Import Sales Orders into QuickBooks

Overview

In QuickBooks (Premier or above) a Sales Order is an item back order for a customer.  Once items are held in stock it is possible to convert the sales order directly into an invoice.  You can import sales orders from text files or from Excel spreadsheets directly into QuickBooks using the Zed Axis software.  

Steps to import Sales Orders into QuickBooks Premier or Enterprise

Follow these steps:
  1. Download and install Zed Axis software on your computer
  2. Open your QuickBooks company file you want to import data into as Administrator and open Zed Axis
  3. Select your text file or spreadsheet which contains the sales orders that you want to import.
  4. Set up the a Mapping of the columns in your sales orders import file to the corresponding fields in QuickBooks..
  5. Click Import and your sales orders will be directly added to your QuickBooks company file.

More help?

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

Sales Order Sample Template file and pre-configured map sales order sample map

Watch a demonstration of importing sales orders





Where the fields appear in QuickBooks

Import sales orders into QuickBooks

Detailed descriptions of the import fields


QuickBooks FieldFormatDescription
Customer Refstr 209MANDATORY FIELD - Customer Full Name as appears in QuickBooks ie ACME Inc:Project 101:Job A ,colons are used as a separators. If Axis cannot find a Customer then it will create a new customer record.
CurrencystrThe name of the currency (ie Canadian Dollar, Euro, British Pound Sterling, Australian Dollar) to be used if Axis needs to create a new Customer, do not map if not using multi currency more here
Class RefstrClass used to categorise transactions in QuickBooks
Template Refstr 31Templates specify how to print the sales order
Txn DatedateThe date of the sales order, If you leave TxnDate out the mapping, QuickBooks will prefill it with the date of the sales order that was most recently saved.
Sales Order Ref Numberstr 11MANDATORY FIELD - Sales Order Reference number, duplicate RefNumbers are accepted in QuickBooks, see also Auto Numbering
Terms RefStr 31Payment terms for the Sales Order, must match terms list in QuickBooks
Due DateDateDate when payment is due
Bill Addr1.. etcstrBilling Address lines 1-5, City, State, Postal Code and Country see importing address into QuickBooks for more information
Bill Notestr 41written at the bottom of the address
Phone If Update address details selected then customers Phone number updated
Fax If Update address details selected then customers Fax number updated
Email If Update address details selected then customers Email number updated
ShipAddr1.. etc Shipping Address lines 1-5, City, State, Postal Code and Country see importing address into QuickBooks for more information
Ship Notestr 41written at the bottom of the address
Sales Repstr 5Initials of the Sales Rep (match in QuickBooks)
Item Sales Tax Refstr 31Sales tax code item (US only) more on importing Sales Tax Codes into QuickBooks. Assigned to the entire transaction.A sales-tax item is used to calculate a single sales tax that is collected at a specified rate and paid to a single agency
Ship Methodstr 15A shipping method, for example, standard mail or overnight delivery
PO Numberstr 25Purchase order number
Sales Repstr 5Initials of the sale rep, A sales representative must be on the Employee, Vendor, or Other Names list within QuickBooks
FOBstr 13QuickBooks uses the term FOB, (freight on board) to indicate the place from which the product is shipped
Ship datedateDate the goods were shipped
Customer Msgstr 101A standard message to a customer that comes from the QuickBooks list
Is To Be Printedtrue or falseCheck box to prompt user to print the form
IsToBe Emailedtrue or falsePrompt user to email this invoice from QuickBooks, customer needs to have email address
Is Tax Includedtrue or falseFlag to determine whether the amounts are inclusive or exclusive of tax. Only for CA, UK and AU editions of QuickBooks. More in importing tax transactions
Customer Sales Tax Codestr 3Refers to the sales-tax code for sales related to this customer.
Other Other field included in the header area of the invoice (only V11.2 and up)
Memostr 4095Memo that appears at the foot of the sales order
Exchange RatefloatThe exchange rate is the market price for which this currency can be exchanged for the currency used by the QuickBooks company file as the "home" currency. More on importing multi currency
Item RefstrMANDATORY FIELD - ItemRef can refer to an item on any Item list (ItemDiscount, ItemInventory, and so on excluding Group Items). ZA will look for Items in QuickBooks, if not recognised then it will create a new item according to the settings
Descriptionstr 4095A descriptive text field for the Item
Rateprice 13The rate or price of the item. If not mapped QuickBooks will use the default rate for the item. Decimal values include amounts, quantities, and percents. can be positive or negative
Line Classstr 159Classes (at the line level) can be used to separate transactions into meaningful categories
Quantityquana decimal value that refers to how much of something is sold
Unit Of Measurestr 31The name of the unit of measure selected from within the items available units more on importing units of measure
Sales Tax Codestr 3Each item on a sales form is assigned a sales-tax code that indicates whether the item is taxable or non-taxable, and why.
Inventory Site Refstr 31Inventory site for the item sold (must match QuickBooks field) - Enterprise Only
Inventory Site Location Refstr 31 Inventory site location (bin) for the item - QuickBooks Enterprise only
Price Level Ref str 31Name of the custom price level for this item
Amount decimal value that represents an amount
Exchange RatestrExchange rate for the foreign currency to the home currency (multi currency only)
Other1str 29The Other1 field exists at the line item level
Other2str 29The Other2 field exists at the line item level
Custom Field 1...3
Import custom fields on the line item level more here
Serial NumberStr 4095Serial Number for the item more here
Lot NumberStr 40Lot Number for the item more here


How to troubleshooting error messages


Error - Missing Posting Account - Importing Sales Orders is only possible into Premier or Enterprise versions of QuickBooks not Pro or below.

Feedback

I see that this article is old. I am trying to import sales orders in 2019, and it keeps throwing errors about transaction tax. I have every tax field populated. So, I then went and exported a sales order, created the mapping, and imported that. Same error. It even has a field marked mandatory that has nothing to do with the sales order as far as I can tell. So I figured I would check out this page. I downloaded the sample file and the "pre-configured map." The map file is empty!!!
idon thaveit (9/19/2019 at 4:02 PM)
Hi Idon, Most of the content is relevant to QuickBooks 2019. Can you check this support article on how to map the Sales Tax fields and check that you have mapped those correctly. https://support.zed-systems.com/kb/a106/how-to-import-sales-tax-on-transactions-into-quickbooks.aspx
Steve (10/23/2019 at 2:56 AM)
If I did not include the item description in the excel file only Item Ref does QuickBooks pickup the default description on the sales order? (The same for the prices since the prices are fix)
Hajji Mlulu (3/8/2020 at 2:25 PM)
Hi Hajji, Yes if the Item has a description set up in QuickBooks already that will be automatically populated if you only map the Item Ref Full Name field.
Steve (4/9/2020 at 12:12 AM)
I'm trying to import sales order and it says ItemGroupFullName is mandatory (I believe it wasn't mandatory before). What is this field? This does not appear in field mapping image above.
Sally Lee (10/29/2021 at 3:34 PM)