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This article applies to:

  • Product: Accounting CS,Accounting CS Client Access
  • Subject: Integration

Export payroll journal entries

Accounting CS enables you to create export files (XML or IIF) with transactions for payroll, vendor, and/or impounded liabilities, which you can then import into other applications, including the CS Professional Suite or QuickBooks Pro.
When creating these files, you have the option to specify a range of entries to include in the file and to specify file-creation preferences.
Before you create an export file, there are a few setup steps that you need to complete for each client record.
To enable exports for CS Professional Suite Accounting applications or QuickBooks Pro, you must first select the export source in the
Setup
Clients
Integration
 tab.

Special information for your QuickBooks client data

When you use the Export Transactions screen to export transactions, Accounting CS creates the following export files.
  • QBTrans.<client ID>PRD<end date selected on export> –
     includes detailed information on payroll checks and vendor payments based on options selected for export.
  • QBTrans.<client ID>PRS<end date selected on export> –
     includes summary information on payroll checks (P89 entry) and impound liabilities based on options selected for export.
  • QBChart.<client ID><end date selected on export> –
     includes the Accounting CS Chart of Accounts.
If you are importing the client's Chart of Accounts, first import data from the
QBChart.<client ID><end date selected on export>
 file, then depending on the other information you exported import data from either or both of the other 2 files.
note
The application matches accounts based on the account description. QuickBooks limits the account description to 31 characters, while Accounting CS allows up to 120 characters. When you import data from the Chart of Accounts IIF file, the application truncates the account description to meet the 31-character limit. When you import data from the payroll journal entries IIF file, the application doesn’t truncate account descriptions. Therefore, it is unable to match the account description to an existing account, and it creates a new (duplicate) bank account for each account it doesn’t recognize. If this happens, we recommend that you change the account descriptions in Accounting CS (using 31 or fewer characters) and then recreate the IIF files.

Set up the client in Accounting CS

Use the following steps to export journal entries to CS Professional Suite Accounting applications (via XML file) or QuickBooks Pro (via IIF file).
  1. Select the
    Setup
    Clients
    Integration
     tab.
  2. Select the
    Edit
     button, then select the ellipsis button by the
    Export to program
     field.
  3. In the
    Export Client Data Options
     window, mark the checkboxes for the details you want to include in payroll journal entries.
  4. The option to export in either detail or summary format depends on the type of transaction you are exporting.
    • If you are exporting payroll checks, choose whether you want the files to be exported in detail or summary format. If you choose Detail format, the application creates an individual check for each payroll transaction in the selected date range, each using the reference numbers associated with that check. If you choose Summary format, the application creates 1 journal entry for all payroll transactions in the selected date range, each using the reference associated with that check.
    • If you are exporting vendor payments, the transactions will always be exported in detailed format. The application will create an individual check for each vendor transaction in the selected date range, each using the reference numbers associated with that check.
    • If you are exporting impounded liabilities, the transactions will always be exported in the summary format. The application will create a separate journal entry for the impounded tax agent liabilities, impounded payroll agent liabilities, and impounded firm vendor liabilities in the selected date range, each using the reference associated with that transaction.
  5. Verify the export file location. This field is grayed out because you can't change the file location in this window. Change this in the
    Setup
    ,
    File Locations
     window.
  6. Select
    OK
     to save your changes and close the window, then select
    Enter
     to save the changes to the client record.

Create the export file in Accounting CS

  1. Select
    File
    Export
    Transactions
    .
  2. Mark the
    Payroll journal entries
     checkbox, if it is not already marked, then select the
    Options
     button.
  3. In the
    Export Options
     window,
    select the
    Payroll
     tab. In the File Location section,
    note the location to which the export file will be saved. You can't change this location
    in this window. Change it in the
    Setup
    ,
    File Locations
     window
    .
  4. In the Dates section, specify the date range for the transactions you want to export.
  5. In the File Creation section, mark the checkboxes, then select
    OK
     to save these options.
  6. In the
    Export Transactions
     screen, mark the checkbox for each client for which you want to export payroll journal entry transactions.
  7. If necessary, select the
    Client Options
     button next to a client in the grid to open the
    Client Options
     window, where you can verify the application to which you are exporting, change the details to include in the file, and update the references for each type of entry for that client.
    note
    The
    Client Options
     window includes the same options as the
    Export Client Data Options
     window. Any changes you make in the
    Client Options
     window will be reflected in the
    Export Client Data Options
     window and vice versa.
  8. Select the
    Export
     button to create the files in the default folder location; from there you can import them into another application or send them via email.
    note
    The export file is named
    Trans.<CLIENT> - PR<MMDDYY>.xml
    , where
    <CLIENT>
     represents the ID of the client in Accounting CS and
    PR<MMDDYY>
     represents the payroll period end date specified in the export date range. If the
    Include client name in the file name
     checkbox is marked in the
    Export Options
     window, the export file is named
    Trans.<CLIENTNAME> - <CLIENT> - PR<MMDDYY>.xml
    .
note
You can't post payroll journal entries to classes in QuickBooks using the IIF export file creation method, but you can export them directly to QuickBooks via the QBW file export method, which enables you to map segment codes to corresponding classes in QuickBooks.

Import data into QuickBooks

  1. In QuickBooks, select
    File
    Utilities
    Import
    IIF Files
    .
  2. In the
    Import
     window, select the IIF file to import, then select the
    Open
     button.
  3. QuickBooks displays a prompt stating that the data has been imported. Select
    OK
    .

Troubleshooting

The following situations may cause errors during the export and/or subsequent import of payroll journal entries.
  • One or more accounts in Accounting CS use the same description as QuickBooks, but the account type in Accounting CS is different than the type in QuickBooks.
  • QuickBooks doesn't recognize the accounts used for the exported transactions because the Accounting CS account numbers don’t match the QuickBooks accounts. To prevent this from happening, we recommend that you either import the Chart of Accounts IIF file before importing the transactions, or that you manually add the accounts in QuickBooks.
  • The account description for QuickBooks transactions doesn’t match the account description in Accounting CS. Because QuickBooks doesn't require account numbers (only account descriptions), the descriptions must match exactly for the transactions to import correctly.
Export QuickBooks data with accounts and subaccounts
Your QuickBooks client uses a handful of accounts for which the main account type is
Insurance Expense
, and the client uses a subaccount for each type of insurance. In this example, we’ll use
Insurance Expense General
 as the account and subaccount.
When you imported the QuickBooks data into Accounting CS, it created the following accounts:
  • Insurance Expense
  • Insurance Expense:General
     (no spaces around the colon)
In the IIF file, any transactions posted to the main account are listed as an Insurance Expense, while transactions posted to the subaccount are listed as
Insurance Expense:General
.
To ensure that these transactions are posted correctly in QuickBooks, the descriptions must match exactly. If the descriptions don't match, the application creates a new account (using the Accounting CS description contained in the IIF file) in QuickBooks during the import.

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