Import customer or vendor opening balances

Opening balances are totals of the outstanding invoices and credit notes you have before you start using Accounting. To save time, you can import an opening balances file.

To import an opening balances file, you must:

  • Already have entered customers or vendors.
  • Enter an accounts start date.
  • Ensure that the file contains only customers or vendors. To import both, you need two separate files.
  • Save the file in comma separated value (CSV) format.
  • Ensure that the file uses the same column headings and formatting as in the customers or vendors CSV template file.

If you have bank or ledger account opening balances, you can enter them manually. For more information, see About opening balances.

Step 1: Download the CSV template file

  1. Go to Settings, Business settings.
  2. In the Opening Balances section, select Customers or Vendors.
  3. Click New Opening Balance and then select Import Opening Balances.
  4. Click the hyperlink to download the template CSV file.
  5. Go to the downloads folder on your computer to find the file.

Step 2: Prepare the opening balances file

If you already have a file, compare it to the template file before importing your opening balances. The column headings and data format in your file must match the template.

If you don't have a file, you can add your data to the template file. Leave the column headings as-is and then replace the sample data with your data, using the same format.

Note:

The maximum file size you can import is 0.5MB. If your file is larger, split it into another file.

When preparing your file, use the table below to ensure that your file format is correct. Remember that the header row in your CSV file must use the same headings as shown in the Field name column below.

Customer opening balances file format

Column Field Name Type Required Notes
A Type Text Yes To enter an invoice, enter Bill. For a credit note, enter Cr Note. If you have an outstanding payment on account, enter this in Cr Note. This imports as a credit note that you can allocate to an invoice or refund at a later date.
B Date Numeric Yes Must be in the format dd/mm/yyyy.
C Business Name Alphanumeric Yes Enter the customer's business name as it appears on their record.
D Customer Reference Alphanumeric Yes Enter the customer's unique reference as it appears in their record.
E Reference Alphanumeric Yes Enter a reference of your choice, for example an invoice number.
F Details Alphanumeric No If required, enter any additional details up to a maximum of 25 characters.
G Subtotal Numeric plus 2 decimal places Yes Enter the gross value of the transaction excluding tax.
H Tax Rate Alphanumeric Yes Sales tax rate display name as it appears in Settings.
I Tax Numeric Yes Tax amount applied to the transaction.
J Total Numeric plus 2 decimal places Yes Enter the gross value of the transaction including tax.

Vendor opening balances file format

Column Field Name Type Required Notes
A Type Text Yes To enter an invoice, enter Bill. For a credit note, enter Cr Note. If you have an outstanding payment on account, enter this in Cr Note. This imports as a credit note that you can allocate to an invoice or refund at a later date.
B Date Numeric Yes Must be in the format dd/mm/yyyy.
C Business Name Alphanumeric Yes Enter the vendor's business name as it appears on their record.
D Vendor Reference Alphanumeri Yes Enter the vendor's unique reference as it appears in their record.
E Reference Alphanumeric Yes Enter a reference of your choice, for example an invoice number.
F Details Alphanumeric No If required, enter any additional details up to a maximum of 25 characters.
G Total Numeric plus 2 decimal places No Enter the gross value of the transaction.

Step 3: Import the customer or vendor opening balances file

  1. Go to Settings, Business settings.
  2. In the Opening Balances section, select Customers or Vendors.
  3. Select New Opening Balance and then select Import Opening Balances.
  4. Select Choose File. Browse to your opening balances CSV file and then click Open.
  5. Click Upload.