IIF Import in Quickbooks 2019 Desktop

Welcome to the QuickBooks Community, rookydb.

I'm here to help you get the support you need to successfully import IIF files in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can download the sample IIF file in the article below and check if your format is correct:

IIF Overview: import kit, sample files, and headersIIF Overview: import kit, sample files, and heade...

If the format is correct and you're still unable to import the TOPRINT column successfully, please give us a call. We'll help you import your file using the tools we have in a more secure environment.

You can reach us through these steps:

1. Go to: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact

2. Choose QuickBooks Desktop.

3. Select your QuickBooks Desktop version.

4. Choose a topic.

5. Scroll-down and click the Get Phone Number button.

If you have further questions concerning the IIF import, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'll be here to help.

I had the same error when importing checks into Enterprise 2019.  You need to remove the TOPRINT from your Split line, it is not necessary, neither is the CLEAR or DOCNUM

Below is my header that worked  in QB Premier 2016

!TRNS DOCNUM TRNSTYPE ACCNT CLEAR TOPRINT DATE AMOUNT NAME ADDR1 ADDR2
!SPL DOCNUM TRNSTYPE ACCNT CLEAR TOPRINT DATE AMOUNT
!ENDTRNS

Now this is what works for me in Enterprise 2019

!TRNS DOCNUM TRNSTYPE ACCNT CLEAR TOPRINT DATE AMOUNT NAME ADDR1 ADDR2
!SPL TRNSTYPE ACCNT DATE AMOUNT
!ENDTRNS

Welcome to the Intuit Community, DougK.

Thanks for sharing the format that works for your QuickBooks Desktop versions.

Did you try to contact our Phone Support Team to verify the problem with the TOPRINT columns in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise? Please give us a call for us to check what's causing the error to happen on your end.

I'm here anytime you need help with importing the IIF file. Wishing you all the best.

I've notified the QB development team of this issue and another IIF import error I'm getting with Enterprise 2019.  They are working on it. 

Thanks,

Doug

I get this error in 2019 for files that imported without issue in 2018: [ERROR] ADDRS is not a valid column name for record BILL. [15101] 

How can I make this work until the glitch is repaired?  They say over a month...that won't work for our business.

I haven't imported bills before but if you paste the IIF transaction that is failing into your message I'll take a look at it.  

Here is one example:

!TRNS TRNSID TRNSTYPE DATE ACCNT NAME CLASS AMOUNT DOCNUM MEMO CLEAR TOPRINT ADDRS DUEDATE TERMS
!SPL SPLID TRNSTYPE DATE ACCNT NAME CLASS AMOUNT DOCNUM MEMO CLEAR QNTY REIMBEXP SERVICEDATE OTHER2
!ENDTRNS
TRNS  BILL 09/19/2018 2230 MODA UNITED NOTIONS  -53.95 4401811 R016837 N N  12/18/2018 Net 90
SPL  BILL 09/19/2018 1460 MODA UNITED NOTIONS  53.95 4401811 R016837 N   NOTHING 0/0/0
ENDTRNS

Here is what it looks like after it says import failed:

[ERROR] ADDRS is not a valid column name for record BILL. [15101]
!TRNS TRNSID TRNSTYPE DATE ACCNT NAME CLASS AMOUNT DOCNUM MEMO CLEAR TOPRINT ADDRS DUEDATE TERMS
!SPL SPLID TRNSTYPE DATE ACCNT NAME CLASS AMOUNT DOCNUM MEMO CLEAR QNTY REIMBEXP SERVICEDATE OTHER2
!ENDTRNS
TRNS  BILL 09/19/2018 2230 MODA UNITED NOTIONS  -53.95 4401811 R016837 N N  12/18/2018 Net 90
SPL  BILL 09/19/2018 1460 MODA UNITED NOTIONS  53.95 4401811 R016837 N   NOTHING 0/0/0
ENDTRNS

Enterprise 2019 runs the IIF imports through the same validation checks that it does for the XML message imports.   Now that I know this, it is apparent that IIF import validation was lax and you could get away with incorrect entries and they would be ignored in previous versions of QB.   This is the reason why the QB development team made the change to make sure the IIF transactions are well formed before being imported.

The only valid address field names are ADDR1 ... ADDR5.  It doesn't look like you have any address data anyway so you could just drop the column from the TRNS line or change the header from ADDRS to ADDR1.

I tried dropping it and then changing it to ADDR1.  Now I get these errors (this is after changing it to ADDR1)

[ERROR] [MODA UNITED NOTIONS] There is already another entity in Quickbooks by this Name [10143]
;[MODA UNITED NOTIONS] Invalid Customer Name on the distribution line [11114]

Jeesh, thanks for all your help!  I truly appreciate it.

I only get that error when I am trying to add a company using the CUST or VEND transaction to add the company to QB before running a DEPOSIT or CHECK transaction against it.   Search for that Company in QB by pressing Ctrl-F and selecting the Name field and type in the company name into the search box.  See where it is used.  

I get the following error EVEN using the example Check Import file.

; [ERROR] "CHECK" is an invalid value for field TRNSTYPE. [15106]

I have tried many manipulations to eliminate the error but it persists.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi there, joeg8tr,

Let me get the help you need in importing .IIF file in QuickBooks Desktop.

Just to verify, is the .IIF file that you've imported coming from another program? If yes, it would be best if you are using the .IIF Import Kit. 

QuickBooks Desktop made easy when importing and exporting .IIF files since QuickBooks Desktop formats the file for you. However, creating .iif files from scratch or adapting data from another program is technically complex and may be difficult if you don't have experience formatting delimited text files. This makes it faster and easier to enter the information directly into QuickBooks Desktop, unless you have very large amounts of data to import.

For more information, I'm attaching a great resource where you can download the sample IIF file and check if your format is correct:IIF Overview: import kit, sample files, and headers.

However, if error stil persist after performing the steps above, I'd recommend contacting our Customer Care support. They have the necessary tools like screen sharing to walk you through.

To contact us, here's how:

1. Click Help, then choose QuickBooks Help.
2. Click on Contact us link at the bottom.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach back out. Have a great day!

I got the error on my Payroll import files.  I then tried to import the example check file which was included in the QB IIF kit.  I got the same error importing the example file.  This all worked before I upgraded to QB Enterprise 19. [ERROR] "CHECK" is an invalid value for field TRNSTYPE. [15106] 

Thank you for the help.  I changed the word CHECK to Check, retryed the import and got the following ; [ERROR] Missing mandatory field TRNSTYPE in header. [15102] .  For clarification here is the simplified IIF file.

I missed a line in the copy/paste.  Here is the complete listing.

!TRNS !TRNSTYPE DATE DOCNUM CLASS NAME AMOUNT ACCNT
!SPL TRNSTYPE DATE MEMO CLASS NAME AMOUNT ACCNT
!ENDTRNS
TRNS Check 02/22/19 21366 Matthew Wilson -305.92 10050
SPL Check 02/22/19 0 305.92 24000
ENDTRNS

Is there no answer yet?  The new import method in 2019 doesn't even process the Check example files without an error.  Am I just out of luck here?

Hello there, joeg8tr.

Thank you for getting back to here in the Community. I want to make sure you'll get the support you need with importing the IIF file in QuickBooks Desktop.

I want to be the one who'll be checking the file for you here on my end. However, we only have limited tools in this public forum.

Since you've mentioned the sample file don't work, we'll need one of our support specialists to pull up your account and perform the necessary troubleshooting for you.

I'm adding the steps below on how you can reach them:

1. Open your company file in QuickBooks.
2. Click the Help tab at the top menu bar.
3. Select Contact Us.
4. Ask a question.
5. Click Continue.
6. Choose to Talk to a Specialist.

For more information about how you can reach out support, I'm adding the article I recommend below:

Contact the QuickBooks Desktop Customer Support Team.

Please let me know if I can of any assistance concerning the imported IIF file, and I'll be sure to get back to you.

Intuit found a way to screw up a really good thing. I've been importing *.iff files from ADP into quickbooks for 10 years.  Upgraded to 2019 and boom, the import is broken because of missing dates on the distribution line.  So I have to export the file from ADP, open in excel, add the same date on the transaction line to the distribution line, and then save the file in excel before importing into quickbooks.  Really?  How did you improve this?  Will this be fixed?

Hi there, @Mailbxs.

Allow me to share some more details about importing an .IIF file in QuickBooks Desktop.

When importing an .IIF file in QuickBooks Desktop, you'll need to make sure that the headers that you're going to import are accurate to your transactions. You may check out this article to learn more about the correct headers to be used in each transaction: IIF Overview: import kit, sample files, and headers. 

Also, for QuickBooks released the new improved IIF import for the 2019 version. This is more convenient and accurate with the improved Import IIF Tool. It eliminates the possibility of importing bad data by scanning your file for errors.

If you need further assistance about the import process, I'd suggest reaching out to our Customer Care Team. 

I'll be around to help if you have any other questions with this concern. Just let me know by leaving a comment below. Have a nice day ahead.