Import a chart of accounts from a spreadsheet

Before you begin

You can use the import option to add new accounts to a client's chart or update existing ones.
The spreadsheet file you import needs to be in .XLS or .XLSX format.
For non-segmented clients that have accounts with subcodes, you'll need to format the spreadsheet column as text.
tip
For example, a client with an account mask of xxx-xx appears as 100 instead of 100-00 if the formatting for the column is set up to display as 2 decimals. Sub-accounts are retained when the column is formatted as a text column.
Make sure the spreadsheet is closed, remains closed during the entire import process, and is not password protected.
The maximum amount limit is 999,999,999.99 when importing balances into the chart of accounts.

Sample spreadsheets

Chart of Accounts (with current-year and prior-year balances)
Chart of Accounts (with type and tax code)
note
You can't import the Type column so map that column as
Not Used
.

Map spreadsheet columns

Mark the checkbox in the Omit Row column for any column headings or rows of data that shouldn't be imported. The application won't validate or import data in that row.
Select a column heading in the grid and then choose the applicable mapping item from the
Column [X]
field.
note
If you map any budget columns and select the year option (as opposed to a specific period-end date) in the 2nd
Column [X]
field, the application equally distributes the amount among all periods in the current year. (For example, if you import a balance of $1,200 for a monthly client and select 2023, the application imports a $100 balance in each period for the account.) If you select a specific period end date from the 2nd
Column [X]
, the application imports the full budget amount into the selected period only.
Mapping item	Additional info	Additional info 2	Required?
Account number	None	None	Yes
Account description	None	None	No
Account grouping	Account classification code Account classification subcode Leadsheet schedule code Leadsheet schedule subcode note This includes Code and Subcode for each account grouping set up for the client.	None	Yes No No No
Tax information	Tax code Tax code unit M-3 tax code	None	No No No
Beginning balance	<Year>	Dr/Cr Debit Credit	No No No
Unadjusted balance	<Period end date>	Dr/Cr Debit Credit	No No No
Budget	<Period end date>	Dr/Cr Debit Credit	No No No
Adjusted budget	<Period end date>	Dr/Cr Debit Credit	No No No
Budget 3	<Period end date>	Dr/Cr Debit Credit	No No No
Budget 4	<Period end date>	Dr/Cr Debit Credit	No No No
Budget 5	<Period end date>	Dr/Cr Debit Credit	No No No
Repeat step 2 for all applicable columns.
Select
Next
.
note
The application validates the spreadsheet. If there are any errors, you'll need to correct the data before moving on.

Map account classification codes and subcodes

In the Classification Code column for each account, select the appropriate classification code.
In the Classification Subcode column, select the appropriate subcode for each account, if applicable.
Select
Next
.

Choose import options

Choose the Chart of Accounts import option:
Append to existing chart:
The application adds new accounts and their balances to the existing chart of accounts.
If the spreadsheet includes data for any existing accounts, the application updates data for those accounts with the new information.
Zero existing balances and import new balances:
The application adds new accounts and their balances to the chart of accounts.
If the spreadsheet includes data for an existing account, the application zeros the balances for that account for the selected dates, and imports only the balances in the spreadsheet file.
If the spreadsheet doesn’t include data for an existing account, the application zeros the balances for that account.
Choose the applicable balance import option:
Current period balances:
The application imports the balances from the spreadsheet directly into the period selected for the balance column.
Example
The application adds the balance from the spreadsheet to the existing balance in the client data to create year-to-date balances.
Date	Starting account balance	Balance in spreadsheet data	Balance for activity journal entry*	Year-to-date unadjusted account balance
01/31/15	100.00	100.00	100.00	200.00
02/28/15	200.00	200.00	200.00	400.00
03/31/15	400.00	300.00	300.00	700.00
04/30/15	700.00	400.00	400.00	1100.00
05/31/15	1100.00	500.00	500.00	1600.00
06/30/15	1600.00	600.00	600.00	2200.00
07/31/15	2200.00	700.00	700.00	2900.00
08/31/15	2900.00	800.00	800.00	3700.00
09/30/15	3700.00	900.00	900.00	4600.00
10/31/15	4600.00	1000.00	1000.00	5600.00
11/30/15	5600.00	1100.00	1100.00	6700.00
12/31/15	6700.00	1200.00	1200.00	7900.00
*During the import process, Accounting CS creates an activity journal entry to store balances that are imported from the spreadsheet.
Year-to-date balances:
The application calculates current-period activity based on existing prior-period balances and creates a journal entry with the net change for the period.
Example
The balance in the spreadsheet data should be the current year-to-date balance in the client data. The application calculates the difference between the current year-to-date balance in the client data and the balance in the spreadsheet data.
Date	Starting account balance	Balance in spreadsheet data	Balance for activity journal entry*	Year-to-date unadjusted account balance
01/31/15	100.00	100.00	0.00	100.00
02/28/15	100.00	200.00	100.00	200.00
03/31/15	200.00	300.00	100.00	300.00
04/30/15	300.00	400.00	100.00	400.00
05/31/15	400.00	500.00	100.00	500.00
06/30/15	500.00	600.00	100.00	600.00
07/31/15	600.00	700.00	100.00	700.00
08/31/15	700.00	800.00	100.00	800.00
09/30/15	800.00	900.00	100.00	900.00
10/31/15	900.00	1000.00	100.00	1000.00
11/30/15	1000.00	1100.00	100.00	1100.00
12/31/15	1100.00	1200.00	100.00	1200.00
*During the import process, Accounting CS creates an activity journal entry to store balances that are imported from the spreadsheet.
Select
Import
to begin the data import.
note
The application validates the spreadsheet. If there are any errors, you'll need to correct the data before moving on.

Review import diagnostics

Select
Back
if you need to make changes to any of the previous mapping and option screens.
Mark the checkbox next to an item and then select
Preview Selected
or
Print Selected
to get the diagnostic report for it.
Select
Finish
when you're satisfied with the data you'll import.

Review the diagnostic messages.
You can select
Print
for a report of the import results.
Select
Close
to close the spreadsheet import wizard.

Number of accounts read:
displays the number of accounts in the spreadsheet.
Number of new accounts added:
displays the number of accounts added to Accounting CS.
Number of accounts not matched in the import:
displays a list of accounts that currently exist in Accounting CS but were not included in the spreadsheet.
<date> Unadjusted balances successfully imported:
informational message to let you know that Accounting CS imported unadjusted balances for that date.
Number of tax codes imported (tax codes, tax units codes, M-3 tax codes):
displays the number of tax codes imported into Accounting CS. Note that you may get this message even if you didn't include a tax codes column in your spreadsheet if you mapped both a classification code and subcode. The application assigns tax codes based on the account mappings in the
Setup
Standard Account Mappings
screen.