Import journal entries
Post balanced journals from a CSV file or Excel workbook, such as this year's monthly totals from your old books.
- Who can do this
- Owners, or staff with Create journal entries and Post journal entries
- Where
- Books, then Import data
- You'll need
- Your chart of accounts imported first; for Nonprofit, active funds and approved account mappings
On this page
Import the journals
- Open Books, then Import data.
- Under Your move, in order, find Journals and select Import.
- Select Download CSV template and enter one row for each journal line.
- Drop the file on Drop your file here, or choose a file, or select that area to choose it.
- Select Upload and review.
- Fix every error, then select the Add button, which names what the file adds, such as Add 120 journal lines.
Rows with the same journal number post as one journal, so give every line of a journal the same number and the same date.
Prepare the columns
| Column | Required | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Yes | The journal date. Every row of a journal needs the same date. |
| Journal Number | Yes | Up to 100 characters. It becomes the journal's reference. |
| Account Code | Yes | The code, or exact name, of an active account. |
| Debit | Yes | The debit amount, or blank on a credit row. |
| Credit | Yes | The credit amount, or blank on a debit row. |
| Memo | No | The line memo. The first memo in a journal also describes the journal. |
| Contact | No | A customer or vendor display name or email that matches exactly one active contact. |
Both amount columns must be matched. Each row needs a debit or a credit greater than zero, never both. Dates use US month/day/year or YYYY-MM-DD.
How the review checks the file
Each journal must balance, with its debits equal to its credits. A journal that doesn't balance, has more than one date, or has only one row is refused, and the review lists its row numbers. One error blocks the whole file.
Closed periods, a closed year and Prevent backdating apply to every journal date. The review checks them, and they are checked again when you add the file.
Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable are refused, so receivables and payables come only from open invoices and bills and aging agrees with the ledger.
A journal that an earlier journal import posted, with the same number, date and total, is skipped, so uploading the same file twice doesn't post it twice. The same number with a different date or total is refused, because it may be a corrected copy: give it its own number if it is a different journal, or undo the earlier import first. A reversed journal no longer counts.
Journals post exactly as the file says. If your opening balances already include this year's income and expenses, importing this year's monthly totals as well counts them twice. Agree the approach with the person responsible for your books before you add the file.
Nonprofit files
The Nonprofit template adds three columns:
| Column | Required | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Fund Code | Yes | The code of an active fund. |
| Net Asset Class | For revenue, equity and expense rows | Without donor restrictions or with donor restrictions. |
| Function | No | Program services, management and general, or fundraising. |
Expense rows use the class without donor restrictions. An expense row with no function uses its account's approved default function, and is refused if the account has none. Each journal must also balance within every fund; the review names the fund and its rows when one doesn't.
What happens next
Adding the file posts every journal straight away, through the same path as a journal entered by hand. Files can have up to 5,000 rows. With 500 rows or fewer to add, every journal posts together, or none. With more, the file is added in the background in batches of about 250 rows, never splitting a journal, while the import page shows the progress. If it stops, the journals already posted stay and the page says why; fix the cause and add the file again to add the rest, or undo them.
You can undo the import. Undo reverses each journal on its own date, and is refused once any of them has been reversed or matched in banking.
Who can do this
Owners can import. Other members need Create journal entries and Post journal entries. Undoing needs Reverse posted entries.