October 11, 2026
QuickBooks to Xero vs QuickBooks to Zoho Books: what each route actually moves
The short answer: Xero runs a subsidised conversion for QuickBooks files through a partner; Zoho Books gives you a guided import and free migration help, and recommends bringing in the current financial year only. So the Xero route usually lands more transaction history for less effort, while the Zoho route asks you to choose an opening balance date and accept a few documented changes to how your data looks. Neither route moves payroll, and both expect a reconciled QuickBooks file going in.
What Xero offers for a QuickBooks file
Xero’s own pages describe three ways in, and the free one depends on your country.
- Partner conversion. In the UK, Xero covers Movemybooks’ “Convert 24” service: up to 24 months of data free, with further years at £60 + VAT per year. Movemybooks says it handles QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online files and brings across historical transactions. On Xero’s US site the partner is Jet Convert, which moves the current and prior fiscal year free, including the chart of accounts, contacts, bills and invoices. Other countries have their own partner and allowance, so read your region’s Xero conversion page before you plan around a number.
- Fresh start. Enter balances from your last year-end and skip the history. Xero suggests this when the QuickBooks data is messy.
- Conversion Toolbox. CSV imports for accountants and bookkeepers who want to control the mapping themselves. Xero asks you to contact it if you need several years of data or more than 6,000 items.
Xero’s UK page recommends converting no more than three years and says a conversion can start at any time of year, as long as you have closing balances. Xero’s US page says payroll does not migrate.
What Zoho Books offers for a QuickBooks file
Zoho’s help pages for QuickBooks Online (the UK, UAE and US versions read the same) take a report-based approach. You export the account list, customer and vendor lists, products and services, the trial balance, inventory valuation detail, and sales and purchases by product or service, then import them module by module. Zoho offers two methods:
- Current financial year (Zoho’s recommended method). Set the opening balance date to the start of the current year, enter closing balances at that date, and import the open transactions.
- Historical data. Set the opening balance date to the day the business started and bring everything in. This is available, but it is not the method Zoho’s guide follows.
Zoho also runs a free migration consultation, and its help pages give an email address for its migration team.
The differences that show up after the move
Zoho publishes a list of what changes when QuickBooks Online data comes in. These are the items worth knowing about before you choose:
- Customer advances split out. QuickBooks keeps unpaid invoices and customer prepayments together in accounts receivable. Zoho tracks advances in Unearned Revenue, and vendor advances in Prepaid Expenses. Your opening AR and AP will not match the QuickBooks figures line for line until you account for that split.
- Foreign-currency balances. Zoho’s guide converts each overseas customer’s and vendor’s opening balance using an average exchange rate for that currency. If you invoice in AED, GBP or USD alongside your base currency, check the result against your revaluation before go-live (see multi-currency migrations).
- Delayed charges are dropped. They do not import and have to be re-created.
- Inactive records come back active. Inactive customers, vendors and items arrive marked “(Deleted)”, and you deactivate them afterwards.
- Some account types change. Undeposited Funds becomes a Cash-type account, and Inventory Asset becomes Stock. Clearing Undeposited Funds first saves trouble on both routes.
- Vendor credits arrive unapplied. Re-apply them to bills by hand.
- Some journals are split. A journal that hits both a bank account and AR or AP is imported as two linked journals. Journals without numbers get generated ones, such as QBO-JN-1.
Xero’s conversion pages do not publish a list at this level of detail. One accountant’s review on Xero’s app store names inventory, foreign exchange and fixed assets as the areas that need attention. Treat those as your test list on the Xero route.
Side by side
| Question | QuickBooks → Xero | QuickBooks → Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the conversion | A Xero-subsidised partner (varies by country), or you through CSV | You, with Zoho’s guide and free migration help |
| History by default | Up to 24 months (UK) or current plus prior year (US) | Current financial year (recommended); full history possible |
| Desktop files | Accepted by the UK partner | Guide written for QuickBooks Online exports |
| Payroll | Does not migrate | Not part of the import |
| Published limitations | High-level only | Detailed list by record type |
Which route should you pick?
Choose the destination for the business, not for the migration. If you already run other Zoho apps, or your adviser in the Gulf or India works in Zoho Books, the Zoho route is fine. Accept current-year-only, or budget for a scoped history load. If you want two years of transactions in the live file without rebuilding them, and you are in a country where Xero’s partner allowance applies, the Xero route does more of the work for you.
Whichever you choose, make sure the first tax return after cutover can be filed from the new system: VAT under MTD in the UK, VAT under the FTA or ZATCA in the Gulf, GST/HST in Canada, or GST/BAS in Australia. Map every QuickBooks tax code to a destination rate before you import a single invoice.
Prepare the QuickBooks file first
- Pick the cutover date at the end of a tax period.
- Reconcile every bank and card account to that date (if the starting balance won’t tie, fix that first).
- Apply open credits and payments, and clear Undeposited Funds and Opening Balance Equity.
- Run the trial balance, AR and AP ageing and the tax report at the cutover date, and save them as PDFs. Both routes are proven against these reports.
- Keep the QuickBooks file (or a read-only subscription) for your record-keeping period.
FAQ
Is moving QuickBooks to Xero free?
Often, up to a limit. Xero subsidises a partner conversion whose allowance depends on your country: 24 months in the UK, or the current and prior fiscal year in the US. Extra years cost more.
Can Zoho Books import my full QuickBooks history?
Yes, with the historical-data method, but Zoho recommends importing the current financial year with opening balances at its start.
Why don’t my receivables match after importing into Zoho Books?
Zoho tracks customer advances in Unearned Revenue, not in accounts receivable as QuickBooks does. Add the two together before you compare.
Does payroll history move on either route?
No. Xero says payroll does not migrate, and Zoho’s QuickBooks import does not include it. Set up payroll separately with year-to-date figures.
Moving the other way? See Zoho Books to Xero vs Zoho Books to QuickBooks.
Related service: QuickBooks → Xero · QuickBooks → Zoho Books