The QuickBooks File Manager is an standalone application for QuickBooks Accountant and QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant. It manages and stores your client’s company data files, usernames and passwords in the most secure environment. Furthermore, it helps you to import the QuickBooks files of your clients and makes an upgrade to another QuickBooks version easier. This makes the QuickBooks File Manager an extremely valuable managing tool.
In this short article, we will break down all the different features and benefits of the QuickBooks File Manager and how to properly use it to get best results.
How to use the QuickBooks File Manager?
As an accountant with various clients specially when you are dealing with several types of different businesses, including multiple company files, Here the QuickBooks File Manager helps you to work easily across all the available versions of QuickBooks. It allows you to merge and manage all your clients’ folders and files in the most structured way. No need to write down the passwords anywhere else, since the password vault of the File Manager keeps it all save and at the same time quickly accessible.
QuickBooks File Manager Features and Benefits
- Create your own client groups to organize them as you wish.
- For most effective organization, all the company files for every client are grouped into their specific format (.QBW, .QBB, .QBA, and .QBM).
- Save all the sensitive login information from your clients, as well as QuickBooks files in the Password Vault and access them quickly, without having to search for them on a third-party application.
- With the Batch Upgrade feature, you can easily upgrade multiple QuickBooks files from various clients to the latest version of QuickBooks. This is a real time saver!
- Create client lists that create a virtual view of your hard drive and effectively sorts clients’ QuickBooks files by their type, and also contains the location of their company files.
- Merge client folders, if needed.
- The QB File Manager has a Backup System, which saves all your settings and directories, so that in case of data loss, you will be able to restore from the backup.
If you are unfamiliar with the backup system than learn how to backup your QuickBooks company files.
Three ways to open the file manager application
Option 1: Open your QuickBooks Accountant/Enterprise Accountant and access the File Manager from the menu through ‘Accountant > QuickBooks File Manager
open qb file manager
Option 2: Double-click on the QuickBooks File Manager icon on your Computer Desktop.
Option 3: Open the ‘Windows Start‘ menu and go to ‘Programs > QuickBooks > File Manager‘. Make sure to open the latest version of the File Manager.
How to merge and manage client folders?
- Search for specific clients by any term with the search option.
- Merge folders of a client by selecting both folders, then right-click on on of the folders and choose ‘Merge selected clients‘. It will group all the files that are in the folders – no files will be lost.
- Manage your clients’ folders and files from the ‘Files‘ drop-down menu.
- Gain access to all the information of a specific client. Select the client from the client list. The Information will be shown in the ‘Files‘ section on the right side. After opening the file thru File Manager, the file information is populated in the ‘Information‘ tab on the right side of the ‘Files tab‘.
- View your clients in groups based off of your clients. To manage your groups, go to ‘Groups‘ > ‘Add/Edit groups‘ or ‘Delete Current Group‘ while the group is selected.
How to import QuickBooks files with the File Manager?
- The easiest way is to just „drag and drop“ the selected files from your Windows File Explorer directly into the QB File Manager.
- You can also go to the ‘Clients‘ drop-down menu in your File Manager and select ‘Add Client via‘, then choose ‘Update Client List Wizard‘. There you have two options:- ‘From client folder names‘ – in case you have already organized the files and folders into your required format.- ‘From QuickBooks file names‘ – in case you need the File Manager to scan your computer and then import the files. With this option the files will be named just like they are named on your Computer or network.
Password Vault
The Password Vault saves all the usernames and passwords for your clients company files. Incase it happens that it shows you an error saying you password has expired than here is a quick ways to fixit
You can mange the saved passwords by accessing the Password Vault. Note that this requires a confirmation password. You may also manage the login information of your Password Vault by accessing thru ‘Password Vault‘ > ‘Change Password Vault‘.
To ensure that all the data is secure, the Password Vault needs you to create a user name and password before adding client files to it.
Batch Upgrade
Using the Batch Upgrade feature of the QuickBooks File Manager you save a significant amount of time upgrading your clients QuickBooks company file. Simply Go to ‘Batch Upgrade‘ > ‘Clients‘ > ‘Upgrade selected files‘. Note: All the unsuccessful upgrades files will appear in a separate window when selecting ‘List unsuccessful Upgrades‘.
File Manager Backup
A very handy and important feature of the QuickBooks File Manger is the backup system. It saves all the crucial settings and directories, so you can easily restore them in case of data loss.
Summary:
We really hope that this article was helpful to you, and that you are now able to use the QuickBooks File Manager accordingly to organize and manage your clients’ folders and files.
Should you encounter issues with your File Manager or the QuickBooks Accountant or QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant versions, do not hesitate to contact our expert team of Pro Advisors for reliable and thorough support.
