QuickBooks Self-Employed Discontinued: Moving Schedule C Books

If QuickBooks Self-Employed is discontinued, what do I save now?

Save a complete copy of your records outside the app now, whatever dates its maker gives. The regulation puts the duty on the person subject to the tax: keep books or records sufficient to establish gross income and deductions, and keep them as long as they may matter to tax administration (26 CFR 1.6001-1). The software maker sets its retirement dates, export tools and replacement plans, and can change them. Read the current notice in your account.

Your case is not simple if:

• A year, or months of a year, are missing from the export.
• Personal and business charges are mixed.
• No mileage log exists outside the app.
• Your 1099 totals do not match the books.
• A year was never filed.

Those cases usually need rebuilding from outside sources, not copying. See "Different for you?" below.

Gather before access ends:

• Every year of transactions you can export, with detail (date, payee, amount, category), not only summary reports.
• Each year's profit and loss by category.
• Receipt images and attachments.
• The mileage log: one row per trip with date, destination, business purpose and miles, plus total miles for the year split into business, commuting and other. Add the date the vehicle was first used for business, whether you own or lease it, and the method each year, standard mileage rate or actual expenses. The standard rate already includes depreciation, and an earlier choice can limit which method you may use next (standard mileage or actual expenses).
• Purchase invoices for equipment, with date, cost and any depreciation or section 179 already taken.
• Every Form 1099 you received (1099-NEC, 1099-K, 1099-MISC) and your last filed return.
• Statements for every bank and card account used for the business, and proof of each estimated tax payment.

Any tool that passes the checks under "What do I check in the new tool before I trust it?" will do. To pick one, see which app suits Schedule C and software your accountant supports.

Where did my QuickBooks Self-Employed data go?

Only the copy you saved is certain. How long the maker keeps your data is its decision, set in its notice and terms. If you cannot sign in, ask its support what export is still available and keep a dated copy of the reply.

If you did not save your records, rebuild from sources the maker does not control: bank and card statements, Forms 1099 (your IRS online account lists available information returns, including certain 1099s), invoices, payment-platform reports and receipts in your email. See rebuilding books from bank statements.

In an examination, the IRS says taxpayers maintain their own books and records. If a taxpayer declines to provide requested records, it says it can summon them or disallow items reported for lack of substantiation. The same FAQ says a backup file lets the IRS test the original records, which it cannot adequately do with a spreadsheet export, and that a file rebuilt by re-entering transactions is not a copy of the original records. If the old app offers no backup file, keep the most complete export it does offer.

What records does a Schedule C need?

Any system that clearly shows your income and expenses works. The IRS says the law generally requires no special kind of records. Publication 583 asks for two things: books that summarize your transactions, and the supporting documents behind them.

Proof of payment alone does not establish a deduction. Publication 583 says to keep the receipt or invoice that shows the cost too. For mileage, see what a mileage log must show. For everyday habits, see record keeping for the self-employed.

Which Schedule C lines did my old categories feed, and what must the new tool produce?

The new tool must give a total for each Schedule C line, or a clear map from your categories to those lines. Open your old category list next to the form. Line numbers follow the latest published form and can change.

The instructions say to report income from all sources, and not to deduct federal income taxes, including self-employment tax. Owner draws, transfers between your own accounts and personal spending also belong on no expense line. Split any category that spans two lines. See chart of accounts for Schedule C.

Does the IRS require a particular app to switch to, and does my accounting method change?

The IRS requires no particular app, and changing software does not by itself change your accounting method. A computerized system must produce legible records that reconcile with your books and return (Publication 583). You must use the same method to figure taxable income and to keep your books. Schedule C line F asks whether it is cash, accrual or another method.

Changing the method itself, such as cash to accrual, is a separate step that generally needs IRS approval, requested on Form 3115 (Publication 583; Schedule C instructions). See switching from cash to accrual.

So check the basis of the new tool's reports. Under the cash method you report income when you receive it and deduct expenses when you pay them. A tool that counts income on the invoice date will not match a cash-method return. If your old reports and your filed return used different bases, have a preparer look before you move: the new tool's totals cannot match both. For online accounting software, see online accounting software compared.

What counts as adequate records for my mileage log and receipts?

For travel, gift and car expenses, the IRS accepts an account book, diary, log, statement of expense, trip sheet or similar record, and says a record prepared on a computer is adequate. You generally need documentary evidence too, such as receipts, canceled checks or bills, with a few exceptions, such as a transportation expense for which a receipt is not readily available. You cannot deduct travel, gift or car amounts you approximate or estimate (Publication 463, Topic 510). Other business costs follow the general rule above: books plus supporting documents.

For a vehicle, the record shows the date, business destination and purpose of each use, the mileage for each business use, and total miles for the year. Record it at or near the time. A log kept weekly counts as timely.

An app log may qualify, but only while you can retrieve and reproduce it. The Schedule C instructions for line 47 allow written evidence of car expenses to be kept in an electronic storage system that meets certain requirements. Publication 583 says such a system must index, store, preserve, retrieve and reproduce records in legible form, accessible to the IRS. The IRS does not say whether a given app meets that standard. An app log that can no longer be retrieved may not, so keep a copy you can reproduce.

If records are incomplete, Publication 463 allows your own statement plus other supporting evidence. It allows reconstruction of destroyed records for reasons beyond your control, and its examples are fire, flood and other casualties. It does not name a discontinued app, so do not plan on it. See rebuilding a mileage log and lost receipts.

How long do I keep my records after I move?

Keep records until the period of limitations for each return runs out, generally three years from the filing date (IRS). That period is the time in which you can amend a return or the IRS can assess more tax. Moving software neither shortens nor restarts that clock.

Keep copies of filed returns too. If a year was never filed, there is no limit, so keep everything for it. Other cases, such as refund claims, bad debts and employment tax, are in how long to keep business records.

What do I carry over from the app's quarterly estimated tax tracking?

Carry over what you actually paid, not the app's estimates. Estimated tax covers income tax and self-employment tax, and a late or short installment can bring a penalty even when a refund is due.

• The date and amount of each federal payment for the tax year. Take them from your bank, payment confirmations, or your IRS online account, which shows up to five years of payment history, including estimated payments.
• Any overpayment from the prior year applied to this year. On the 2025 Form 1040, line 26 combines it with estimated payments; check the current form.
• State payments, kept apart from federal ones.
• The app's projected tax only as a reference. Recompute with the Form 1040-ES worksheet.

The penalty rules and due dates are in quarterly estimated tax payments.

Should I move now or at the start of the next year?

Either can work if one cutoff date splits the records cleanly and income is counted once. Starting on the first day of the tax year keeps each year in one tool. A mid-year move builds one Schedule C from two tools: the old one through the cutoff, the new one after. If the maker's notice ends access first, it sets your date, so export the year to date before then.

To avoid counting income twice:

1. Choose a cutoff that matches a bank statement date, in a month you have reconciled.
2. Reconcile each bank and card account through the cutoff and enter its reconciled book balance as the opening balance. The statement balance can differ: deposits not yet credited and checks not yet cleared are in your books but not on the statement.
3. Load transactions dated after the cutoff. List those uncleared checks and deposits separately and match them when they clear, instead of recording them again. Keep the earlier detail in the old export.
4. Cash method: income is generally counted when you receive it, so record an invoice unpaid at the cutoff when the payment arrives. Accrual method: bring it over as an open receivable, not as new income.
5. Keep the old export for the whole tax year plus a month on each side. An examiner may ask for the month before and after the year to test the cutoff of income and expenses.

See switching software mid-year and income counted twice.

What do I check in the new tool before I trust it?

Test it against records the tool did not create. Run these checks for every year you load.

If line 1 is less than the total in box 1 of your Forms 1099-NEC, the Schedule C instructions say to attach a statement explaining the difference. Publication 583 says to reconcile your checking account each month and to keep your business account separate from your personal one.

Example

These examples are illustrative and use US dollars.

Freelance designer with US$60,000 of 1099-NEC income

The app holds her only record of 8,000 business miles. She exports each trip with date, place, purpose and miles, plus the total miles for the year, and files it with her tax records. The IRS asks for adequate records, not for the app. Her new tool's line 1 must include the US$60,000 and any business income no client reported on a 1099.

Marketplace seller with US$30,000 of sales and US$24,000 of deposits

The US$6,000 gap is fees and refunds taken before payout. The new tool records US$30,000 as sales, the platform fees as an expense and any customer refunds as returns and allowances on line 2, so line 1 starts at US$30,000 and ties to a 1099-K, if one is issued, which shows the gross amount. A tool that books only the US$24,000 of deposits understates line 1 by US$6,000.

Sole proprietor who moves on July 1

She uses the cash method. The old tool holds US$30,000 of income for January to June, and the new tool US$35,000 from July on, so line 1 is US$65,000. She sets the cutoff at June 30 and opens the new tool with her reconciled June 30 balances, listing any uncleared checks and deposits. A US$5,000 invoice sent June 20 and paid July 8 is, under the cash method, generally July income. She enters it once, when the deposit lands, not also as an invoice.

Different for you?

• Months or whole years are missing from the export: the books must be rebuilt from statements before the return. See rebuilding books from bank statements and get bookkeeping help.
• Years of income were never filed: records for an unfiled year have no time limit. See Schedule C expenses for unfiled years and get individual tax help.
• Personal and business charges are mixed: separate them before the Schedule C is built. See fixing commingled funds and get bookkeeping help.
• Your 1099-NEC totals are more than the income in your books: the Schedule C instructions call for a statement explaining the difference, so the cause matters. If it stays unexplained, see individual tax help. If the cause is duplicates, see income counted twice.
• Clients pay from outside the US, or in another currency: a 1099 may not arrive, so line 1 rests on your own records. See no 1099 from a foreign client, and for what to report, individual tax help.
• No mileage log or receipts exist outside the app: see rebuilding a mileage log, what a mileage log must show and lost receipts, and get bookkeeping help if the gaps are wide.
• An IRS notice or examination is open: the IRS FAQ says a rebuilt or condensed file does not satisfy a request for the years under examination, so what to hand over is a question for individual tax help. See an IRS audit of a small business.
• A partner joined, or the business now files as a corporation: Schedule C is for a sole proprietorship, so the old books may not carry over as they are. See books after an S election and get bookkeeping help.
• You are closing a QuickBooks Online file instead: see records to keep when cancelling QuickBooks.