Understanding How to Import Excel into QuickBooks Online with an Example Switching to QuickBooks Online (QBO) gives your business freedom from annoying software upgrades and the need to create backups on your local computers. The cloud-based accounting solution can be accessed on the go, automatically download a number of bank transactions and has great support from many amazing third-party applications. So, your decision to import Excel into QuickBooks Online is definitely going to reap many benefits soon. However, the desired benefits can only be achieved if you accomplish the migration process with care and through the right knowledge. Here you would learn some important tips about the procedure through the example of importing products and services from Excel to QBO. How to Do It? QuickBooks Online offers a useful feature called ‘Import’ which makes the process of importing files like products and services much easier. It not only reduces the number of steps involved in the process but also shortens the overall time almost by half. To start with import, log in to your QuickBooks Online account. Find the icon called ‘Settings’ and click on it. Here you will find the feature called ‘Import Data’. Select it. In the next step, select which files you wish to import. In this example, you would be selecting ‘Products and Services’. It would direct you to the Import Products and Services page and ask you to locate the file you wish to import. Click on the ‘Browse’ button and locate the folder in which your Excel file is stored. Select the file and click ‘Next’. After this, you will be required to map the information between the Excel file and the destination file. For this, you must choose from the drop-down menu the headers in your Excel file that match with the fields of QBO file. Once you are done with mapping, click ‘Next’. The final step is to click ‘Overwrite all values’ to import information corresponding to reach product and service. You need to be careful at this stage as this step is irreversible. Finally, click ‘Import’ and sit patiently as your files are getting migrated. Some Useful Tips
● Preparing the File: It is important that you open the Excel file before converting it to QBO and clean it by removing unwanted data. Make sure that the data in the file is organized the way you want it to appear in the new accounting setup. An important thing to know is that it is possible to import only 1,000 rows at a time. If your file has more number of rows, you must divide it into smaller files and then import them one by one.
● Formatting the File: If you need to format the list before import, you can choose ‘Download a sample file’ from QBO and use the following tips:
▪ The name of the product or services should not exceed the length of 100 characters.
▪ No special characters should be present in the name. ▪ The right date format is MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY While these are simple tips to follow, you may have to deal with the complicated lists containing categories, sub-categories and more. You can rely on a service provider like MMC Convert to smoothly import Excel into QuickBooks Online. The team has already converted hundreds of files to QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online not just from Excel but also from other platforms like Xero and Reckon.