We are closing our business, is there an easy way to download and archive our books?

I'd be happy to assist you with exporting your data to Excel, so that you can download your financial information from QuickBooks Online (QBO) before you can close your books, Lori.
 
Here's how:
 

1. Navigate to the Gear icon and select Export data from the TOOLS column.
   
2. Choose the reason for the export and click Continue.
3. On the Reports tab, use the Pre-selected date ranges dropdown to set your desired date.
4. Adjust the Reports and Lists tabs by toggling the switch on or off to add or remove items.
5. Click Export to Excel.
6. Confirm by selecting OK to complete the process.
    

If you need to export additional reports, please refer to this article for detailed guidance: Export your reports to Excel from QuickBooks Online.
 

After you have completed this process, you can then close your books to prevent any unintended changes before tax filing. We recommend collaborating with your accountant to ensure that your financial records remain accurate and aligned with your preferences.
 
If you need to change the closing date, or forgot the password you used to lock your books, don't worry. You can easily edit both, you can refer to this article for detailed guidance: Edit your closed books.
 

We are here always ready to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have. Please feel free to leave your comment below.

@lori134 

You can convert your data to a QB Desktop file and use old QB Desktop with a non subscription license to access your historical data for good.

​@lori134 


When you're closing the company, the cleanest move is to pull a full copy of your books before you cancel, while everything is still live and easy to reach. A few reports cover most of it:

• General Ledger, All Dates, exported to Excel and PDF. That one report holds every transaction.
• Trial Balance, P&L, and Balance Sheet for each year, in both formats.
• Your lists: chart of accounts, customers, vendors, products and services.
• Attachments from the Attachments page. One thing to know is the export gives you the files but not the link back to each transaction, so it helps to keep a note of which receipt goes with which entry.

You keep read-only access for a while after cancelling, so there's no rush, but records like these are often needed for years (the IRS can look back 3-7), so having your own copy saved locally is good peace of mind.