CopyMyBooks
Real books in your QuickBooks sandbox
CopyMyBooks copies a real QuickBooks Online company into a free Intuit sandbox, so you can test and rehearse on real books. No shared logins. The real company is only ever read, and we don't keep it.
Currently free, and the sandbox is free from Intuit. Sign in with Google, GitHub or Intuit.
Lakeshore Supply Co. Real company, only read
| Invoice 1042 | Halden Dental Group | $4,180.00 |
| Payment | Halden Dental Group | $2,000.00 |
| Bill 77 | Brightline Freight | $912.40 |
| [email protected] | ||
Your sandbox The copy
| Invoice 1042 | Marlow & Finch | $4,180.00 |
| Payment | Marlow & Finch | $2,000.00 |
| Bill 77 | Teller Rhodes LLC | $912.40 |
| [email protected] | ||
Checked against the real company's reports
"Sandboxes can't import data." Here's how this works anyway.
Intuit's sandbox FAQ says you can't import or export data, and that's true of files: there's no way to upload a company or a backup into a sandbox. CopyMyBooks doesn't upload a file. It reads the real company through the QuickBooks Online API and writes each list and transaction into your sandbox, in order, the way any QuickBooks app adds records. Then it checks the copy against the real company's reports.
A sandbox is the free test company Intuit gives anyone with a developer account. No coding, and no second QuickBooks subscription. Create one in about ten minutes, or compare every way to copy a QuickBooks Online company.
Who copies their books into a sandbox
Anyone who needs real books where a mistake costs nothing.
- App developers and integrators Test an app, a sync or a migration against a client's real books, and reproduce their bugs without touching their live company.
- Accountants and bookkeepers Rehearse a cleanup, a chart of accounts change or a batch of adjusting entries, then make it for real.
- Only need made-up books? EasyTestData, from the same team, fills a sandbox with realistic generated books instead. Free and open source, and no real company involved.
Sample data hides what real books have
A new QuickBooks sandbox starts with a small, tidy sample company. Real companies have years of history, and that's where integrations break and cleanups surprise you.
- Payments that don't line up Partly paid invoices, credits applied later, deposits that bundle several payments.
- Lists that grew for years Inactive customers, sub-accounts and sub-customers, hundreds of products, classes and locations.
- Entries made by hand Journal entries, transfers, recurring transactions and inventory adjustments.
Two people, three steps
You never see the owner's login. They approve on Intuit's own screen, and the copy lands in a sandbox you own. Copying your own company? You're both people: connect it yourself and copy.
-
You
Send the owner a link
From CopyMyBooks, by email. An admin of the company opens it: the owner, or a bookkeeper with admin rights. They don't need an account.
-
The owner
They approve at Intuit
And choose what every copy must hide: names and contact details, real email addresses, notes and attachments. You can't turn those off.
-
You
Copy into your sandbox
Pick a sandbox, the dates and what to copy. CopyMyBooks clears that sandbox, copies the books in order and checks the result.
The owner stays in control
Asking a client for their books is easier when the answer to "is it safe?" fits on one page.
The page to send your client- Only read
- CopyMyBooks never changes anything in the real company. Copies are written only to sandboxes.
- Kept for an hour, not for good
- Books are kept encrypted for 60 minutes after a copy, never more than 24 hours, then deleted (database backups expire on their own later).
- Their protections, on every copy
- Disguised names, undeliverable emails, and no notes, memos, line, product, service and account descriptions, payment reference numbers, custom fields or attachments, if they choose.
- Stop any time
- In QuickBooks: Apps, then My apps, then disconnect CopyMyBooks.
What's copied, and what isn't
You choose the dates and which kinds of records. Lists come along as needed, or all of them.
Copied
Lists
Accounts, customers, vendors, employees, products and services, classes, locations, terms and payment methods.
Sales and purchases
Estimates, invoices, sales receipts, payments, credit memos and refunds. Purchase orders, bills, bill payments, vendor credits, expenses and checks.
Banking and accounting
Deposits, transfers, journal entries, time activity, recurring transactions and inventory adjustments.
Attachments
If you choose them, and the owner hasn't left them out.
Not copied
Company settings
Preferences, sales tax setup, users, bank connections and payroll. The copy only turns on class, location or inventory tracking in your sandbox when the copied records need it.
Anything the owner hid
Real names and contact details, deliverable emails, notes, memos, line, product, service and account descriptions, payment reference numbers and custom fields.
- US companiesIn US dollars, without multicurrency.
- Up to 25,000 recordsPer copy. Pick a shorter date range for bigger books.
- Your datesAll dates, a period such as last year, or a custom range of up to 10 years.
- Inventory waitsQuickBooks locks inventory for about 30 minutes after a sandbox is cleared; the copy waits it out.
Every copy is checked
When a copy finishes, CopyMyBooks compares your sandbox's profit and loss, balance sheet and trial balance with the real company's, for the same dates. Records QuickBooks refused are listed with its reasons, and any past the first 200 are counted.
When amounts are disguised, the check compares record counts instead.
| Example | Real company | Your sandbox |
|---|---|---|
| Total income | $412,880.15 | $412,880.15 |
| Total expenses | $301,214.62 | $301,214.62 |
| Net income | $111,665.53 | $111,665.53 |
| Total assets | $268,402.90 | $268,402.90 |
The totals match.
Questions
Is this allowed by Intuit?
CopyMyBooks connects the way every QuickBooks Online app does: an admin of the company approves it on Intuit's own screen and can disconnect it at any time. Copies go only into sandboxes, the test companies Intuit gives developers. CopyMyBooks isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Intuit.
Can CopyMyBooks change the real company?
It only reads it. Intuit's approval screen has no read-only option, so the permission itself is broader, but CopyMyBooks never writes to a real company.
What happens to my sandbox?
Everything in it is removed first, so the copy isn't mixed with old data. You confirm the sandbox by typing its name. A few records QuickBooks protects can't be removed; the result lists them.
What if the copy isn't exact?
You'll know. Records QuickBooks refused are listed with its reasons (any past the first 200 are counted), and the check against the real company's reports shows any difference. With amounts disguised, it compares record counts instead.
Is my client's data sold or used to train AI?
No. It isn't sold, used for ads or used to train AI models. The privacy policy has the details.
What does it cost?
Nothing today. The sandbox is free from Intuit, and CopyMyBooks is currently free. If we start charging, account holders hear first and choose whether to continue.
Do you keep my books?
No. Books read for a copy are kept encrypted and deleted 60 minutes after they're read or copied, never more than 24 hours. Database backups expire on their own later. A copy's history keeps its record counts, the records QuickBooks refused and, unless amounts were disguised, the real company's report totals. The copy itself lives in your sandbox, at Intuit, not with us.
Only need made-up data? EasyTestData, from the same team, fills a sandbox with realistic generated books. It's free and open source.
easytestdata.com