Documentation: Data Import Tool

Transcription

1 1 Documentation: Data Import Tool 1. Purpose The purpose of the import tool is to bring data from any other accounting or e commerce program into AccountingSuite in a quick, efficient way. 2. User Definition The tool will be used by employees and partners of AccountingSuite when converting customers from their previous software. Selected customers also use the tool to regularly transfer data from their e commerce systems into AccountingSuite. In the future, the tool will be made available to customers in general. For this an easy to handle user interface will be provided.

2 2 3. Process Overview The Data Import Tool provides the ability to import the following import types into AccountingSuite: Customer/Vendors Items Chart of accounts Checks Deposits Journal entries Expensify(do not use) Classes Payment terms Price levels Purchase orders Sales rep Bills Item receipts Bill Payments Sales Invoice Sales order Cash receipt Credit memo Bank transfer Projects The following chart gives an overview of the general import process, which is identical for all import types. Details for each import type are documented in the field by field description for the individual import type. For already existing field by field descriptions click on the import type in the list above. 2

3 3 4. Data Provision from Client s Systems 4.1 Data Extraction from Client s Systems In general it is the client s responsibility to create and provide the data to import into AccountingSuite. Section 4.3 gives a detailed description of how the files must be structured. For common sources (e. g. QuickBooks), instructions for the data extraction are available. The data files must be accessible from the computer from which the import is made. 4.2 Accepted Data Formats The data to be imported must be stored in a Comma Separated Values file, ending in.csv or.txt. All other file formats will result in an error message. 4.3 File structure Number of Files Ideally you should have one file per import type you want to import. It is possible, though, to have the data for several import types in one file. In the import process you then only pick the columns you need for the individual import type. Example: If you want to import customers/vendors and orders ideally you should have two different files with the individual data. If you receive your data from an e commerce system, it is possible, though, that you only get one file that has a line for each order, including the related customer with all his information (name, address, etc.). You can then use this one file to import the customers and in a second step the orders. 3

4 Content of Files The table that is represented in the comma separated values file must have the following structure: Each line represents one record. Each column represents one attribute of the import type. The first line can contain headers, this is not mandatory, though. The separator between the fields must actually be a comma. In some cases data has headers and lines. As this can t be represented in a comma separated values file, only the lines shall be in the file. The system will recognize that headers are needed and create the corresponding records. Example: One order can have several order line items: Order 1 Order Line Item 1 Order Line Item 2 Order 2 Order Line Item 1 Order Line Item 2 In the CSV file the entries must be the following: Order 1, Order Line Item 1 Order 1, Order Line Item 2 Order 2, Order Line Item 1 Order 2, Order Line Item 2 The system recognizes that there are order line items with the same order number and automatically creates the order header entries. Data, that applies to the header must be repeated in the individual lines. Value figures that apply to the header must also be repeated, but they are not added up by the system. 4

5 5 Example: The following order is made by Customer XYZ. The price of the first item is $25, of the second item $35. The shipping costs for the whole order are $10. Order 1, Customer XYZ, Shipping costs $10 Order Line Item 1, Price $25 Order Line Item 2, Price $35 In the CSV file the entries must be the following: Order 1, Order Line Item 1, Customer XYZ, Price $25, Shipping costs $10 Order1, Order Line Item 2, Customer XYZ, Price $35, Shipping costs $10 The system knows that the price is an attribute for each order item and therefore adds the prices up to $60 for the whole order. The shipping costs apply to the order, not to the order items, so these are not added up and are $10 for the whole order. Details for which import types headers and lines apply and how the individual attributes are handled can be found in the field by field descriptions. There is a limit of 100,000 lines in the import file. If your file has more lines, please split it into multiple files. 5

6 6 5. Data Import into AccountingSuite 5.1 Opening the Import Tool Availability of the Import Tool Currently the Import Tool is only available internally and for selected clients. Therefore it needs to be activated for each individual client. If you want to use it, but can t see the link, please get in touch with your contact at AccountingSuite Accessing the Import Tool In order to open the Import Tool, select Settings in the menu, open the Lists tab in the window that opens and click Data import v2. 6

7 7 5.2 Selecting the Import Type In the window that opens, first select the import type you want to import in the drop down list next to Imported data. Then click the button Next. Only one import type can be imported at one time. If you have data for several import types in the same file, you have to repeat the import process for the different types. As there are references used in certain import types, you have to make sure to import the data in the right order. E. g. when you import orders, you have to make sure that the customers and items are already available. You can find more information on these dependencies in the field by field descriptions. In general, this is the order for importing (if one were importing all types): Lists Countries (if needed, AccountingSuite already comes with a list of countries) States (if needed, AccountingSuite already comes with a list of states) Payment Terms (if needed, AccountingSuite already comes with a list of payment terms) Payment Methods (if needed, AccountingSuite already comes with a list of payment methods) 7

8 8 Classes Price Levels Expensify Categories Sales people Chart of Accounts Customers / Vendors Items Projects Sales Orders Purchase Orders Item Receipts Sales Invoices Bills Bill Payments Cash Receipts Credit Memos Purchase Returns Deposits 5.3 Selecting the File to Import After clicking Next, a pop up appears, in which you can select the file you want to import. The selected file must be a Comma Separated Value file ending in.csv or.txt, otherwise an error message appears. After the selection click the button OK. 5.4 Matching the Columns to the Data Items After clicking OK the file is read by the Import Tool and the data shown. The next step is mapping each import field with the corresponding field in AccountingSuite. 8

9 Areas on the Screen The next screen shown has the following elements, that will be described in more detail in the following paragraphs. The headline indicates the import type which was selected in the previous screen. At the right bottom there is a button Back that allows to select another import type and file, and a button Next that leads to the next screen after the mapping has been done The Data from the Import File This area shows the data from the file that was uploaded. Each column gets a column number, which is also the identifier for the mapping. If the data is not displayed correctly there is something incorrect with the import file that will need to be corrected before continuing. 9

10 The Fields (Data Items) in AccountingSuite This table shows all the available fields (data items) for the selected import type. The example in the screenshot shows fields for Customer/Vendors. If you have defined custom fields in your AccountingSuite instance, you will also see those listed. The first column Data item lists the names of all available fields, as well as an information about the data type resp. the possible values in square brackets. Items that are written in bold are mandatory, they must have a value (either from the data file or a default value). All other fields are optional.. Possible data types are: [char(x)] an alphanumeric string with a maximum of x characters [num] a numeric value [T true, F false] a boolean value: T or F. You can also use t or f, 1 or 0, Y or N, y or n. [ref] a reference to an existing list in AccountingSuite, e. g. to a country code (as managed in Lists) or to an account (as managed in the chart of accounts). Details on individual references can be found in the field by field descriptions. You must make sure to import your data in a certain order, so that all values that are referenced exist already. In some cases only certain values are allowed to select an option. In this case the options are listed in the square brackets in the following format: 10

11 11 [ <Value 1> <Option 1>, <Value 2> <Option 2>,...] Example: When importing customers/vendors the system needs to know if a record is a customer, a vendor or both. The field for that is Type. It is listed as: Type [0 Customer, 1 Vendor, 2 Both] So if a record you import from a certain line is a customer, the related field must contain 0, if it is a customer, 1 if it is a vendor, or 2, if it is both. This column does not exist in the majority of systems so it most likely will not be present when exporting from a different Accounting software package. Two approaches may be taken to solve for this issue: 1. Add a column to the data export to store the value for this field. 2. Export the customers as one file and vendors as another. For companies that are both customers and vendors, have a third file. When importing, use the appropriate value by putting it in the default column for the Type field. See specific instructions for use below. The second column Column # specifies which data column from the right is used to fill this field. The number of each column can be found in the header, and this number must be selected in column Column #. In the screenshots above you can see, for example, that the Company code is listed in column number 1, Company name in column number 2 and the Type in column number 3. The third column Default Value allows for the entry of a default value that is used when the desire is to have every record imported with the same value and a) no entry has been made in Column # or b) if the selected field in the record on the right side is blank. Here is an overview of this logic: Column # Default Value Result blank blank no value is imported, the field stays blank blank filled always import of the default value 11

12 12 filled blank always import the value from the data on the right in the column indicated here. if the field is blank, no value is imported. filled filled if the related field of the CSV file is filled, this value is imported; if the field is blank, the default value is imported Additional Settings When clicking the button Additional Settings, more selection options for the import are shown: Update: All Fields (Add New and Overwrite Current Data) Default value All new records are added. If records are imported that already exist, these records are updated. All values are overwritten, even if it means that an existing value will be overwritten with a blank value, because it is blank in the CSV file. Some values are set by the system automatically, even if they are blank in the import file based on default settings in AccountingSuite. Selected Fields (No Blanks Unless Default Value) This selection allows updating existing records. Contrary to the first selection, only values that are not blank in the CSV file are overwritten. For all fields that are blank and that don t have a default value set, the original value is retained. A use case for example is updating the quantities in Items. All attributes stay the same except for the quantity that shall be overwritten. Selection only available for importing Items, Chart of Accounts, Customers/Vendors and Projects. For all other import types, except for Classes, the default selection applies. For Classes, most values are only overwritten if they are not blank in the CSV file. Open question: How are records matched? Is it always the code or is there also matching based on names? For Items for example the Item Code is not enough, there must also be a description and type. PLEASE LIST MATCH FIELDS/KEYS FOR THE DIFFERENT IMPORT TYPES. 12

13 13 Error Processing: Stop processing if any error Default value If an error occurs during the import, the whole import is stopped at that line, no further lines are imported. Lines up to the error are imported. Skip errors, and process other Lines that cause a problem are skipped. All others are imported. At the end a report is shown with the exact behavior, so that the failed lines can be corrected and imported again. The report looks like this: The rows skipped are the ones that were unchecked so that they will not be imported (see 5.5). The rows failed are the ones that were not imported, because the data was not correct, resp. those after the erroneous line if the first option was selected. Below are the exact lines that caused the failure, each with the reason. Open question: When exactly does the import throw an error? I tried using a Term that was not defined, and it was just ignored. I tried using a Type that does not exist (3) and it was reset to 0. The error I managed to get was by deleting the name of the customer/vendor, but this is not reflected in the error message. 13

14 14 Date Format: In this drop down menu you must select the date format that you use in date fields in your file, if it is not the standard mm/dd/yyyy Maps The usage of maps is optional, but highly recommended if you repeatedly import data with the same structure. In a map you can save your mapping of column numbers to fields (data items) and any default valueavailable the next time you import data of the same type from a CSV file with the same structure. You can either save your map as a default setting in the software, or you save it as a TXT file on your computer. 14

15 15 To do so, after editing the mapping and the default values, click the button Save map and select either To default or To file. If you choose the file, you must specify, where the file shall be saved. The next time you need this map, click on the button Load map and select From default or From file. After the map has been loaded, you will find the same mapping and default values as at the time you had saved the map. After you are finished with the mappings and settings, click the button Next. Open question: When exactly are the latest selections shown again when opening the screen? If a default map has been saved? 15

16 Selecting the Lines to Import The next screen displays a table that has the structure ofthe import with all the columns (ieldsdata items) that were mapped during the previous step. The data is included and gives you a chance to check the data before importing. It also allows you to uncheck lines you do not want to import and edit the content of the individual fields. If your CSV file has headers, definitely make sure this line is unchecked, usually line 1. By clicking the button Next, you start the actual data import. The changes can not be undone. 16

17 The Result Report The result report will show the following: The Rows imported are the ones that were successfully imported. The Rows skipped are the ones you unchecked in the previous screen (in our example the header line). The Rows failed are the ones that weren t able to be imported, either because they were erroneous or because the import stopped after the first error found. If rows failed, there is an individual error message for each erroneous row (see 5.4.4). To restart the import or move on to the next import type, click the button Start new import. To view the imported data, click the here link and refresh the screen. 17