Switch from QuickBooks to Guliel: what moves today and how

Guliel is accounting and finance-operations software with a double-entry general ledger. Invoicing, expenses, purchasing, stock, payroll, reporting and the ledger run on one engine. There is no QuickBooks importer or connector today; a connector is planned. So switching is a staged move: your customer list comes across by spreadsheet, your accountant posts opening balances as one journal entry, you issue new documents in Guliel from a start date, and your QuickBooks history stays in QuickBooks or in the exports you keep.

There is no forced cutover. You can run Guliel beside QuickBooks first, let automations take over routine steps, and move fully when you're ready.

What moves today

QuickBooks data	Into Guliel today	How
Customers	Yes (live)	Spreadsheet import on Guliel's template: Name, Tax ID, Email, Phone, Address, City. Only Name is required.
Balances at your start date	Yes, as a journal entry (live)	Your accountant posts one balanced manual journal entry in Guliel's ledger.
Suppliers (vendors)	Not imported	Add them in Guliel, or invite them by email (live).
Products and services	Not imported	Add them as items in Guliel (live).
Bills and expenses	Not imported	New bills are captured in Guliel by scan or from a connected inbox (live).
Chart of accounts, journal history	Not imported	Guliel's chart of accounts is fixed; custom accounts are planned.
Invoices, credit memos, payments, payroll history, attachments	Not imported	They stay in QuickBooks and in your exports.
Bank feeds and bank rules	No equivalent yet	Guliel has no bank feeds or bank reconciliation today.

The switch, step by step

1. Pick a start date. Use the first day of a month or quarter, after your accountant has closed the period before it in QuickBooks.
2. Export from QuickBooks first. The customer list (QuickBooks Online and Desktop both export it to Excel or CSV), plus the trial balance, balance sheet, general ledger and receivables aging as at the day before your start date. These files are your record if you later cancel QuickBooks.
3. Start free and set up the organisation. Each QuickBooks company becomes its own Guliel organisation under one login.
4. Import customers. On the Customers page, choose Import, then Other / spreadsheet template. Rename the headers and upload. Guliel shows which columns it recognised, which required ones are missing and which it will ignore, then marks each row new, already imported or invalid, with the reason. Nothing is saved until you commit, and a bad row is skipped on its own. Files are CSV or .xlsx, up to 10 MB or 50,000 rows; re-uploading a file skips rows already imported.
5. Add suppliers and items. Enter suppliers by hand or invite them by email. A supplier that accepts with its own Guliel organisation is linked to yours and sees the purchase orders you send it.
6. Post opening balances. On the Ledger page, your accountant adds one journal entry dated the day before the start date, mapping QuickBooks balances onto Guliel's accounts (cash and bank, receivables, payables, tax, equity and the rest). Debits must equal credits or it won't save. A journal entry carries no customer or supplier, so opening receivables are one figure, not a list per customer.
7. Lock the period. A manager sets the books lock date to the day before the start date. Postings dated on or before it can't be changed.
8. Run new work in Guliel. Issue invoices, record payments in full or in part, and capture bills; captured expenses wait for a person's approval before they reach the ledger.

Open QuickBooks invoices stay in QuickBooks. When one is paid, your accountant records the cash in Guliel with a journal entry (debit cash, credit receivables). Keep QuickBooks, or at least its exports, for as long as you need the history; Intuit's terms decide how long a cancelled company stays readable.

What you get after the move

• A ledger that fills itself. Issued invoices, approved expenses, recorded payments and approved payslips post to a double-entry general ledger. Manual journal entries cover the rest: opening balances, accruals, adjustments. Reports include a trial balance, balance sheet, general ledger, income statement and cash flow, and the ledger exports as CSV. See accounting in Guliel.
• One engine instead of connected apps. Invoices, receipts, expenses, purchase orders and payslips are one document object with a type and a direction, and the ledger is computed from the same lines as receivables and payables. QuickBooks extends through its app marketplace and connectors; Guliel keeps these records in one data model, so automations can trigger on invoice, expense, payment, purchase-order and stock events alike.
• Your accountant in the loop. Invite them with their own role (manager, contributor or viewer). Captured expenses wait for a person's approval, and a manager sets the lock date. A sign-off queue where an accountant approves AI work is planned. See Guliel for accountants.
• AI under the same rules. Any MCP client, such as Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot, connects through OAuth 2.1 and acts within your role and scopes, under the same numbering, totals and balancing rules as a person.
• Documents for 39 countries. Invoices, receipts, credit and debit memos as PDF in the formats of 39 countries, including the US. See invoicing.

Check these before you switch

• Bank feeds and bank reconciliation are not in Guliel yet.
• US payroll. Guliel calculates statutory payroll for Singapore only; other countries get a basic profile with payslips and no statutory deductions. It does not calculate US withholding or file payroll returns, so keep your payroll provider. See payroll.
• Sales tax. Guliel produces tax reports by period, with a US adapter. It does not determine US sales-tax nexus or file state returns.
• Structured e-invoices. Guliel's documents are PDF today. It does not emit Peppol, XRechnung, ZUGFeRD or similar structured e-invoice formats yet; its own Peppol access point is built, awaiting OpenPeppol certification, and not yet connected to the app.
• Payments. Guliel records payments against documents; it does not process them. PayPal payment links are built and not switched on yet.

Time and cost

The customer import takes minutes; the opening entry takes as long as your accountant needs to map accounts. There is no migration weekend, because the history doesn't move.

Importing costs nothing on any plan. The Free plan is $0 per organisation, with 200 invoices, 100 expense scans, 10 reports and 5 automations a month. Standard ($20) and Premium ($99) per organisation per month are published prices; paid plans are not on sale yet. Pricing is per organisation, not per seat: see pricing.

Still comparing? The side-by-side is at Guliel vs QuickBooks.

FAQ

Can Guliel import my QuickBooks data directly?

No. There is no importer or connector for QuickBooks Online or Desktop today; a connector is planned. Customers come across by spreadsheet and opening balances by one journal entry.

Do I still need QuickBooks for my books after switching?

No. Guliel keeps its own double-entry general ledger, with journal entries, a trial balance, a balance sheet and a books lock date, and work done in Guliel posts there. Bank reconciliation is not in Guliel yet. Keep QuickBooks while you collect old invoices or need its history.

Will my invoice numbers stay the same?

QuickBooks invoices aren't imported, so nothing is renumbered. They stay in QuickBooks as they are. New documents you issue in Guliel follow Guliel's own numbering for your country.

Can I import a QuickBooks Desktop file?

No. Guliel doesn't read IIF files or QuickBooks company files. Export the customer list from Desktop to Excel or CSV and use the spreadsheet template.

What happens to my QuickBooks Payments balance?

It stays with Intuit. Guliel doesn't process payments; you record payments against invoices in Guliel, in full or in part.

What does my accountant get?

Their own login and role, a trial balance, balance sheet, general ledger report, income statement and cash flow, and a CSV export of the ledger. Expenses wait for approval before they post.

Is there a cost to migrate?

No. Importing is free on every plan, including Free.

Start free, import your customers, and post your opening balances when your accountant is ready.