How To Import A Chart Of Accounts Into QuickBooks Pro
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Creating a proper chart of accounts is one of the most important (and often overlooked) things new QuickBooks Pro users should do. If you are already familiar with business and accounting, this will come as no surprise. Luckily for you, if your company already has a chart of accounts, you can save some serious time by importing (or uploading) it rather than having to recreate it one account at a time.
In this post, we’ll teach you how to import your chart of accounts in five simple steps.
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Import Your Chart Of Accounts
To import your chart of accounts, begin by going to Lists>Chart of Accounts>Accounts>Import from Excel.
Note: QuickBooks Pro recommends creating a backup company file before importing your chart of accounts.
Step 1: Select The Appropriate File
Click “Browse” and choose the Excel file with your chart of accounts in it.
Once you find the appropriate file, click “open.”
Step 2: Select A Sheet
Select the sheet your data is on.
Step 3: Create A New Mapping
Next, you’ll need to create a new mapping. A mapping is basically how you tell QuickBooks to import your columns.
More likely than not, the column headings in your Excel file will differ from the column headings QuickBooks uses. So instead of having to change your Excel file, you can create a new mapping instead. Think of this as a big matching game.
Use the drop-down menu to select the Excel column you want attached to each QuickBooks heading. For example, we want our “Account Name” column in Excel to match the “Name” column in QuickBooks, so we clicked “Name” and selected the appropriate Excel column.
You can save the following chart of accounts information in QuickBooks:
- Type
- Number
- Name
- Description
- Bank Account Number/Credit Card Number
- Opening Balance
- As of (Date)
- Remind Me To Order Checks When I Print Number
- Track Reimbursable Expenses
- Income Account for Reimbursable Expenses
- Is Inactive
Once all of your column headings are mapped, don’t forget to add a mapping name at the top of the screen before clicking the blue “Save” button in at the bottom of the screen.
Step 4: Import Your File
Finally, you are ready to import your chart of accounts. Simply click the blue “Import” button and you’re good to go.
Step 5: Agree To The Display Message
If this is your first import, you’ll see a popup box warning that you can’t undo imported information. Simply click “yes” to complete the import.
Congratulations, you’ve successfully imported your chart of accounts into QuickBooks Pro! The good news? Now that you’ve been through one successful import, the rest won’t seem so scary.
If you have any troubleshooting issues, check out the QuickBooks Community or call QuickBooks directly. Don’t forget to check out the rest of our QuickBooks Desktop Pro 101 Series to learn how to import customers, import items, import vendors, and more.
Overwhelmed by QuickBooks Pro? Maybe it’s time to switch to QuickBooks Online. QBO is easy to use, cloud-based, and affordable. Best of all, you can easily import your QuickBooks Desktop data into QuickBooks Online.
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Outgrown QuickBooks Pro? Switch to QuickBooks Premier. It’s the same QuickBooks Desktop software you love but with more users and advanced, industry-specific features.
Chelsea Krause
Content Strategist - Accounting & eCommerce
Chelsea Krause is a writer who has specialized in accounting for over three years and is a QuickBooks Certified User. She has a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied at the University of Oxford as well. She has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business.
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Hi, if i have similar account name but different account number, the account will not uploaded. any other way to turn it around?
Hi Amir,
I am not sure of a way around this. It sounds like it’d be best for you to speak with the QuickBooks customer support team directly as they will be able to walk you through this and answer your specific importing questions.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause
Just curious if you figured out how to fix this issue?
Please, I am having difficulty in charting my quickbooks 2014 accounts and changing the currency to my local currency.
How can I resolve these issues?
Hi Joe,
Thanks for reaching out! I think this chart of accounts troubleshooting article may be able to help.
Best wishes,
-Chelsea Krause