QuickBooks Online → Kick Migration Checklist

A phase-by-phase checklist for migrating a client from QuickBooks Online to Kick.

Phase 1: Pre-migration

The QuickBooks migration feature is currently in beta and available to select firms. Reach out to your Kick contact if you don't see it in your workspace.

• If migrating accrual data: Enable the accrual ledger in Kick before starting — go to Settings (your profile icon on the top right of the workspace, or CMD+K) → Accounting → Accrual Ledger → Create Accrual Ledger for each relevant client. This must be done before migration begins; once a cash basis migration is complete, you can't start a new migration — the only option is to remove the existing migration entirely and restart.

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Phase 2: Scope the migration

• Confirm how far the books are closed in QuickBooks (see Migration for timing guidance)

  • Migrate when you're done with bulk workflows for the period. Minor cleanup can happen post-migration via edits to migration entries or manual JEs.

  • Migrated transactions come over as individual journal entries — bulk categorization workflows on that historical data won't carry over

  • To check how far back your QBO data goes: open P&L in QBO → toggle Display columns by Year with All Dates

• Agree on a migration start date. Everything before this date comes from QBO; Kick takes over from that date forward (the bookkeeping start date in Kick will be set to the day after your migration end date)

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Phase 3: Start the migration in Kick

Full reference: Migration

Option A: New client (not yet in Kick)

• From the Clients tab, click Add client (top right). You'll land on the How would you like to set up your Chart of Accounts? screen.

• Select QuickBooks Online and connect to the client's QBO account

• Fill in client details, entity type, bookkeeping start date, and plan

• Set the migration date range and confirm client details to kick off the migration

Option B: Client already exists in Kick

• Confirm the Kick start date matches the agreed takeover date (set during client setup, viewable in the Clients tab; see Editing Entity Start and End Dates)

• Open Settings for the workspace → select Accounting in the left sidebar

• In the Accounting migration section, click New migration → select QuickBooks Online

• Select your firm → select the client

• Click Next → Connect (read-only, one-way sync)

• Enter the migration end date → click Continue and wait for the page to load

During Quickbooks Online authorization, do NOT click "Install for your firm". This is a common mistake. Select your firm first, then select the specific client only.

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Phase 4: Map the chart of accounts

Reference: Chart of Accounts · Add, Edit & Delete Accounts

• After migration completes, Kick automatically generates a set of tasks. Go to the Tasks tab to see them. Tip: switch the group-by filter to Group type to stay organize

• Open the Map Accounts task → click Map Accounts at the bottom

• Walk through the COA list (QBO on left, Kick on right):

  • Bank and credit card accounts will show "task created"; skip these for now, they'll be connected in Phase 6

  • For custom accounts: hover the row → click Create Account on the right side

  • To undo a custom mapping: click the undo icon on that row

• Pay extra attention to equity accounts: multi-owner entities often need custom mapping (e.g. splitting contributions vs. distributions per owner)

• Click Accept Mapping (bottom right) to confirm

This is a good opportunity to clean up the chart of accounts. You can create new accounts, adjust types and subtypes, and leave accounts with no data unmapped; they won't bring anything over.

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Phase 5: Verify the migration

Reference: Profit & Loss · Balance Sheet

• Go to Accounting → Profit and Loss

• Confirm the P&L ties to QuickBooks for the migrated period

• Note: beginning balances for reconciliation are auto-calculated, so no manual entry is needed (see Import Opening Balances if adjustments are ever needed)

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Phase 6: Connect live accounts

Full reference: Connect Accounts

• Go to the Tasks tab. Individual Connect Account tasks are auto-generated for each bank and credit card account identified during migration. Open each task to connect that account.

• Alternatively, go to the Accounts tab (top of the page) to connect accounts directly

• Connect bank accounts and credit cards via Plaid. The client can do this directly, or together if you have the logins (for unsupported banks, use the Universal Importer)

• Rename accounts if needed: hover the row → 3 dots → Settings → Edit name (see Manage Integrations)

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Phase 7: Map migrated accounts to live feeds

Reference: Tasks

• Go to the Tasks tab → find Map migrated data under To Do and open it

• For each migrated bank/CC account, map it to the matching live integration account; this creates one continuous transaction feed

• For any accounts that are no longer active: click Mark as closed to complete that step

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Phase 8: Important things to know

• Migration is static. It does not auto-refresh. If your QBO data changes after migration or you want to extend the date range, reach out to the Kick team to resync (see Migration)

• Need to redo the migration? Go to Settings → Accounting → Accounting migration and remove and restart the QuickBooks migration from there. This deletes the migration so you can start completely fresh.

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Common gotchas: quick reference

Situation	What to do
Clicked "Install for your firm" by mistake	Back out and re-select firm → then select the client only
Books aren't substantially closed in QBO	Hold off. Minor cleanup is fine post-migration, but bulk workflows are lost
QBO data was updated after migration	Migration is static; contact the Kick team to resync
Account mapping went wrong	Settings → Accounting → Accounting migration, remove and restart the QuickBooks migration, then redo from Phase 3
Bank account is no longer active	Mark as closed in the Tasks mapping step
Institution not supported by Plaid	Use the Universal Importer to upload statements