QuickBooks Custom Fields in 2026: The Complete Migration Guide for SaaS Companies

Introduction

If you logged into QuickBooks Online recently and noticed your Tags feature had vanished, you’re not alone.

And if you’re scrambling to figure out where your carefully organized transaction data went, this guide is for you.

Here’s what happened: Intuit discontinued Tags in May 2025 and replaced them with an expanded Custom Fields system.

But here’s the part they don’t advertise prominently your historical tag data doesn’t automatically transfer.

For SaaS companies tracking revenue by product line, customer segments, or sales reps, this isn’t just an inconvenience. It’s a reporting crisis waiting to happen when your board asks for Q1 financials, and you realize half your data lives in a deprecated system.

What Actually Happened to Tags (And Why Intuit Made This Change)

On May 15, 2025, QuickBooks Online officially discontinued the Tags feature across all subscription levels.

If you missed the email notifications that went out in early February, you’re probably discovering this the hard way.

Here’s the timeline of what happened:

• Early February 2025: Intuit sent email notifications with links to the migration tool.
• March 17 May 15, 2025: The migration tool and expanded Custom Fields were available across all plans.
• May 15, 2025: Tags became read‑only you can view existing tags but cannot create new ones.
• May 15, 2028: Complete removal tags will disappear from historical transactions forever.

These dates create a three‑year grace period: you can still see your old tag data, but cannot create new tags. After May 15, 2028, that historical data vanishes completely.

Why did Intuit make this change? The official reason is that Custom Fields offer “more versatile functionality across both sales and expense forms.” The real reason? Tags were always a workaround for lower-tier plans that didn’t have access to Classes or Locations.

Custom Fields are more powerful, more reportable, and importantly for Intuit they can monetize better by tying advanced features to higher-tier plans.

You can review our complete guide on how Tags worked in QuickBooks Online before discontinuation to see the structural differences compared to Custom Fields.

The Hidden Migration Problem Nobody Talks About

Here’s where most migration guides fail you: the migration tool only creates the structure for future transactions. It does NOT transfer your historical tag data to Custom Fields.

Let me repeat that because it’s critical: Your 2025 transactions tagged with “Product A” will not automatically appear in Custom Fields as “Product A”.

This creates a reporting nightmare. Your Profit & Loss statements will be split:

• Transactions before migration: Organized by Tags
• Transactions after migration: Organized by Custom Fields

There’s no bulk update feature. However, businesses using the QuickBooks API can programmatically update historical transactions using custom development and automation strategies.

If you want to update historical transactions to use Custom Fields, you have to open each transaction individually and manually select the Custom Field value.

For a SaaS company processing hundreds of monthly transactions, this could mean thousands of manual updates.

Step-by-Step: How to Migrate Tags to Custom Fields (Before It’s Too Late)

If you haven’t migrated yet and you’re still in the grace period, here’s exactly what you need to do:

Step 1: Export All Your Tag Reports NOW

Before you do anything else, generate and save PDF reports for every tag configuration you have:

• Go to Settings (⚙️) → Tags.
• For each tag group, click “Run report” on the right side.
• Export to PDF with multiple date ranges:
  • Full historical view (inception to present)
  • Year-by-year breakdowns (2024, 2025, etc.)
  • Quarter-by-quarter, if you have high transaction volume
• Save these PDFs somewhere permanent. When 2028 rolls around, this will be your only record.

Step 2: Review Your Tag Structure

Before migration, audit your current tag usage:

• How many tag groups do you have?
• How many individual tags per group?
• Which transactions use which tags?

Click “See all untagged transactions” to catch anything you missed. Tag them now before the migration.

Step 3: Run the Migration Tool

• Go to Settings (⚙️) → Tags
• Click “Migrate tags to custom fields.”
• The system will auto-import up to 100 tags per group.
• All transaction forms will be pre-selected
• Review the selections make changes if needed.
• Click Save

What happens next:

• QuickBooks creates new Custom Field(s) matching your tag structure.
• Each Custom Field becomes a dropdown with up to 100 values.
• These fields will appear on future transaction forms
• Historical transactions remain tagged (not converted to Custom Fields)

Step 4: Plan Your Historical Data Strategy

You have three options:

• Option A: Leave historical data as-is

  Accept the split reporting. Use Tags for historical analysis, and Custom Fields for current and future use. Document the cutover date clearly.

• Option B: Manual update (small volume only)

  If you have fewer than 100 transactions, manually open each one and add the appropriate Custom Field value. Painful but doable.

• Option C: API-based migration (recommended for scale)

  This is where companies like ours come in. Using the new Custom Fields API released in December 2025 as part of Intuit’s Premium APIs for Gold and Platinum partners, we can build automated migration scripts that:

  • Pull historical transactions with tag data.
  • Map tags to corresponding Custom Field values
  • Bulk update transactions programmatically
  • Maintain a full audit trail.

  In a client case study, we migrated over 15,000 historical transactions in under 4 hours using this approach; manual updates would have taken roughly 40 hours. This anecdote illustrates how automation can dramatically reduce migration time.

Custom Fields by Plan: What You Actually Get

Here’s what Intuit didn’t make obvious: Custom Field availability varies dramatically by subscription tier.

What this means for you:

If you’re on Simple Start with 5 tag groups tracking Product Line, Customer Type, Sales Rep, Region, and Campaign Source, you have a problem. You can only create 1 Custom Field. You’ll need to either:

• Upgrade to Essentials (4 fields) or Plus (4 fields)
• Consolidate your tracking dimensions.
• Use a combination of Custom Fields + Classes + Locations.

Most SaaS companies should be on Plus or Advanced anyway for the additional features (inventory tracking, project profitability, advanced reporting). If you’re still on Simple Start or Essentials, the Tags deprecation might be the forcing function to finally upgrade.

If you’re unsure which QuickBooks plan supports advanced tracking, review our comparison of QuickBooks integrations and ecosystem tools.

Advanced Custom Fields Strategies for SaaS Companies

Now that you understand the mechanics, let’s talk strategy. How should you actually structure Custom Fields for a SaaS business?

The Three-Dimensional Approach

Most SaaS companies need to track at least three dimensions:

• Product Line (which product/service generated this revenue?)
• Customer Segment (Enterprise, Mid-Market, SMB?)
• Sales Attribution (which rep/channel closed this deal?)

Here’s how to map these in QuickBooks:

Dimension 1: Product Line → Classes

Use Classes for your primary revenue segmentation. Why? Because Classes support profit and loss reporting and work across all transaction types.

Example Classes:

• Product A
• Product B
• Professional Services
• Support & Maintenance

Dimension 2: Customer Segment → Custom Field #1

Create a “Customer Segment” dropdown Custom Field with values like:

• Enterprise (>$100k ARR)
• Mid-Market ($10k-$100k ARR)
• SMB (<$10k ARR)

Dimension 3: Sales Attribution → Custom Field #2

Create a “Sales Rep” or “Sales Channel” Custom Field:

• Rep: Alice Johnson
• Rep: Bob Smith
• Channel: Direct
• Channel: Partner
• Channel: Inbound

Now, when you generate reports, you can slice revenue by:

• Product Line (Class)
• Within each product, by Customer Segment (Custom Field filter)
• Within each segment, by Sales Rep (second Custom Field filter)

Custom Fields for Expense Tracking

Don’t forget the expense side. Custom Fields work on bills, expenses, and purchase orders, too.

Example expense tracking Custom Fields:

Custom Field: “Department”

• Engineering
• Sales & Marketing
• Customer Success
• G&A

Custom Field: “Cost Center”

• R&D – Product A
• R&D – Product B
• Marketing – Demand Gen
• Marketing – Brand

This lets you build department P&Ls without complex account structures.

Custom Fields vs Tags vs Classes: When to Use What

Let’s clear up the confusion. QuickBooks now has three ways to categorize transactions:

When to use each:

Use Classes for:

• Primary revenue/expense segmentation
• Product lines or service offerings
• Anything you need on a standard P&L report

Use Locations for:

• Geographic regions
• Physical offices or stores
• Legal entities (if multi-entity)

Use Custom Fields for:

• Secondary dimensions (Customer Segment, Sales Rep, Campaign)
• Metadata that doesn’t need P&L reporting
• Enforcing dropdown consistency
• Granular filtering within reports

Don’t use Tags for:

• Anything (they’re deprecated)

When Custom Fields Aren’t Enough: Integration Architecture

Here’s the hard truth: Custom Fields alone won’t solve all your SaaS metrics needs.

You still can’t natively track in QuickBooks:

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and ARR
• Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) analysis
• Multi-element revenue recognition (ASC 606 compliance)
• Deferred revenue schedules

Custom Fields can help you approximate some of these metrics, but at scale (50+ annual contracts), you need purpose-built integrations.

This is where integration architecture becomes critical. We typically recommend a layered approach:

Layer 1: QuickBooks as the general ledger

All financial transactions, bank connections, AP/AR flows through QuickBooks.

Layer 2: Custom Fields for dimensional tracking

Product lines, customer segments, sales attribution things QuickBooks doesn’t track natively.

Layer 3: Integration with specialized tools

• Billing system (Stripe, Chargebee) for subscription metrics
• CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce) for customer attribution
• Revenue recognition tool (Stripe Revenue Recognition, RevRec) for ASC 606

Layer 4: Unified reporting dashboard

Pull data from all three layers into a single CFO dashboard. Now you’re seeing GAAP-compliant financials alongside SaaS metrics in real-time.

The 2028 Deadline: Why This Matters Now

Remember: you have until May 15, 2028, before historical tag data disappears completely.

That might seem like a long time, but consider this scenario:

It’s March 2028. Your company is preparing for a Series B fundraise. Investors want to see three-year revenue trends broken down by product line. Your 2024-2025 data was organized with Tags.

You never migrated it to Custom Fields. Those Tags are about to be deleted permanently.

You now have two months to either:

• Manually update thousands of historical transactions.
• Rebuild three years of financial analysis from scratch.
• Tell investors you can’t provide the requested breakdown.

None of these is a good option.

The time to act is now, while you still have access to your tag data.

Your Next Steps: A Practical Action Plan

Here’s what I recommend based on your situation:

If You Haven’t Migrated Yet:

Week 1:

• Export all tag reports to PDF (full historical view)
• Document your current tag structure.
• Decide which tags map to which Custom Fields.

Week 2:

• Run the migration tool.
• Set up Custom Field dropdown values.
• Test on a few sample transactions

Week 3:

• Train your team on using Custom Fields.
• Create quick reference documentation.
• Decide on historical data strategy (leave as-is, manual update, or API migration)

If You’ve Already Migrated But Need Better Reporting:

Month 1:

• Audit current Custom Field usage (are people actually using them consistently?)
• Identify reporting gaps (what questions can’t you answer with the current setup?)
• Document integration points needed (billing system, CRM, etc.)

Month 2:

• Design Custom Fields + Classes + Locations multi-dimensional structure
• Build or implement an integration architecture.
• Create a unified CFO dashboard.

Month 3:

• Validate data accuracy against source systems.
• Train stakeholders on new reporting capabilities
• Document processes for ongoing maintenance

If You’re Overwhelmed and Need Expert Help:

This is exactly what we do through our QuickBooks integration and custom development services for SaaS companies.

Over the past 15 years, the company has reported completing more than 65 accounting integrations and maintaining a client retention rate of about 97%.

Our typical Custom Fields migration and optimization project includes:

• Complete audit of your current QuickBooks structure
• Custom Field architecture design optimized for your business model
• API-based migration of historical tag data (if needed)
• Integration with your billing platform and CRM
• Custom CFO dashboard development
• Team training and documentation

The result? Based on our internal case studies, clients have reported improvements such as:

• Up to 75% reduction in manual data entry
• Roughly 60 hours per month saved on financial reporting
• About a 45% improvement in reporting accuracy
• Board‑ready financials generated in hours instead of days

These outcomes are anecdotal and will vary by organization.

Final Thoughts: Custom Fields as Competitive Advantage

Most SaaS companies treat accounting as a necessary evil something to tolerate, not optimize.

But here’s what the best CFOs understand: better financial data enables better strategic decisions.

When you can instantly see which product lines are most profitable, which customer segments have the highest LTV, and which sales channels deliver the best ROI, you make smarter decisions about where to invest resources.

Custom Fields, properly implemented and integrated, give you that visibility. Tags never could.

The migration from Tags to Custom Fields isn’t just a compliance exercise. It’s an opportunity to rebuild your financial reporting architecture the right way with dimensional tracking, automated data flows, and real-time visibility.

Yes, it requires effort upfront. But the alternative manual workarounds, scattered data, and delayed insights costs far more in the long run.

Need Help Migrating or Optimizing Your QuickBooks Custom Fields?

We offer a free QuickBooks Configuration Audit for SaaS companies. In 45 minutes, we’ll:

• Review your current Custom Fields setup.
• Identify reporting gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Provide specific recommendations for your business model
• Show you examples of automated reporting we’ve built for similar companies.

Book your free audit: Contact Satva Solutions