Import bills into QuickBooks

Overview of importing bills into QuickBooks desktop

In QuickBooks desktop a bill is used to record purchases from Vendors of items (product or services) or expenses (typically expense type accounts) where money is owed to a Vendor.  Note  You can import bills into QuickBooks (or QuickBooks Online) from Excel spreadsheets, IIF files or text files using Zed Axis software.

Steps to import bills

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

When importing if the Vendor, Item or Expense account do not exist in QuickBooks then Axis will create them during the import.  

More help?

For more information about importing bills into QuickBooks, search the Knowledge Base, watch the movies in the Learning Centre, or raise a ticket with Zed Support. The following fields are the principal fields when importing bills into QuickBooks.

Download a Sample Bill Template import tab delimited text file


Demonstration of how to import bills into QuickBooks

 

Where the fields appear on a bill

Import bills into QuickBooks

Detailed description of fields you can map

QuickBooks field Type Description 
 Vendor Name Str 41 Name of vendor company, MANDATORY
 AP Account Str 159 Accounts payable file, if not mapped will default to AP Account
 Txn Date Date Date of the bill
 Due Date Date Date the bill is due for payment
 Ref Number Str20 Reference number of the bill
 Terms Str31 Vendors payment terms
 Memo Str4095 Memo for the bill
 Is Tax Included Bool true or false - When tax is included in amounts (CA, UK and AU only)
 Exchange Rate Float Exchange rate to home currency
 Link To Purchase Order Str 31 The purchase order number to link the whole bill to more
 Account Str159 Expenses Account (from Chart of Account list), full name required
 Expense Amount Amt Amount for that line.
 Expense Memo Str 4095 Expense line memo
 Customer Name Str 209 CustomerJob name
 Class Name Str 159 Class name
 Expense Sales Tax Code Str 3 Sales Tax code for the Expense account line
 Billable StatusEnum Whether the line is Billable, NotBillable or HasBeenBilled
Sales Rep FullNameStrName of the Sales Rep as appears in the QuickBooks Sales Rep list
Data Ext Name1StrName of the Custom field 1 read more
Data Ext Value1StrValue for the Custom field 1
Data Ext Name2StrName of the Custom field 2
Data Ext Value2StrValue for the Custom field 2
Item Full NameStr Item purchased on the bill, full name required
Txn ID guid Transaction ID
Txn Line ID guidTransaction Line ID
Description Str4095 Description for the Item purchased
Quantity Quan Quantity of the item purchased
Unit Of Measure Str31 Unit of measure for the item purchased
Cost Price Cost of the item purchased
Item Amount Amt Line total of the item
Item Customer Str209 CusotmerJob
Item Class Str159 Class of line item
Item Sales Tax Code Str3 Item sales tax code, true or false - When tax is included in amounts (CA, UK and AU only)
Item Billable Status enum Item billable status Billable, NotBillable or HasBeenBilled
Item Sales Rep FullNameStrName of the Sales Rep as appears in the QuickBooks Sales Rep list
Item Data Ext Name1StrName of the Custom field 1 read more
Item Data Ext Value1StrValue for the Custom field 1
Item Data Ext Name2StrName of the Custom field 2
Item Data Ext Value2StrValue for the Custom field 2
Override Item Account Str209 
FreightAmt The amount of freight charge on the bill see more on shopping cart fields
InsuranceAmtThe amount of insurance charged on the bill see more on shopping cart fields
Line Link To Purchase Order Str 31 Specify the reference number of the purchase order that you wish to line link to more
Item Lot NumberStr 40The Lot Number for the item
item Serial NumberStr 4095The Serial Number for the item (for multiple number on the same item separate by a comma) more here
Item Expiration DateDateThe Expiration date for the item (date in the format yyyy-mm-dd)


Troubleshooting common error messages:

Error: Target is not reimbursable - This error occurs when you have mapped either the field ItemBillableStatus or BillableStatus and set the value to Billable but you have not mapped the corresponding ItemCustomer or CustomerName or the customer name you have provided is not recognized in QuickBooks.  In order for QuickBooks to make the charges billable then a valid Customer must be provided.

Error: The specified name is either invalid or or the wrong type - This error is return when the Vendor Name that has been specified on the Bill is already set up in QuickBooks on another list type such as Customer or Other name, and QuickBooks will not permit a non Vendor type name to be used on a bill.

Error: The specified record does not exist in the list - This error occurs when the Vendor Name that is used on the bill does not exist in QuickBooks and Axis was unable to successfully create the Vendor Name.

By Steve Batten

Feedback

Thanks to your help our company is now able to import all our monthly bills in about an hour or less. This procedure used to take us about a week, if you count all the errors that are prone to be made and the time spent on correcting them when you are manually entering hundreds of transactions . Zed Axis is a great program, but what it is even greater is the help that you provided. Thank you Steve!
Sincerely,
Francisco
(AFCLS)

Francisco Ortiz (8/19/2015 at 7:54 PM)