QuickBooks Online company, checked every day
CloudVision keeps an independent backup of your QuickBooks Online company, as frequently as real time, and checks it against a 24-hour backup SLA, the same window behind the backup compliance score. If it misses the SLA, our UK team fixes it, 24/7. The result appears every morning in the CloudVision Daily Backup Report, next to your Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Retention is configurable to your policy, and our UK team handles every restore. See managed QuickBooks Online backup.
Backing up QuickBooks Online: common questions
Can I download all my QuickBooks Online data in one go?
No. The Export data tool downloads the Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance and General Ledger reports and your customer, supplier and employee lists as one Excel file. Estimates, purchase orders, statements, attachments, recurring templates, the chart of accounts and products and services each have to be exported separately.
Does QuickBooks Online back up my data automatically?
Not in a form you can restore yourself, unless you’re on QuickBooks Online Advanced and have turned on Online Backup and Restore. Intuit’s pricing page says the mobile app “automatically backs up your data to the cloud and syncs across all your devices”, but the only restore Intuit’s help describes is Online Backup and Restore.
Can I restore one deleted invoice in QuickBooks Online?
No. Intuit says a restore doesn’t “undelete” specific items. Online Backup and Restore replaces the whole company with the version from the date and time you choose, so everything entered since then is overwritten.
Does Online Backup and Restore back up bank feeds?
No. Intuit says bank connections (bank feeds), their links to transactions and bank rules aren’t backed up. Scheduled repeating transactions, customised reports and activity log records aren’t either (QuickBooks Support UK, checked 28 October 2026).
What happens to my QuickBooks Online data if I cancel?
You get read-only access for 1 year from the cancellation date. Intuit recommends exporting or printing your data before you cancel.
Sources used in this guide
This guide is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Requirements and product limits change, so check the linked sources and your own policies, and take professional advice where needed. Sources last checked on 28 October 2026.
- Back up and restore your QuickBooks Online Advanced company (QuickBooks Support UK)
- Export your data from QuickBooks (QuickBooks Support UK)
- Cancel your QuickBooks subscription or trial (QuickBooks Support UK)
- QuickBooks pricing (Intuit QuickBooks UK)
- QuickBooks Online Advanced (Intuit QuickBooks UK)
- Running a limited company: company and accounting records (GOV.UK)
- Business records if you’re self-employed: how long to keep your records (GOV.UK)