Import products and services
Bring a QuickBooks Online product and service list or Xero items into Products & services, with prices and accounts.
- Who can do this
- Owners, or staff with View products & services, including purchase costs and preferred vendors and Create products & services
- Where
- Books, then Import data
- You'll need
- Products & services turned on in Features, and your chart of accounts imported first
On this page
Import your item list
- Open Books, then Import data.
- Under Your move, in order, find Products and services and select Import.
- Select Download CSV template, or use your QuickBooks Online or Xero export as it is.
- Drop the file on Drop your file here, or choose a file, or select that area to choose it.
- Select Upload and review.
- Check Column matches and every row, then select the Add button, which names what the file adds, such as Add 25 items.
Turn on Products & services first: open Settings, then Features. Until it is on, the review refuses the file and adds nothing.
Prepare the columns
| Column | Required | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | The item name. A name already in your list is skipped. |
| SKU | No | Up to 100 characters. A SKU already in use is skipped. A blank SKU gets one made for it. |
| Type | No | Product or service. Blank means service. |
| Description | No | The sales description shown on invoices. |
| Sale Price | No | What you charge, with up to two decimal places. |
| Income Account | No | The code or exact name of an active revenue account. |
| Purchase Description | No | The description shown on bills. |
| Purchase Cost | No | What you pay, with up to two decimal places. |
| Expense Account | No | The code or exact name of an active expense account, or of an asset account used as an expense category. |
| Taxable | No | Yes or no. |
QuickBooks Online and Xero headers match automatically, including Product/Service Name, Sales Price / Rate, Income Account, *ItemCode, ItemName, SalesUnitPrice, SalesAccount, PurchasesUnitPrice and PurchasesAccount. Check every match before you add the file. Columns QixCount doesn't use, such as tax rates or quantities, are left out.
How the review reads each row
An item with an income account can be sold, and one with an expense account can be bought. A sale price above zero needs an income account, and a purchase cost above zero needs an expense account. A row with no account and no price is refused. A zero price or cost without an account is ignored, because exports list one for every item.
Accounts match by code first, then by exact account name, so import your chart of accounts before this file. A name shared by two accounts doesn't match; use the code.
Taxable items get your default sales tax. If you have no default sales tax, they are added without one and the review warns you.
Inventory items from QuickBooks become products without stock tracking, and quantities on hand are not imported. The review warns you how many. Bundles and groups are refused; add their items instead.
Names and SKUs match without regard to capital letters. A duplicate, in your list or earlier in the same file, is skipped and the existing item is left as it is.
What happens next
Files can have up to 5,000 rows. With 500 rows or fewer to add, every item is added together. With more, the file is added in the background in batches of 250 while the import page shows the progress; if it stops, the page says why, and you can fix the cause and add the file again to add the rest. The items appear under Products & services for invoices and bills.
You can undo the import while none of its items is on an invoice, bill, quote or purchase order, or on a recurring schedule that has not ended. Undo removes the items it added, so their SKUs can be used again.
Who can do this
Owners can import. Other members need View products & services, including purchase costs and preferred vendors and Create products & services. Undoing needs Archive and reactivate products & services.