Import products and services lists into QuickBooks Online

Overview of importing Inventory list into QuickBooks Online

In QuickBooks Online product and services lists are used to record items sold or services provided for sale.  You can import product and services lists from text, Excel and IIF files into QuickBooks Online using Zed Axis. There are five main types:
  • Inventory - products bought and offered for sale that are recorded for quantities held in stock
  • Non-inventory - products bought and offered for sale that are not recorded for stock.
  • Service - services that are offered for sale to customers
  • Bundle - a combination of products or services that are sold together, like a decorating kit (not supported to create bundles currently when importing)
  • Category - used to group together products or services as a classification (ie in the parent full name type structure)
Depending on which type you wish to import you must map an provide data for certain mandatory fields which are described in more detail in the table below. (nb. as at Jan 2021 QuickBooks does not currently support importing Bundle type items)

The benefits of using Zed Axis over using QuickBooks Online are:
  • Import Products and Services with up to five levels (ie Category:Sub Category:Sub Category:Sub Category:Name)
  • You can update existing products and services in QuickBooks Online
  • Create Categories (set the Type= Category)
If you are looking to import inventory item adjustments in batch into QuickBooks Online you will see the exact steps in this article

Steps to import products and services

To import a list of products and services into QuickBooks Online please follow these steps;
  1. Open Zed Axis and connect to your QuickBooks Online company file
  2. In the import module open the file that contains the list of products and services you want to import
  3. Create a map between the columns in your import file and the corresponding fields in QuickBooks, for more information about those fields please refer to the table at the end of this article.

Where the fields appear in QuickBooks Online

 More help?

 

Detailed description of the fields you are import

QuickBooks FieldFormatDescription
NameStr 100Name of the product or service (must be unique)
DescriptionStr 4000Description of the product or service
ActiveBoolWhether the product or service is enabled (true or false)
Fully Qualified NameStrMANDATORY - Full name of the product or service (ie Feature:Water:Fountains:Marble fountain 3ft ) more on full name here, lowest level must be unique
SKUStrThe stock keeping unit identifier for the item
ClassStrThe class name for the item
TaxableBoolTransactions for this product or service are taxable (US editions only) (true or false)
Sales Tax IncludedBoolWhether sales tax is included in the Unit Price (true or false) (non US editions only)
Unit PriceDecUnit price of the product or service in home currency
Rate PercentpercentRate used for discount (use decimal percent ie 0.3 = 30%)
Typeenum
Type of product or service to create (values Inventory, Service, NonInventory, Category)  depending on type set you must map the following
Inventory you must specify Income, COGS and Asset account
Service - not tracked as inventory
Category type items should not have a price, income or expense accounts
Income Account RefStrIncome account that records the proceeds when product of service is sold
Purchase DescStr 100Purchase description for the product or service
Purchase Tax IncludedBoolWhether Tax is included in the purchase cost of the product or service (true or false) (non US editions only)
Purchase CostDecCost to purchase the product or service
Expense Account RefStrExpense account used to pay the vendor
Asset Account RefStrInventory Asset account to track the value of products
Track Qty On HandBoolWhether the quantity hand is to be tracked, cannot be changed once true (true or false)
Qty On HandDecQuantity of the product available for sale (only for Inventory types)
Sales Tax Code RefStrSales Tax Code used for the product or service
Purchase Tax Code RefStrPurchase Tax Code used for the product or service
Inv Start DateDateDate of opening balance for the inventory transaction
Reorder PointIntThe minimum quantity of stock to be held before restocking
Pref VendorStrName of the preferred vendor for this item
Tax ClassificationStrWay of to segregate items into different tax classifications (ie Fuel, Fresh Food, Soft drinks) must may Tax Categories in QuickBooks Online

Troubleshooting error messages


Error "When you create an item, if Track quantity on hand is turned off, the item cannot be of type Inventory" - This error occurs when importing and item where the Type = Inventory but the Track Qty On Hand has not been set to true.  Adjust your mapping to make sure those two fields have been specified correctly.

Error "Type field is required for Item CREATE/UPDATE requests for Minor Version 23 or above". This error occurs when the Type field has not been mapped.  Please map this according to the type of inventory item you are importing ie Inventory, Service, NonInventory, or Category