Can you open a .QBM file without QuickBooks?

Yes. superglue reads a QuickBooks Desktop portable company file (.QBM) without QuickBooks installed. You attach the file in a superglue chat, and superglue returns the whole company as records: the accounts, the lists, the transactions with their history, and the payroll history. This is useful when a client sends you a file for a migration, or when the computer that ran QuickBooks is gone.

How to read a .QBM file with superglue

1. Get the portable company file. If you only have the company file, someone with QuickBooks Desktop opens the company and selects File > Create Copy > Portable company file. The QuickBooks Desktop files guide has steps that you can forward to the client.
2. Attach the file in a superglue chat. superglue accepts portable company files up to 400 MB.
3. Ask for what you need. For example: "Read this QuickBooks file and list all open invoices by customer." superglue extracts the file in a few seconds for a small company and a few minutes for a large one. It then tells you which record types it found, which values are encrypted, and how many attachments the company has.

What you get from the file

• Lists. Accounts, customers and jobs, vendors, employees, items, classes, terms, other lists, and the company information.
• Transactions. Invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, payments, bills, checks, deposits, journal entries, purchase orders, estimates and sales orders. Payments stay applied to their invoices.
• Payroll history. Paychecks, payroll liability checks, liability adjustments and year-to-date payroll amounts. The QuickBooks SDK has no export for these.
• Other data. Memorized transactions, to-dos, notes, budgets, item history, mileage, bank feed lines and price rules.

The records have the same fields and IDs as the QuickBooks SDK, so a migration plan built on SDK fields also works with the file.

What the file does not contain

• Encrypted values. QuickBooks encrypts social security numbers, tax IDs, bank account numbers and credit card numbers in the file. Collect them from the client if the new system needs them.
• Attachments. QuickBooks keeps attached documents in the Attach folder next to the company file. Ask the client to send that folder as a zip file.
• Later changes. The file holds the data at the time of the copy. A new portable company file gives you newer data.

superglue reads portable company files. If you have a company file (.QBW) or a backup (.QBB), How to open a .QBW file without QuickBooks shows how to turn it into a .QBM with the free QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise trial.

The other ways to open a .QBM file

• Restore it in QuickBooks Desktop. Install QuickBooks Desktop, for example the trial version, and restore the file with File > Open or Restore Company > Restore a portable file. Then export the reports that you need to Excel or CSV. Exported reports lose the links between transactions, such as which payment paid which invoice.
• Use a hosting provider. An Intuit-authorized hosting provider runs QuickBooks Desktop on its servers, and you restore the file there. This is a paid service.

If the goal is a migration to NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Business Central or another system, How to migrate a client off QuickBooks Desktop describes the full process from this file to the cutover.

Common questions

Can you open a .QBM file without QuickBooks?

Yes. superglue reads a QuickBooks Desktop portable company file (.QBM) without QuickBooks installed. You attach the file in a superglue chat, and superglue extracts the accounts, lists, transactions and payroll history as records in QuickBooks SDK format.

What data comes out of a .QBM file?

Accounts, customers and jobs, vendors, employees, items, classes, terms and other lists, the company information, and transactions such as invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, payments, bills, checks, deposits, journal entries, purchase orders, estimates and sales orders. Paychecks and year-to-date payroll amounts come out too.

What does a .QBM file not contain?

QuickBooks encrypts social security numbers, tax IDs, bank account numbers and credit card numbers in the file, so these values cannot be read. Attached documents are kept in the Attach folder next to the company file, not in the .QBM file.

Can superglue read .QBW or .QBB files?

Not directly. superglue reads portable company files (.QBM). To turn a .QBW or .QBB file into a .QBM, open it in QuickBooks Desktop, for example the free 30-day trial of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise, and select File > Create Copy > Portable company file.

What are the other ways to open a .QBM file?

Restore the file in QuickBooks Desktop, for example in the trial version, with File > Open or Restore Company > Restore a portable file. Then export reports to Excel or CSV. An Intuit-authorized hosting provider can also run QuickBooks Desktop for you.