Starting a New QuickBooks Desktop Company File from an Existing One
A fresh QuickBooks Desktop company file that keeps your accounts and lists starts with a copy and a condense, and the exact route varies by edition.
A familiar request keeps surfacing in QuickBooks Desktop communities. Someone opens a second business, spins up a new entity, or simply wants a clean slate for the new year. They want to keep the chart of accounts, customers, vendors, items, templates, and preferences they already built. They do not want years of old transactions riding along.
The problem in plain terms
QuickBooks Desktop has no single button, in the Pro and Premier editions most people run, that builds a new file from an old file’s lists. Exporting and reimporting lists by hand is possible, but it is slow and some entries never survive the trip. So users go looking for a way to duplicate a file and strip its history. The accepted answer to this recurring question offers exactly that, and it splits into two routes depending on edition.
The shortcut in Enterprise and Accountant editions
If you run QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, Enterprise Accountant, or Premier Accountant, the first half of the job is a menu item. Under File there is an option to create a new company from an existing company file. You browse to the source file, open it, name the new file, and confirm. The software copies preferences, sales tax items, memorized reports, and the chart of accounts into the new file. It works like a company file template. The copy still arrives with the old transactions, so the condense step below still applies if you want an empty ledger.
Can Pro and Premier users get the same result?
Yes, with a two-step workaround. First, make the copy by hand. Open the file you want to duplicate and press F2 to bring up the Product Information window, which shows where the file is stored on your computer. Back up the company file, then restore that backup under a new name. Restoring to a new name is what produces the duplicate.
Save the new file in its own folder. The accepted answer is emphatic on this point. A unique folder keeps the copy from being mistaken for the original, and keeps either file from overwriting the other.
Does the Condense Data utility clear everything?
With the copy open, go to File, choose Utilities, and then Condense Data. If a message warns that budget data will be removed, confirm it. In the Condense Data window, select All Transactions and follow the on-screen prompts. The utility strips the transaction history while leaving accounts, lists, templates, and preferences in place.
To verify the result, open the Reports Center and look in the Account & Taxes section for a Transaction List by Date. Set the report’s starting date earlier than the oldest transaction in the original file. An empty report confirms the history is gone.
One limitation matters. Condense cannot remove payroll transactions for the current year. If the source file holds this year’s payroll, those entries stay in the copy. Anyone building a file that will run payroll should plan around that.
What needs setting up again afterward?
A condensed copy is not a turnkey file. Several features must be reconnected by hand, and the accepted answer lists them as expected follow-up work. Bank Feeds need to be set up again so accounts can download transactions. Class Tracking needs review if you report on balances by class. Enterprise users who rely on Advanced Inventory must set it up in the new file. The payroll subscription, an existing Payments account, and backups through a service such as Intuit Data Protect all need attention too.
A few cautions before you begin
Work on the copy, never on the original. Back up before you start, and keep that backup until you have checked the result. Store the new file in a separate folder, run the transaction report before entering new data, and expect current-year payroll to survive the condense.
Handled this way, the request that keeps landing in community threads has a dependable answer. Copy the file, condense it, verify with a report, then reconnect the services the copy left behind. That sequence gets you a clean file with your lists intact, and it holds across the editions where the shortcut menu item is absent.