AccountEdge Knowledge Base
  • Section: Importing/Exporting
  • Last updated: June 28, 2019, 2:57 p.m.

Importing/Exporting with Other Applications

Background

AccountEdge provides an import and export functionality that works with several other applications. For general information on importing and exporting (and troubleshooting help) please see this article

Checkout Import/Exports

From Checkout you can export the customer and product lists, the ledger, and many reports. The export formats for the customer and product lists, and the reports include Excel, Numbers, tab-delimited, and comma-separated text formats. The ledger can be exported in the above formats, as well as an AccountEdge format, and a QuickBooks format.

Details and field information for products is available on the Product Import/Export Fields FAQ web page. Details and field information for customers is available on the Customer Import/Export Fields FAQ web page. And, the Export Journal Entries to AccountEdge and Export Journal Entries to QuickBooks pages include information on exporting the ledger entries for those applications.

Integration with Applications

AccountEdge-Checkout

AccountEdge-Checkout integration includes the export and import of 3 types of data: customer records, product records, and ledger entries.

Customer Records: The Customer Import/Export FAQ has details about the fields available, and the process for importing and exporting.

Product Records: The Product Import/Export FAQ has details about the fields available, and the process for importing and exporting.

Ledger Records:You can export Checkout Ledger Records to AccountEdge or QuickBooks. For information on exporting Checkout Ledger Records to AccountEdge, check the Checkout-AccountEdge FAQ

Checkout-QuickBooks

For information on exporting Checkout Ledger Records to Quickbooks, check the Checkout-QuickBooks FAQ

AccountEdge Full Service Payroll

AccountEdge Full Service Payroll transactions are exported and saved as AccountEdge General Journal entries. They are imported into AccountEdge using AccountEdge Full Service Payroll transactions (File > Import Data > Full Service Payroll).

Before transactions can be exported and imported into AccountEdge, you will have had to complete the AccountEdge Full Service Payroll configuration. During this process, you will set the accounts Full Service Payroll will use. Follow the instructions in the Online Payroll Guide to AccountEdge Integration.

The two most common issues that arise with importing are:

  1. Incorrect account numbers
  2. The name of the saved, transactions file was renamed, and as a result, AccountEdge is unable to open the file, or another application is opening the file
Both problems are resolved by inspecting the import transaction file.

Excel

Microsoft Excel is an excellent tool for creating and editing input data files for AccountEdge and Checkout. As mentioned earlier, when saving the data for import, the preferred format is a comma-separated, ASCII text format.

LightSpeed

The initial note from the Overview section of the LightSpeed web site (http://www.lightspeedretail.com/help/):

It is necessary for you understand what LightSpeed is exporting to your accounting package, whether it is MYOB or QuickBooks. LightSpeed exports transactions (Invoices, Payments, Purchases, Multi-Store Transfers, and Inventory Adjustments) to the General Ledger (GL) of MYOB/QuickBooks as general journal entries. There are two methods of executing the export/import, depending on which version of accounting software you're integrated with.

MYOB AccountEdge, QuickBooks 2005-2008 for Mac: individual files that are exported for each item listed above that must be imported individually, then archived on your hard drive for later reference

QuickBooks for Mac 2009-2013: a simplified process with a click in LightSpeed to export all data, a click in QuickBooks to import all data, and no resulting files to archive. Please note that this feature is only supported in version 14.0.6 R7 or higher of QuickBooks for Mac 2013.

This means that the exports debit and credit the GL accounts that you have linked in LightSpeed to Products/Payment Methods/Taxes/Multi-Store appropriately as per your transactions. It does not export customer data or update customer accounts in these accounting packages, nor should you be maintaining customer accounts in these accounting packages. Your Accounts Receivable should be managed in LightSpeed.

Accounts Payable is handled in your accounting package and so LightSpeed exports more detailed journal entries of your purchases (Supplier Invoices), including your Supplier list. You will be warned of any errors in your export with a dialog box.

What Gets Exported

Outlined below is the list of what is included in the accounting export files from LightSpeed, and the GL accounts they affect.

  1. Invoices - Income, Inventory/Asset, Cost of Goods Sold, Accounts Receivable, Sales Tax
  2. Payments - Undeposited Funds, Accounts Receivable
  3. Purchases (Supplier Invoices) - Accounts Payable, Inventory/Asset, Payable Expense
  4. Inventory Adjustments - Inventory/Asset, Cost of Goods Sold
  5. Transfers (for Multi-Store environments) - Inventory/Asset, Transit

GL Accounts Setup

Integrating LightSpeed with accounting software MYOB or QuickBooks first requires a once-only mapping of the GL Accounts exported from QuickBooks or MYOB and imported into LightSpeed. There are approximately 10 places where GL accounts must be mapped, outlined in a table at the bottom of this article. Once they are mapped, LightSpeed knows to which GL accounts it should send its financial data.

Customers can follow the setup steps within LightSpeed or on the LightSpeed web site for proper configuration.

PayPal

Detailed information about how to download PayPal transaction log files, and the fields of data available in those files is available from Pay Pal. The document name is PayPal Merchant Setup and Administration Guide. The log file can be saved as a tab-delimited or comma-separated ASCii text file, and customers can specify a date rage of transactions for each file.

In the log file, a transaction is recorded on a single line, and includes the gross amount, the PayPal fee, and the net amount. In AccountEdge, these three values would likely represent more than one transaction. A scenario could be: the sale is recorded as a Sales Invoice (Sale, gross amount). Payment to that invoice would be recorded as a Receive Payment, paying the full amount of the invoice (gross). A Spend Money transaction would be recorded, expensing the PayPal fee to an expense account from the account the Receive Payment was made to. This scenario affords the ability to track and report PayPal fees as expenses (or Cost of Sales).