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:
- Download and install the Zed Axis software on your computer
- Open your QuickBooks company file as Administrator and open Zed Axis
- Select your text file or spreadsheet which contains the bills that you want to import.
- Set up the a Mapping of the columns in your bills import file to the corresponding fields in QuickBooks, as shown below.
- 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
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 Status | Enum | Whether the line is Billable, NotBillable or HasBeenBilled |
| Sales Rep FullName | Str | Name of the Sales Rep as appears in the QuickBooks Sales Rep list |
| Data Ext Name1 | Str | Name of the Custom field 1 read more |
| Data Ext Value1 | Str | Value for the Custom field 1 |
| Data Ext Name2 | Str | Name of the Custom field 2 |
| Data Ext Value2 | Str | Value for the Custom field 2 |
| Item Full Name | Str | Item purchased on the bill, full name required |
| Txn ID | guid | Transaction ID |
| Txn Line ID | guid | Transaction 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 FullName | Str | Name of the Sales Rep as appears in the QuickBooks Sales Rep list |
| Item Data Ext Name1 | Str | Name of the Custom field 1 read more |
| Item Data Ext Value1 | Str | Value for the Custom field 1 |
| Item Data Ext Name2 | Str | Name of the Custom field 2 |
| Item Data Ext Value2 | Str | Value for the Custom field 2 |
| Override Item Account | Str209 | |
| Freight | Amt | The amount of freight charge on the bill see more on shopping cart fields |
| Insurance | Amt | The 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 |
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