Desktop migration readiness check
Whether your Desktop file is ready to convert, and the items to clean up first so balances survive the move.
OpenIllinois · QuickBooks Migration
Illinois QuickBooks migration without losing your history.
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor moves your Illinois file — Desktop to Online, or from another platform — with opening balances and history intact, sales tax re-mapped site by site to the 6.25% state rate plus local rates, IL-941 withholding and IDES unemployment insurance carried with year-to-date wages, the chart of accounts carried over PPRT-ready, and Chicago’s 15% lease/“cloud” tax tracked separately. Fixed-fee, remote, all 102 counties.
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
State rule
Illinois rule: from August 1, 2026 the NITA (formerly RTA) occupation and use tax rate rose 0.25% in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties; a migrated file must carry the new combined rate for sales there from that date. Source: IDOR Bulletin FY 2026-34.
§ The short version
Illinois QuickBooks migration is our QuickBooks migration service with the Illinois layer added: your file moves from Desktop to Online, or from another platform, with history intact, sales tax re-mapped site by site to the 6.25% state rate plus local rates, and IL-941 and IDES accounts carried over with year-to-date wages.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification,
§ 01 · The cutover check
The Illinois balances a migration has to carry.
A migration is proven on one date: the cutover. These Illinois accounts have to open in the new file at the balance the state’s own records support on that date, or the first ST-1, IL-941 or UI-3/40 after go-live starts out wrong.
| Account in the new file | Balance at cutover | Ties to |
|---|---|---|
| Sales tax payable, by registered site | Tax collected and not yet paid for the open period, at each site’s combined rate | The open ST-1, with Form ST-2 when you sell from more than one site; due by the 20th of the month after the period |
| Illinois income tax withheld | Amounts withheld at 4.95% and not yet paid | Your payment schedule (monthly at $12,000 or less of withholding in the look-back period, semi-weekly above it) and the quarterly IL-941 with Schedule P |
| IDES unemployment insurance payable | Contributions accrued for the current quarter | The UI-3/40 wage report and payment, due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31 |
| Payroll year-to-date, per employee | Wages and withholding since January 1 | IL-941 Schedule P and the UI-3/40 wage detail |
| Replacement tax (PPRT) accounts | Net-income accounts kept separate so the 2.5% (corporations) or 1.5% (partnerships, trusts and S corporations) replacement tax can be computed | The return your CPA files |
| Chicago lease tax, where it applies | Tax collected on Chicago leases, kept apart from sales tax | The City of Chicago Form 7550 return |
Illinois payroll and sales-tax settings to re-map
- Each location registered with IDOR set up as its own tax site at the rate IDOR gives for it; IDOR requires every sales location to be registered before the ST-1 that reports it.
- Rates current at the cutover: the January 1, 2026 grocery change and the August 1, 2026 NITA increase in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
- Illinois withholding as an employee item and IDES unemployment insurance as an employer item, kept apart.
- Chicago’s lease tax as its own liability, never folded into sales tax.
This is the Illinois layer. The engagement around it — conversion, Intuit’s free tool, the integrity checks every migration runs — is the national QuickBooks migration service, and the state’s other filings are on the Illinois page.
Your migration is prepared by a senior bookkeeper who works in your software, or by a signed specialist practice when your books need one, with every close reviewed by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor before it reaches you. TechBrot does not prepare or file tax returns; we work with your CPA or EA. TechBrot is not Intuit and does not provide Intuit product support.
§ 02 · What a migration gets right for Illinois
Three Illinois things a migration should fix, not carry over.
Migrating is the chance to set Illinois up correctly — rather than importing the old system’s mistakes.
PPRT
Net-income tracking carried over PPRT-ready
A migration is the moment to set Illinois net income up so the Personal Property Replacement Tax is supportable — 2.5% for C-corps, 1.5% for S-corps, partnerships, and trusts, owed at the entity level even by pass-throughs. We carry the chart of accounts over so PPRT-relevant net income tracks cleanly in the new file, instead of re-importing accounts that never separated it. Your CPA computes and files.6.25% + local
Sales tax re-mapped by jurisdiction, not flat
A migration is the chance to set Illinois sales tax up right — 6.25% state plus home-rule, non-home-rule, transit and other local taxes by location. Two 2026 changes make an old rate table wrong: the state’s 1% grocery tax ended on January 1, 2026, with municipalities and counties allowed to impose their own, and the NITA (formerly RTA) rate rose 0.25% in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties on August 1, 2026. We re-map the tax items so QuickBooks carries the correct combined rate going forward and the ST-1 ties.Cloud tax
Chicago’s 15% lease/cloud tax carried forward separately
Whether software or SaaS is taxable under Illinois sales tax is your CPA’s determination — but Chicago has its own tax, the Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (the “cloud tax”), 15% as of January 2026, which can apply to non-possessory computer leases. Where providers with Chicago customers collect it, we carry that liability forward as a separate item during the move — tracked apart from sales tax, not folded into it. It’s a City of Chicago tax (Dept of Finance), not a state tax.§ 03 · What an Illinois migration covers
A clean move, with Illinois configured right.
A migration is the best moment to fix the Illinois specifics — so we re-map them as part of the move.
01
Desktop to Online
A clean move from QuickBooks Desktop to Online with lists, balances, and history intact — or the reverse if Desktop fits better.QuickBooks Online
02
From another platform
Coming from Xero, Wave, spreadsheets, or another system — we map the data into an Illinois-correct QuickBooks file.QuickBooks setup
03
Sales tax re-mapped by jurisdiction
Sales tax set up correctly to the combined rate by jurisdiction (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates) during the move — not carried over as a flat statewide rate.Sales tax help
04
Chart of accounts carried PPRT-ready
The chart of accounts moved so Illinois net income tracks cleanly for the Personal Property Replacement Tax going forward.Replacement tax help
05
Chicago cloud tax carried over
Chicago’s 15% lease/SaaS tax carried forward as a separate item so it isn’t folded into sales tax after the migration.Sales tax help
06
Verified before go-live
Migrated balances reconciled to the source and the file verified clean before you rely on it.Cleanup & reconciliation
§ 04 · The scope
What we do — and what we don’t.
What TechBrot does
- Migrate from Desktop to Online, or from another platform, with history intact
- Re-map combined sales tax by jurisdiction (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates) during the move
- Carry the chart of accounts over so Illinois net income tracks PPRT-ready
- Carry Chicago’s lease/cloud tax forward as a separate item where it applies
- Reconcile migrated balances to the source before go-live
- Configure reporting and integrations on the new file
What your CPA does
- File the Illinois income tax, the PPRT, or sales tax (ST-1)
- Elect the PTE or file Chicago city taxes (lease/cloud)
- Represent you before the Illinois Department of Revenue or the City of Chicago
- Provide legal or tax advice
- Step 1
Free scoping call
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor reviews your source system and data — sales-tax jurisdictions, entity type and PPRT, any Chicago cloud-tax exposure — to scope the migration. - Step 2
Written fixed-fee scope
A written scope and fixed fee within 3 business days, with the Illinois re-mapping listed. - Step 3
Migrate & re-map
We move balances and history, re-map sales tax by jurisdiction, carry the chart of accounts over PPRT-ready, and carry Chicago’s cloud tax forward separately. - Step 4
Verify & go-live
Migrated data reconciled to the source and the file verified before go-live — or straight into monthly bookkeeping.
§ 06 · The advisory line
Automation handles the data entry. We handle the judgment.
A migration is the cheapest opportunity you’ll get to fix Illinois configuration — the built-in import tools faithfully carry over a flat statewide sales-tax rate and a chart of accounts that never separated Illinois net income, so “just importing” often means importing the old mess. Doing it with a ProAdvisor means you land on a clean Illinois file instead — sales tax re-mapped by jurisdiction, PPRT-ready accounts, and Chicago’s cloud tax tracked separately.
Once migrated, the same preparer can keep the file clean in monthly bookkeeping — so the fresh start lasts.
§ 07 · Around this page
Around Illinois.
Illinois QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping
The state page: services, industries, cities and the Illinois tax terms in one place.QuickBooks migration, nationally
The national engagement this page is the Illinois version of — same scope, same written fixed fee.Also in Illinois
Illinois cities
Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · how Illinois compares: state-by-state tax quirks.
§ 08 · Around the engagement
Before you engage anyone.
What doesn’t convert from Desktop to Online
The data QuickBooks Desktop keeps and QuickBooks Online drops in a migration — and what to capture before you convert.
Open§ 09 · Common questions
Illinois QuickBooks migration questions.
What does Illinois QuickBooks migration include?
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor moves your file from Desktop to Online or from another platform with opening balances and history intact, re-maps sales tax by jurisdiction (the 6.25% state rate plus local rates), carries the chart of accounts over so Illinois net income tracks PPRT-ready, and carries Chicago’s lease/cloud tax forward as a separate item — then verifies the data before go-live.
Why not just use the built-in migration tool?
Because the built-in import carries over the old system’s mistakes faithfully — including a flat statewide sales-tax rate that ignores Chicago’s local rates and a chart of accounts that never separated Illinois net income for the PPRT. A ProAdvisor migration is the chance to re-map sales tax by jurisdiction, carry the accounts over PPRT-ready, and verify opening balances, so you land on a clean Illinois file rather than a copy of the old mess.
Will I lose my transaction history, and is the PPRT tracking carried over?
No history is lost. We migrate opening balances and history so reporting stays continuous across the cutover, and we carry the chart of accounts over so Illinois net income keeps tracking cleanly for the Personal Property Replacement Tax (2.5% C-corp, 1.5% pass-through) in the new file. We reconcile the migrated data to the source before go-live; the depth of history moved depends on the source system, confirmed during scoping. Your CPA computes and files the PPRT.
How does the migration handle Chicago’s sales tax and 15% cloud tax?
Sales tax is re-mapped during the move to the combined rate for each location — 6.25% state plus county, home-rule and transit add-ons, sourced the way IDOR’s origin and destination rules set for your kind of sale — rather than carried over as one flat rate, so the ST-1 ties going forward. Chicago’s Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (the “cloud tax”), 15% as of January 2026, is carried forward as a separate item tracked apart from sales tax, because it’s a City of Chicago tax administered by the Department of Finance, not a state tax.
Can you migrate from Xero or spreadsheets?
Yes — whether you’re coming from QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, Wave, spreadsheets, or another platform, we map the data into an Illinois-correct QuickBooks file with sales tax by jurisdiction, a PPRT-ready chart of accounts, and Chicago’s cloud tax set up as a separate item where it applies.
How much does Illinois QuickBooks migration cost?
Fixed-fee against a written scope, never hourly — QuickBooks migration runs $2,500–$10,000+, depending on data volume, the source system, and how much re-mapping the Illinois setup needs. Where the file also needs bookkeeping cleanup, that cleanup runs $1,200–$15,000+; a new file set up from scratch is QuickBooks setup, $750–$5,000+. You get the exact fee in writing within 3 business days of a free scoping call.
Do you file my Illinois taxes after migrating?
No. TechBrot does not prepare or file tax returns; we work with your CPA or EA. TechBrot is a bookkeeping and advisory firm: we migrate the books and keep them ready for the Illinois income tax, the PPRT and sales tax (ST-1); your CPA decides and elects the PTE and handles Chicago city taxes (lease/cloud).
Which 2026 Illinois rate changes does a migration have to pick up?
Two. IDOR’s ST-1 instructions note that from January 1, 2026 the state’s 1% tax on grocery sales ended and municipalities and counties may impose their own grocery tax; and IDOR Bulletin FY 2026-34 raised the NITA (formerly RTA) occupation and use tax rate by 0.25% in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties from August 1, 2026. A file migrated with an older rate table carries the wrong combined rate on both, so the items are re-mapped before go-live.
Checked against the Illinois Department of Revenue and the City of Chicago Department of Finance.
Illinois businesses start here