I need self-employed to stay open so accountant can finalise books but I want to start sole trader. Can I run both?

Hello, Dr Nicola. Yes, you can run both. To keep your current books open for your accountant while starting your new sole trader business. You need to create a new, separate account rather than clicking upgrade on your existing one.

It is the only way to ensure your old data stays untouched and available for your accountant to finalize. Once you are ready to move your information over, you can download it from your QuickBooks Self-Employed (QBSE) account and manually upload it to your new sole trader account.

To do this, go to the Reports menu in your QBSE account. Choose all the reports you need. Then, click the Download link or dropdown next to each report to save it as a PDF or Excel file on your computer. Once done, manually upload it to your Sole Trader account.

I'll add this guide because it explains the specific changes you will see once you switch to QuickBooks Sole Trader: Learn what happens when you move from QuickBooks Self-Employed to QuickBooks Online.

Please leave a comment below if you have any further questions.