How to Change the Date Format in QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is a powerful accounting tool designed to help businesses manage their finances with efficiency and accuracy. It handles invoices, expenses, reports, and payroll all in one place. But one detail that can often cause confusion is the way dates appear in the system. Depending on where your company operates or how you prefer to read dates, you may want QuickBooks to display them differently.

For example, in the United States, the standard format is MM/DD/YYYY (month/day/year). In many other parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, or much of Europe, the preferred format is DD/MM/YYYY (day/month/year). Sometimes users also prefer a more formal layout like YYYY-MM-DD, especially for reports or exports.

Whatever your preference, QuickBooks Online gives you the ability to control the date format, but the process can seem a little hidden. Unlike desktop software, QuickBooks Online uses your browser’s region settings and your company’s regional preferences to decide how dates appear.

Understanding How QuickBooks Online Handles Dates

Before you begin, it’s important to understand how QuickBooks Online determines which date format to use. QuickBooks Online is web-based software that operates in the cloud, which means it relies on both your QuickBooks account settings and your web browser’s locale settings to display regional information like currency, number formatting, and dates.

That means if your company location is set to the United States, your QuickBooks account automatically uses the U.S. date format (MM/DD/YYYY). If you change your company’s region to the United Kingdom, it will switch to DD/MM/YYYY.

Similarly, if your browser’s regional settings differ from your company’s region in QuickBooks, you might see mismatched date formats — for example, invoices showing one format and reports showing another.

Therefore, changing the date format involves two main steps:

1. Adjusting your QuickBooks Online company settings to the correct region or language.
2. Ensuring your web browser or operating system uses the same regional format.

Once those match, every screen in QuickBooks Online,  including transactions, invoices, and reports,  will use your preferred date format.

Step 1: Log In to QuickBooks Online

Start by signing in to your QuickBooks Online account through your web browser. Enter your email address or user ID and password, then select your company file if you manage more than one.  Once you’re in, you’ll see the QuickBooks dashboard. From here, you can access all your company’s data, including settings, transactions, and reports.

Step 2: Open the Company Settings Menu

To change any system-wide preferences, including regional settings and date format, you’ll need to access the Account and Settings section.

Look at the upper right corner of your QuickBooks dashboard. You’ll see a small gear-shaped icon,  that’s the Settings icon. Click on it. A drop-down menu will appear with several options such as “Your Company,” “Lists,” and “Tools.”

Under the Your Company heading, choose Account and Settings (in some regions it may be labeled Company Settings). This opens the main settings page where all company preferences are managed.

Step 3: Go to the Advanced Settings Tab

In the left-hand navigation panel of the Account and Settings page, you’ll see several sections like Company, Billing & Subscription, Sales, Expenses, and Advanced.

Click on Advanced. This section controls the most technical aspects of QuickBooks Online, including accounting preferences, currency, automation, and language settings. The date format option is tied to your region and language configuration inside this tab.

Step 4: Locate the Language and Region Section

Scroll down the Advanced page until you find the section labeled Language or Other Preferences, depending on your QuickBooks version. This section defines how numbers, dates, and currencies appear throughout the software.

You’ll see an option that specifies your Language and possibly a Region or Country setting. These determine the overall formatting rules QuickBooks Online uses for your data.

For example:

• English (United States) will use the MM/DD/YYYY format.
• English (United Kingdom) or English (Australia) will use the DD/MM/YYYY format.
• English (Canada) can vary depending on whether you choose French or English language settings.

Step 5: Edit the Region Settings

Next to the Language or Region section, click the Edit button — usually represented by a small pencil icon.

A dialog box or editing field will appear, allowing you to change the regional format or language preference.

Select the region or language that corresponds to the date format you prefer. For instance, if you want to switch from the U.S. format (month/day/year) to the European format (day/month/year), change your language to English (United Kingdom) or English (Australia).

Once you make your selection, click Save and then Done to confirm the changes.

QuickBooks will refresh and begin using the new region settings. This change will affect how dates appear in your invoices, reports, transaction lists, and most other areas.

Step 6: Verify the Change in Your Browser

Sometimes, QuickBooks Online may not immediately reflect the new date format because your web browser is still using cached data or a different locale setting. To make sure everything displays correctly, check your browser’s language and region preferences.

If you’re using Google Chrome, open the Settings menu, find the “Languages” section, and ensure that the language matches the one you selected in QuickBooks. For Microsoft Edge or Safari, look for similar regional settings and make sure the date format matches your preferred locale.

After aligning both the browser and QuickBooks settings, refresh the QuickBooks page or log out and back in. The date format throughout QuickBooks Online should now match your chosen region.

Step 7: Check the New Date Format in Key Areas

To confirm that your change has taken effect, inspect a few different places in QuickBooks Online where dates appear.

Start with the Dashboard and look at any recent transactions or activities displayed there. Then check:

• The Sales section: open an existing invoice or create a new one and check the “Invoice Date.”
• The Expenses section: open a bill or expense entry and note the date field.
• The Reports section: generate a standard report like the Profit and Loss report, and see how the dates appear in the headers or filters.

All of these should now show the date format that corresponds to your chosen region. If they do, your change was successful.

Step 8: Adjust Date Format in Exported Reports (If Needed)

Sometimes, exported reports from QuickBooks Online,  especially those saved as Excel or PDF files,  may display dates based on your computer’s system settings rather than the QuickBooks region.

If you notice that exported reports still use the old format, check your Windows or macOS system preferences.

For Windows, open the Control Panel, go to “Region,” and change the Short Date format to your desired layout. Then re-export your reports. For macOS, go to System Settings, open “Language & Region,” and choose your preferred date style.

After aligning your system settings, exported reports will match what you see in QuickBooks Online.

Step 9: Handling Multi-User or Multi-Company Accounts

If multiple users work in your QuickBooks account, it’s worth noting that regional and date format settings apply at the company level, not the individual user level.  That means if you change the language and region in the company settings, everyone who accesses that company will see dates in the same format.  However, if your organization operates in several countries and you manage multiple QuickBooks company files (for example, one for the U.S. branch and one for the U.K. branch), you can set a different region for each.  Each company file will display dates, currency, and numbers according to its own settings.

Step 10: Troubleshooting Common Issues

Even though the process is straightforward, users sometimes encounter problems when changing the date format. Here are a few common scenarios and how to fix them:

Problem 1: The date format didn’t change even after updating the region.
This often happens because your browser is still showing cached data or using a different locale. Clear your browser cache, restart the browser, and log back into QuickBooks. Also confirm that your browser’s language matches your QuickBooks language setting.

Problem 2: Reports show one format, invoices show another.
In this case, the region settings might not match between QuickBooks and your computer’s operating system. Align both to the same locale.

Problem 3: Your accountant or another user still sees the old format.
Make sure they log out and log back into QuickBooks. Changes to the region settings only apply after a new session begins.

Problem 4: You can’t find the region or language option.
If your QuickBooks subscription was registered in a specific country (for example, QuickBooks Online US Edition), you may not be able to switch to another country directly. The date format in those editions is fixed to that country’s standard. In that case, you can change your browser’s locale settings, which often overrides the display format for date fields.

Problem 5: The date format looks wrong after exporting to Excel.
Microsoft Excel formats dates based on your Windows regional settings, not QuickBooks. Change the short date format in your Windows control panel to match what you want, then reopen the exported file.

Step 11: Why Date Format Consistency Matters

The way dates appear might seem like a minor detail, but it can have a significant impact on your accounting records and communications.  Inconsistent date formats can cause confusion, especially in international transactions. For example, the date “03/05/2025” could mean March 5th in the United States or May 3rd in the United Kingdom. Invoices or expense reports with ambiguous dates could lead to misinterpretations or even payment delays.

By ensuring that QuickBooks Online displays dates in your preferred or regionally standard format, you reduce the risk of errors in reporting, reconciliation, and client communications. It also makes your reports and exports consistent with other systems you use, such as payroll or banking software.

Step 12: Tips for Maintaining the Correct Format

After you’ve set the correct date format, it’s a good idea to periodically check that it hasn’t reverted,particularly if you or your team access QuickBooks from different browsers or computers.

Here are some useful tips:

• Use the same browser and language settings each time you log in.
• Clear cache occasionally to prevent old data from overriding new preferences.
• Train team members so everyone understands which date format your company uses.
• Double-check exports when sending financial reports to external parties.

Following these small habits ensures consistency across all your financial documents.

Step 13: Special Note About Mobile and App Versions

If you use the QuickBooks Online mobile app, the date format typically follows your phone’s regional settings. So if you notice a mismatch between the mobile app and the desktop browser version, adjust your mobile device’s region or language to match the one you’ve chosen for your QuickBooks company.  Once both your computer and mobile device use the same region, all QuickBooks data,  whether viewed on desktop or mobile,  will appear with the same date style.

Step 14: The Broader Impact of Regional Settings

Changing the region in QuickBooks Online does more than adjust the date format. It also affects how currency, numbers, and even tax options appear. For example, changing from the U.S. region to the U.K. region will automatically switch your default currency from dollars to pounds and may change VAT options.

Therefore, if you only want to modify the way dates look and not alter currency or tax settings, it’s safer to keep the same regional setting but adjust your browser locale instead. That way, you get your preferred date display without affecting other parts of your accounting system.

Step 15: Final Verification and Best Practices

Once all changes are made, run a quick final check:

1. Open QuickBooks Online in a new browser session.
2. View an invoice, bill, and one or two reports.
3. Confirm that all dates appear in your desired format.
4. Export a report to Excel or PDF and ensure the exported version matches.

If everything aligns, your setup is complete. You’ve successfully standardized the date format across your QuickBooks Online company and all connected devices.

Changing the date format in QuickBooks Online might seem like a small technical adjustment, but it has a real impact on your business operations. Whether you need to match regional conventions, align with client preferences, or simply reduce confusion in your records, QuickBooks gives you the flexibility to do it,  you just need to know where to look.

By adjusting your company’s Advanced Settings and synchronizing your browser’s regional preferences, you can control exactly how dates appear across your entire accounting system. Once configured, every invoice, report, and transaction you create will display in the correct format, helping ensure clarity and professionalism in all your financial documentation.  It’s a one-time setup that keeps your business records consistent for years to come