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Creating a proper chart of accounts is one of the most important (and often overlooked) things new QuickBooks Pro users should do. If you are already familiar with business and accounting, this will come as no surprise. Luckily for you, if your company already has a chart of accounts, you can save some serious time by importing (or uploading) it rather than having to recreate it one account at a time.
In this post, we’ll teach you how to import your chart of accounts in five simple steps.
Import Your Chart Of Accounts. To import your chart of accounts, begin by going to ListsChart of AccountsAccountsImport from Excel. Note: QuickBooks Pro recommends creating a backup company file before importing your chart of accounts. Step 1: Select The Appropriate File. Click “Browse” and choose the Excel file with your chart of accounts in it.
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Table of Contents
Import Your Chart Of Accounts
Import Your Chart Of Accounts
To import your chart of accounts, begin by going to Lists>Chart of Accounts>Accounts>Import from Excel.
Note: QuickBooks Pro recommends creating a backup company file before importing your chart of accounts.
Step 1: Select The Appropriate File
Click “Browse” and choose the Excel file with your chart of accounts in it.
Once you find the appropriate file, click “open.”
Step 2: Select A Sheet
Select the sheet your data is on.
Step 3: Create A New Mapping
Next, you’ll need to create a new mapping. A mapping is basically how you tell QuickBooks to import your columns.
More likely than not, the column headings in your Excel file will differ from the column headings QuickBooks uses. So instead of having to change your Excel file, you can create a new mapping instead. Think of this as a big matching game.
Use the drop-down menu to select the Excel column you want attached to each QuickBooks heading. For example, we want our “Account Name” column in Excel to match the “Name” column in QuickBooks, so we clicked “Name” and selected the appropriate Excel column.
You can save the following chart of accounts information in QuickBooks:
Type
Number
Name
Description
Bank Account Number/Credit Card Number
Opening Balance
As of (Date)
Remind Me To Order Checks When I Print Number
Track Reimbursable Expenses
Income Account for Reimbursable Expenses
Is Inactive
Once all of your column headings are mapped, don’t forget to add a mapping name at the top of the screen before clicking the blue “Save” button in at the bottom of the screen.
Step 4: Import Your File
Finally, you are ready to import your chart of accounts. Simply click the blue “Import” button and you’re good to go.
Step 5: Agree To The Display Message
If this is your first import, you’ll see a popup box warning that you can’t undo imported information. Simply click “yes” to complete the import.
Congratulations, you’ve successfully imported your chart of accounts into QuickBooks Pro! The good news? Now that you’ve been through one successful import, the rest won’t seem so scary.
If you have any troubleshooting issues, check out the QuickBooks Community or call QuickBooks directly. Don’t forget to check out the rest of our QuickBooks Desktop Pro 101 Series to learn how to import customers, import items, import vendors, and more.
Overwhelmed by QuickBooks Pro? Maybe it’s time to switch to QuickBooks Online. QBO is easy to use, cloud-based, and affordable. Best of all, you can easily import your QuickBooks Desktop data into QuickBooks Online.
Outgrown QuickBooks Pro? Switch to QuickBooks Premier. It’s the same QuickBooks Desktop software you love but with more users and advanced, industry-specific features.
Chelsea Krause
Chelsea Krause is a writer who has specialized in accounting for two years and is a QuickBooks Certified User. She has a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied at the University of Oxford as well. She has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business.
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One of the most common questions that we are asked every day is what sorts of files can be imported into QuickBooks Desktop company files (Pro, Premier and Enterprise Editions). Below is a listing of all the different file formats that will work with Transaction Pro Importer for QuickBooks:
Excel files (all formats are supported going back to Office 1997 and including Office 2016 and Office 365)
CSV files (also known as comma separated value)
Txt files (comma, pipe and tab delimited files are all supported)
Quicken Files (they have a qif file extension and are used to import bank statement activity)
Microsoft Money Files (they have a ofx file extension and are used to import bank statement activity)
Microsoft Access Databases
ODBC compliant databases such as SQL
Below are some points to consider…
Does my import file require a header row?
Many files have a descriptive title at the top of each column of data which will make it easier to select the correct import file column from the Transaction Pro Importer mapping screen. However, a header row is not required in your import file. You can tell Transaction Pro Importer if your import file had a header row but selecting the checkbox next to File has field names in first row on the File Contents screen (see below).
Do I have to use a pre-defined header row in my import file?
No need to use any templates you can use whatever data in your header row and Transaction Pro Importer will only import the columns that you map to. In other words you can have an unlimited number of columns in your import file and the columns can be in any order. However, if you do decide to use our sample import files which you can find in the documents directory after installing Transaction Pro Importer, you will not do do any mapping you will just select the Field Match button at the bottom of the Transaction Pro Importer mapping screen (see below).
How do I import multi-lined transactions?
In your import file you will repeat the transaction id and customer/vendor information on each line of the order and then you will show different items or expense information on each line. An example is displayed below which shows the invoice number and customer being repeated on lines two through six in your import file. In columns D through G you will see five different line items. So Transaction Pro Importer will create one invoice for Main St Bank with five line items on it.
If you have a file that does not meet all of these requirements you have additional options below:
e-Commerce type files: For sales transactions if your items are in columns you can enable our e-Commerce options which gives you additional fields to map to. Read more here.
Check or Bills imports using expense accounts: If you are importing bills or checks and your expense account are in columns read more on how to add additional mapping fields here.
What if I still have questions?
You can request a free fully functioning trial here and do an import with your own import file.