Import data into QuickBooks for Mac

Learn how to import customers, vendors, employees, and items into QuickBooks for Mac.

If you have spreadsheets of info on your customers, vendors, employees, and items, you can import them into QuickBooks so you don’t need to enter them again. Here’s how.

Note: If you use Contacts, you can sync your contacts with QuickBooks so updates are available in QuickBooks, Contacts, and other devices you sync with Contacts.

Import your items

If you have info on your inventory, service, or non-inventory part items, you can import them into QuickBooks.

Step 1: Prep your data

To make the import process easier for you, prep your spreadsheet and company file first.

1. From the File menu, select Import, then select Items.
2. Select the item type that you'll copy to QuickBooks.
3. Open your item spreadsheet. Compare the columns with columns in the QuickBooks spreadsheet.
4. Make changes to your spreadsheet if needed.
5. In QuickBooks, set up Income Accounts. If you'll be tracking inventory in QuickBooks, set up COGS Accounts and Asset Accounts too.

Step 2: Import your items into QuickBooks

1. From the File menu, select Import, then Items.
2. Select the item type to copy to QuickBooks.
3. In your item spreadsheet, press Command + C to copy the Item Name/Number column .
4. In QuickBooks, double-click the first cell of the Item Name/Number column. A white field appears.
5. Press Command + V to paste the column.
6. Repeat steps 4-6 for all the columns in the QuickBooks spreadsheet.
7. Add an Income account to every item in the QuickBooks window. For inventory items, add a COGS and Asset Account.
8. Make sure that the Import box is selected for every item row.
9. Select Import, then select OK when the import is successful.

To see the items you just imported, go to Lists, then select Items.

If there’s an error message

If there’s a message in the Import status window that says “You have errors in some of your items”, here’s how to fix them:

1. Select OK to close the Import status window.
2. On the spreadsheet, look for the items that have red X's.
3. Select the item with the red X. A message that describes what went wrong appears .
4. Fix the items and select Import again.
5. Select OK when the import is complete.

Import your contacts

If you have contact info of your customers, vendors, employees from an outside source like Gmail or LinkedIn, you can import them into QuickBooks. You need a spreadsheet of the contacts.

1. Go to File and select Import, then select Contacts.
2. Select Paste from a spreadsheet or enter manually.
3. Open your spreadsheet.
4. Copy the First Name column in your spreadsheet.
5. Select the first field in the QuickBooks First Name column, then paste the text you copied in step 3.
6. Repeat step 4 for every column in your spreadsheet.
7. Be sure that the Import box is checked for all the contacts you want to import.
8. Edit or add any info.
9. In the Role column, check if each contact is labeled correctly (customer, vendor, or employee).
10. Select Import.
11. Select OK when the import is complete.

If you can’t select a cell in the Role column

If you opened the Add Contacts window and you can’t select a cell in the Role column, select cnt…, then Add Line.

If you have an error “I have errors in some of my items?”

If the error message “I have errors in some of my items?” appears in the Import status window, here’s how to fix it:

1. Select OK to close the Import status window.
2. On the spreadsheet, find the items that have red X's on the far left side. A message pops up to the right of the item's row describing what went wrong.
3. Fix the items, then select Import again.
4. After the import, select OK.

Import your transactions

Here’s how to create a QuickBooks spreadsheet template, import transactions, and clean up any missed entries.

Here are the types of transactions you can import to QuickBooks:

*If you want to import sales receipts but don’t want to deposit the money to your bank yet, we recommend you create a clearing account to deposit it to first.

The account must be a bank type. When you’re ready, you can transfer the money from this account to another bank account.

Step 1: Prepare your transactions in a spreadsheet file

It’s easier to import transactions when the item fields on your spreadsheet matches with QuickBooks. Here’s how to get a QuickBooks template for your transactions.

Note: If you have an existing spreadsheet of your transactions, you can rearrange the items on it to match the template on QuickBooks. Once done, proceed to step 2.

1. Go to File, then Import.
2. Select Transactions, then the transaction type you want to import.
3. Select the gear menu, then Export Table Template.
4. Enter a name, then save the template. This downloads the template in a .CSV (spreadsheet) file.
5. Open the template on your spreadsheet application. There are many columns on the template, and you may need to scroll to see all of them.
6. Add your transactions to the template, then save your work.
   (For sales receipts) On the Deposit To column, be sure to specify the bank account type in your company file.

Step 2: Import transactions

When you’re ready, here’s how to import your transactions.

1. Open your spreadsheet file.
2. In QuickBooks, go to File, then Import.
3. Select Transactions, then the transaction type you want to import.
4. Copy the transactions from your spreadsheet and paste it on the import window. QuickBooks will highlight rows that have the same info to alert you on transactions with multiple line items.
5. (For sales receipts) Select the bank you would like to deposit the receipts to.
6. If everything looks right, select Import.

Step 3: Fix any missed entries

QuickBooks leaves a row blank if it can’t add the transaction. Here’s how to fix it.

1. On the import window, select any blank rows. You get a message that tells you what went wrong.
2. Here’s how to fix the error:

   Error	What it means	What to do
   Object ____ specified in the request cannot be found	The customer, vendor, item, or class isn't in your company file yet.	On the Import Invoices window, select the correct item, then Quick Add.
   Transaction cannot have duplicate reference number	The transaction you want to import has the same number with an existing transaction in your company file.	Change the transaction number.

3. Select Import.

Repeat the steps for the other missed transactions.