How to Export QBO Reports for LedgerClean
Upload your QBO exports and run a diagnostic. This guide covers the standard cleanup workflow; for engagements that haven't populated books yet (new clients, migrations from another platform), see Rebuild Mode instead.
Scoping a prospect before you're connected as the accountant user? Send them the client-friendly export guide. It walks a non-bookkeeper through pulling the same reports in plain English. Add ?firm=Your%20Firm%20Name to the URL to put your name in the header.
What you'll need
For a standard cleanup diagnostic, LedgerClean needs six QBO reports plus optional reports for A/R, A/P, reconciliation, and bank feed review when available. For most files, the export process takes about 10 minutes. Results depend on matching date ranges, complete exports, and unedited source files.
Before you start: Know your review period. You'll set this when you create a project in LedgerClean (Review Period Start and Review Period End), and you'll use the same dates when exporting reports from QBO. For example, if you're cleaning up calendar year 2025, your Review Period Start is 01/01/2025 and Review Period End is 12/31/2025.
Pick your engagement type
LedgerClean adapts the required-file set and the scan output to the engagement shape you're running. You pick the type when you create the engagement (and can change it later on the upload page):
Cleanup
When: One-time fix for an existing set of messy books.
What you get: Standard diagnostic: health score across eight categories, fix procedures, cleanup checklist.
Monthly
When: Ongoing monthly QC on books you maintain.
What you get: Diagnostic each period with delta detection (new / recurring / resolved). Multi-period trend chart.
Both (Cleanup & Monthly)
When: Taking over a messy file you'll keep long-term.
What you get: Cleanup first, then monthly QC on the same engagement group.
Rebuild / Migration
When: New client or X-to-QBO migration, no populated books yet.
What you get: Per-account scoping view from Bank Feed - For Review exports only. No full diagnostic until books exist.
Create an engagement
Click New Engagement in LedgerClean and fill in:
- Client Name — whatever you use internally
- Platform — QuickBooks Online (QBO)
- Engagement Type — Cleanup, Monthly, Both, or Rebuild / Migration (see above)
- Fiscal Year End — the client's fiscal year end date
- Review Period Start / End — the date range you want to diagnose
- Tracking Features — check the boxes if the client uses A/R, A/P, Classes, Locations, or Projects
Click Create Engagement. You'll land on the file upload page.
Export reports from QBO
Running a Rebuild / Migration engagement? You only need to export Bank Feed - For Review for each account. Skip the rest of this step and see Rebuild Mode for the streamlined walkthrough.
Log into your client's QBO file. For each report below, navigate to Reports, search for the report name, set the date parameters, then click Export to Excel.
Do not open, edit, or convert the .xlsx files. Upload them directly.
Required (all 6)
Account List
Reports > Account List > Export to Excel
No date setting needed.
Trial Balance
Reports > Trial Balance > Report period: As of [Review Period End] > Export to Excel
Balance Sheet
Reports > Balance Sheet > Report period: As of [Review Period End] > Export to Excel
Nonprofit QBO files export this as 'Statement of Financial Position'. Upload it in the Balance Sheet slot.
Profit and Loss
Reports > Profit and Loss > Date range: [Review Period Start] to [Review Period End] > Export to Excel
Nonprofit QBO files export this as 'Statement of Activity'. Upload it in the Profit & Loss slot.
Transaction List by Date
Reports > Transaction List by Date > Date range: [Review Period Start] to [Review Period End] > Export to Excel
General Ledger
Reports > General Ledger > Date range: [Review Period Start] to [Review Period End] > Export to Excel
Required if client uses A/R or A/P
These appear on your upload page only if you checked the corresponding boxes when creating the project.
A/R Aging Summary
Reports > A/R Aging Summary > Export to Excel
A/P Aging Summary
Reports > A/P Aging Summary > Export to Excel
Strongly recommended
These are optional because QBO won't export them if they're blank. Upload them if they exist — they significantly improve the diagnostic scan.
Reconciliation Summary
Reconcile > Summary > Export (.csv)
Bank Feed - For Review
Banking tab > gear icon (set rows per page) > For Review > Export (.csv)
Up to 300 rows per export, capturing only what's currently in view. Use the gear icon to set rows per page, then export each page. Run multiple exports per account if there are more than 300 items waiting. If the For Review queue is empty, skip this.
Optional: Bank import files
QBO limits the For Review export to 300 transactions. If your client's queue has more than that, upload the original .qboor QBO-formatted CSV files you used to import transactions into QBO's bank feed. LedgerClean merges them with the For Review export and uses the combined set to generate a complete set of suggested bank rules. These files only feed the bank rule generator; they do not change any other finding.
Bank Import Files (.qbo or QBO-formatted .csv)
Wherever you stored the file you originally uploaded into QBO's bank feed
Upload multiple files (one per bank or credit card account) if you have them. Most useful for cleanup and rebuild engagements where the For Review queue exceeds 300 rows.
Upload and run
Drag and drop (or browse) to upload each file into the matching slot on the project page. LedgerClean auto-detects which report is which. If a file shows an error, make sure it's the original .xlsx or .csv export from QBO and hasn't been opened or resaved in Excel.
Once all required files show green, click Run Diagnostic Scan.
The diagnostic scan typically takes 30–90 seconds. You'll get:
- A health score with category breakdowns
- A Cleanup Assessment (client-ready summary PDF)
- A Diagnostic Report (detailed findings with recommended cleanup sequence)
- An estimated cleanup time in hours
Working with your results
Once your scan completes, here's how to read the checklist, generate fix procedures, track your progress, export the spreadsheet, and re-scan after cleanup.
Understanding the checklist
After your scan completes, you'll see your health score and a prioritized list of issues grouped by category. Each issue shows a severity level (Critical, Warning, or Info), a description of what was found, and the accounts involved. Start with Critical issues and work down.
Generating fix procedures
Fix procedures are not generated automatically with the scan. After reviewing your results, click the Fix Procedures button to generate step-by-step correction instructions for each issue. Fix procedures include:
- Investigate steps telling you exactly where to look in QBO
- Determine guidance to help figure out the root cause
- Fix instructions with numbered QBO navigation steps for each scenario
- Ask the Client questions you can send directly to your client
Fix procedure generation typically takes 2–5 minutes. Procedures are generated by AI and should be validated against the client's specific situation.
Available on Solo and Firm plans, and on any engagement unlocked with a Single Cleanup credit.
Tracking your progress
Use the status dropdown on each issue to track where you are:
- Open — not started
- In Progress — working on it
- Waiting on Client — need info from the client
- Resolved — fix applied in QBO
Add internal notes to any issue to keep track of your work. Notes are visible only to you and will not appear on client-facing reports or shared links.
Exporting your checklist
Click Excel in the export bar to download your checklist as a spreadsheet tracker. The export includes all issues, statuses, notes, and fix procedures if generated. Generate fix procedures before exporting if you want them included in the spreadsheet.
Re-scanning after fixes
After making corrections in QBO, export fresh reports and upload them using the Re-Scan button. LedgerClean will run a new diagnostic so you can compare results and see your progress.
Monthly maintenance workflow
For ongoing monthly clients, LedgerClean keeps every month under one project group. You scan once a month and the next month rolls forward on the same page, with a health-score trend, automatic month-over-month delta, and combined exports for end of quarter or year.
Available on Solo and Firm plans, and on any engagement unlocked with a Single Cleanup credit (one credit covers the whole multi-period engagement, not one per month).
- Scan the first month.Create a project for that month's date range and run the diagnostic as usual (Steps 1–3 above).
- Add the next month. From the dashboard or the group page, click Run Next Month. The dates auto-fill to the next month. Or use + Add Period to pick a custom range.
- Upload + scan inline. The new period card auto-expands. Drop in the QBO exports for that month and click Run Diagnostic Scan. When it finishes, the next unscanned period (if any) opens automatically.
- Read the trend.The Health Score Trend chart at the top of the group page plots every scanned month — easy proof for the client that the books are getting better (or flagging when they're not).
- Watch the delta. Below the chart, the Changes Since [previous month] section breaks the comparison into new findings, recurring findings, and findings resolved since the prior month. Surfaces regressions immediately.
- Combined exports on demand. Once 2+ months are scanned, the group page exposes Combined Report, Combined Checklist, Combined Assessment, and Combined Proposal — one click each, no rebuilding.
- Share with the client. Use Share Combined Assessment or Share Combined Proposal on the group page to create a read-only link. Set expiry, copy the URL, and revoke when done.
Tips
Cash vs. accrual
Export reports using whichever basis the client files taxes on. LedgerClean detects the basis from the uploaded reports.
Date range matters
If your QBO export dates don't match the review period you entered in LedgerClean, the diagnostic scan may flag phantom issues or miss real ones. Double-check before uploading.
Don't filter reports
Export the full report with all accounts and transaction types. Filtered exports produce incomplete diagnostic scans.
If a result looks off
First verify your date range, accounting basis, and report completeness match between LedgerClean and QBO. Most unexpected findings trace back to a mismatch in one of those three.
Re-run after cleanup
Once you've completed fixes, export fresh reports and run a new diagnostic scan to verify everything is resolved.
Questions?
Check the Help Center or email support@ledgerclean.com
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