How to switch from QuickBooks Online to Wave
A plain-English plan for moving your books from QuickBooks Online to Wave. Everything below comes from Wave's and Intuit's own help and migration pages, checked . Steps we added ourselves are labeled as our suggestions.
The short version
- Wave doesn't import your QuickBooks history. Its own switching article says Wave "doesn't carry over QuickBooks transaction history", so you start fresh from a cutover date with opening balances.
- Opening balances go in as one journal entry taken from a QuickBooks trial balance report, and you check it by comparing trial balances in both systems.
- Re-create unpaid invoices and bills in Wave first, then remove them from the QuickBooks trial balance you use for opening balances, so nothing is counted twice.
- Lists can come across by spreadsheet. Wave Connect, Wave's Google Sheets add-on, uploads customers, products, invoices, transactions and journal entries.
- Bank history is a file upload on the free plan. Wave's Starter plan lets you upload bank statements by hand. Automatic bank imports are a Pro plan feature.
- Export from QuickBooks before you cancel. Intuit gives paid subscribers read-only access for one year after canceling.
Wave's own six-step switch
This is the process in Wave's help article "Switch to Wave from QuickBooks" (updated October 14, 2026), in plain words:
- Set up your Wave account. Wave builds a chart of accounts from the business type you pick. Add any accounts you use in QuickBooks that are missing, and set up your sales taxes before you add products.
- Re-create outstanding invoices and bills in Wave. Wave says to do this first to avoid double-counting balances. Add customers, vendors and products as you go.
- Turn on Wave's online payments if you want customers to pay straight from their invoices. This one is optional.
- Run two trial balance reports in QuickBooks. Run one for your whole fiscal year (or the life of the business if it's less than a year) and save it. Then delete the outstanding invoices and bills you moved to Wave from QuickBooks, run a second trial balance and save that too.
- Enter your balances in Wave. Go to Accounting, then Transactions, then Add transaction, then Add journal entry, and type in the amounts from the second trial balance. Debits must equal credits or the entry won't save.
- Compare trial balances. Run Reports, then Trial Balance, in Wave and check it against the first QuickBooks report.
Our note: deleting invoices in QuickBooks only to produce the second report is risky. Do it after you've saved full exports and the first trial balance, and keep your QuickBooks file read-only afterwards. If you're unsure, ask your accountant to prepare the opening-balance numbers instead. Wave's article also points to its paid Wave Advisors bookkeeping service for help moving your data.
Bringing over customers, products and open invoices
First export your customer, vendor and product lists from QuickBooks Online using Intuit's export instructions. Then you have two options in Wave:
- Wave Connect (Google Sheets). Install the add-on, open a sheet, and choose Extensions, then Wave Connect, then Upload. Pick the data type (customers, products, invoices, transactions or journal entries) and the business, click Prepare Input Sheet to get Wave's column headings, paste your data in, then Validate and Upload. Yellow column headings are required. For invoices, use one row per line item; Wave Connect starts a new invoice when the customer changes, or when you insert a blank row.
- By hand. Wave's switching article has you add customers, vendors and products as you re-create open invoices and bills. For a small business with a short list, this is often quicker.
Wave Connect doesn't work on a Personal business profile in Wave. Menu names follow Wave's help center as of October 24, 2026.
Bank and card transactions
On the free Starter plan you upload statements yourself: go to Accounting, then Transactions, then More, then Upload transactions, choose the file and the payment account. Wave accepts .OFX, .QBO, .QFX and .ASO files, and recommends those over CSV. If your bank only offers CSV, keep the file to three or four columns (date, amount or separate deposit and withdrawal columns, and description). PDF statements aren't supported.
Automatic bank imports through Plaid, plus auto-merging and auto-categorizing transactions, are listed as Pro plan features on Wave's pricing page. Wave's help center says there's no free trial of Pro, but it's pay-as-you-go and you can cancel any time.
What moves and what doesn't
| Data | How it gets into Wave |
|---|---|
| Chart of accounts | Wave creates a default one; add missing accounts by hand. |
| Opening balances | One journal entry from your QuickBooks trial balance. |
| Customers and products | Wave Connect upload, or by hand. |
| Vendors | By hand, as you re-create open bills. |
| Unpaid invoices and bills | Re-create them in Wave (invoices can also go through Wave Connect). |
| Past transaction history | Not carried over. Keep your QuickBooks exports. |
| Bank transactions | Statement upload (Starter) or bank connection (Pro). |
| Payroll | Not covered by Wave's switching steps. Set payroll up separately. |
| Attachments and receipts | Not covered. Export them from QuickBooks before you cancel. |
Cutover checklist
- Pick a cutover date, ideally the start of a month, quarter or financial year.
- Reconcile bank and card accounts in QuickBooks up to that date.
- Export lists, reports and attachments from QuickBooks using Intuit's export instructions, and save the trial balance and A/R and A/P aging reports as PDFs.
- Create your Wave business, add missing accounts and set up sales taxes.
- Re-create open invoices and bills in Wave, adding customers, vendors and products as you go (or upload them with Wave Connect).
- Enter opening balances as one journal entry and compare trial balances.
- Upload bank statements from the cutover date, or connect your bank on Pro.
- Set up payroll separately.
- Our suggestion: run both systems side by side for one month if you can, then cancel QuickBooks.
Before you cancel QuickBooks Online
- Intuit says paid subscribers get read-only access for one year after canceling. During that time you can still export your data.
- On a free trial, your data is kept for only 90 days after you cancel or the trial ends.
- Don't just let your card lapse. Intuit says a declined card gives you 14 days to update billing before the account is suspended.
Is Wave the right place to land?
Wave is the cheapest option we track. On its pricing page (checked October 24, 2026), the Starter plan is $0 and includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. Pro is $19/mo or $190/yr, and the page was showing a promo of $9.50/mo for the first 3 months. Wave Advisors, its done-for-you bookkeeping service, starts at $149/mo and lists onboarding when you switch from other software. Card payments are 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction on Starter. Because Wave doesn't import history, it suits freelancers and very small service businesses happy to start fresh. If you need inventory, projects or multiple currencies, compare it with Xero and Zoho Books first. Our QuickBooks alternatives by business type page puts them side by side, and we also have guides for moving to Xero, Zoho Books and FreshBooks.
Sources
We used only official vendor documentation. Menus and policies change, so confirm anything important on the vendor's page.
- Wave Help Center: Switch to Wave from QuickBooks (checked )
- Wave Help Center: Upload and download data with Wave Connect (checked )
- Wave Help Center: Upload bank and credit card statements (checked )
- Wave Help Center: What to do if Wave can't read your statement in CSV format (checked )
- Wave Help Center: FAQ: Plans for legacy businesses (checked )
- Wave: Pricing (checked )
- Intuit QuickBooks Help: Export your QuickBooks Online data (checked )
- Intuit QuickBooks Help: What happens to my QuickBooks Online data after I cancel? (checked )
Last checked: . Not tax, legal or accounting advice.
QuickBooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Inc. Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, Wave and Aplos are trademarks of their respective owners. BookSwitcher is an independent site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Intuit or any vendor listed.