How to export customers in QuickBooks

Choose the method by what the file needs to hold, because Intuit says each way produces a different result. The export from the Customers & leads page takes a fixed set of fields: Customer, Company, Address, Phone number, Email Address, Attachment, Open Balance and Notes. It's the quicker option when those are all you're after.

The Customer Contact List report, under Reports, is the one to use when you want something more specific. You choose its columns before exporting, so the spreadsheet holds the customer details you pick, and you can save the setup if you'll want the same file again.

Need more than your customers? Settings has a separate Export data option that bundles reports and lists into one .zip file of Excel workbooks. That broader export has its own how-to; this page sticks to customer data.

For the fixed set of fields, go to All apps, select Customer Hub, then Customers & leads, and select the Export to Excel icon beside the Print icon. To choose the columns yourself, use the report:

1. Go to Reports and select Standard reports.
2. In the Sales and Customers section, select Customer Contact List.
3. Open the Rows/Columns dropdown and select Change columns.
4. Add the columns you want in the file, then select Run report.
5. If you'll run this same report again, select Save customisation at the upper right.
6. Select the Export icon next to the Print icon, then choose Export to Excel.

You end up with an Excel file of your customer information to share or work with outside QuickBooks. What's in it depends on the route. The Customers & leads file always has the same columns, open balances included. The report file has the columns you chose for the report.

If you selected Save customisation, the report keeps your column choices, so the next export of the same list doesn't need setting up again.

Statements come out differently. To keep a copy of one customer's statement, open that customer from Customers & leads and go to their Statements tab. Pick the statement, select Print or Preview, then the download icon, and choose a folder and select Save. The statement comes out as a PDF, not a spreadsheet. If the statement isn't listed, widen the period in the Date dropdown.