How to Import Excel Files Into QuickBooks

There may be times that you would want to save your Excel files and import them into QuickBooks. Importing will save time instead of copying and pasting or entering numbers manually. Read on to learn how to import Excel files into QuickBooks.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Microsoft Office (With Excel 97 to 2007)
• QuickBooks

1. Save your Excel file or spreadsheet in XLS or XLSX file format or extension.
2. Open your QuickBooks data file.
3. Make a back-up of your data so that you would not lose important data should the import doesn't work properly. This is best practice each time you work on any data.
4. Open the "Import a File" window in QuickBooks. Do this by going to the toolbar and from the File menu choosing "Utilities/Import/Excel Files" menu.
5. Go to the "Set Up Import" tab then select your excel file to be imported. Then, if applicable, select the sheet to be imported and leave the box titled “This data file has header rows.”
6. Choose “Add New” from the choose a mapping pull-down menu. A window will pop-up where you will name the mapping; there you will select an import type which is based on the type of information being imported. After you select the import type this will be listed under the QuickBooks column.
7. Click on the names to choose the fields you wish your data to be imported into. A pull-down menu will appear besides each name under the "Import Data" column where you will choose the excel column designation where the data resides in Excel. Click "Save." At this point are back to the "Import a File" window.
8. Go to the "Preferences" tab and choose the applicable options to your import.
9. Preview your import by clicking on the "Preview" button. Check if everything looks well before proceeding to the next step.
10. Click on "Import" button when everything looks fine. A warning window will pop-up reminding you if you have made a back-up. Then make your changes and save.

Tips & Warnings

• QuickBooks 2008 release have wizards that make importing of files more manageable with more stringent error-checking system.
• For older versions you can covert the excel files into IIF (Intuit Interchange Format) which can be a complicated process. IIF is a tab-delimited text file format used to import lists and transactions into QuickBooks. There are certain IIF Tool Kits available in the market to help with the process. Another disadvantage of using this import process is that error-checking is very minimal so you are prone to make mistakes.
• The process is irreversible therefore, make sure to make a copy or back-up of your files before proceeding with the import.