Import journal entries into QuickBooks desktop

Overview of importing journals into QuickBooks Desktop

Journal entries are a way of posting directly to general ledger accounts in QuickBooks desktop. If you have a spreadsheet or text file containing journal entries then with Zed Axis you can take the data, convert it and then import them in batch directly into QuickBooks desktop.

Preparing your data

Before you start importing there are a few items to check in your data first.

There is a Reference Number for the journal, Axis requires that to group rows together on the same journal, and that the rows of the journal balance (check to see that amounts are rounding to the same decimal places).
You will need to have a column for Debits and a column for Credit and all numbers need to be positive
If you have a Debit or Credit amount then the opposing Debit or Credit cell must be empty ie have no value not even 0.00
You will need to have a column that contains the Account Name or Account Number that the journal line will be posted too, and the name or number of the journal must match an Account in QuickBooks

Steps to import journals

Follow these steps:

Log into your QuickBooks company file as Administrator and open Zed Axis
Select your text file or spreadsheet which contains the journal entries that you want to import into QuickBooks desktop.
Set up the a Mapping of the columns in your journal entry import file to the corresponding fields in QuickBooks
Click import and your journals will be directly added to your QuickBooks company file.

Demonstration of how to import journal entries

More help?

For more information about importing journal entries into QuickBooks, search the Knowledge Base, watch the movies in the Learning Centre, or raise a ticket with Zed Support. Help with troubleshooting imports.

Download a sample journal entry text file sample journal map

Where the fields appear in QuickBooks

Details of fields

The following are the fields that you can import into QuickBooks:

QuickBooks field	Format	Description
Txn Date	date	Date of the journal
Ref Number	str 11	MANDATORY FIELD Reference number for the journal entry, more on how to group rows on a journal
Is Adjustment	true or false	Whether journal is adjusting a previous entered journal
Is Home Currency Adjustment	true or false	Is using home or foreign currency
Is Amounts in Home Currency	true of false	Is using home or foreign currency
Currency Ref	str 64	Name of the currency used (match QuickBooks) (not for QuickBooks AU)
Exchange Rate	float	Exchange rate to be used (not AU)
Debit	amt	MANDATORY FIELD Debit Amount should be positive (AU not including tax)
Credit	amt	MANDATORY FIELD Credit Amount should be positive (AU not including tax)
Account Full Name	str 159	MANDATORY FIELD The General Ledger Account as appears in QuickBooks, should be full name. You can also use as an alternative the Account Number.
Memo	str 4095	Description of the journal line
Entity Ref	str 209	Name of the customer if Billable Status = Billable
Class	str 159	Class used to track the journal entries
Item Sales Tax Ref	str 31	Sales Tax code used on the transaction (QuickBooks CA, UK and AU only)
Billable Status	enum	The billing status of this line, Accepted values are Billable, NotBillable or HasBeenBilled if Billable then must include Entity Ref

How to troubleshoot import errors

Error: Failed to set journal line billable status: Billable QuickBooks error message: Target is not reimbursable

This error occurs when you have mapped the Billable Status to Billable but you have not mapped the corresponding Customer to the Entity Reference field or the Customer name is not recognized in QuickBooks. In order for QuickBooks to make the journal line billable then a valid Customer must be provided.

The journal must balance for an import to proceed, note that journals that included a tax code (QuickBooks Australia and New Zealand only) which calculate a tax net amounts might not appear to balance prior to import.
Out of balance errors - check that you have mapped the Ref Number field and that all rows that are on the same journal have the same Ref Number
QuickBooks Australia out of balance- You may receive this error from QuickBooks if after calculating gross amounts (including tax) the journal is out of balance. Please check your net amounts and if possible round your net amount calculations to 5 decimal places (QuickBooks will accept numbers in 8.5 (recent editions 10.5) format or 13 digits long.
Multi currency - if importing a multi currency journal all the accounts posted in the journal must have the same default currency.
Only one AP or AR account allowed per transaction - When entering a journal entry it is not possible to select more than one Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable account per journal this is a QuickBooks restriction, QuickBooks Support suggest these workarounds
A/R Detail line must have a customer - If a line on the journal is posting to an Account Receivable account then QuickBooks requires you to map the Entity Ref field to a customer name.

By Steve Batten

Article ID: 50, Created: 10/21/2011 at 5:32 AM, Modified: 5/10/2022 at 6:00 AM