If users intend to bring a chart of accounts from another financial software, they may take advantage of the account import utility instead of creating and reordering a chart of accounts manually.
Note: Though the system doesn't restrict importing multiple times, calculations that reside in the background to keep the accounting equation in check may be negatively impacted if accounts are continually imported. For this reason, it is recommended to import the beginning chart of accounts once, and add accounts manually from that point forward.
A sample template is available at the bottom of this article, though it is not required to use the account import utility. Exported files from other financial software can be used directly with this utility.
Note: It is recommended that users create a new book before importing a new chart of accounts.
To import accounts from a CSV file,
1. Go into Ledger from the Navigation bar. If your site has multiple books, you'll want to make sure you have the new book selected in the upper right corner.
2. Click the Chart of Accounts tab.
3. Click "Import" at the top right corner of the site, next to "Print" and "Export". A file explorer window will appear.
4. Choose a file to import.
5. Under "Select Header Row", use the arrows to the right of the selections to choose which row in the file is to be used for column headers. This will help with matching columns to their respective fields.
6. Under "Select Last Data Row", use the arrows to the right of the selections to choose which row contains the last account to be imported and click "Next".
7. Select the date the file was exported and click "Next". This will assign a date to the current balance listed in the file, to allow for future calculations if needed.
8. Use the drop-down menus to match column headers from the file to expected columns for account-related fields and click "Next". Only the Name, Account type, and Current Balance field selections are required and any column in the file not matched in this step will be ignored by the importer.
- Name - The name of an account, as it will appear in the Chart of Account view, reports and transactions; this field is required for import
- If users want their accounts to be grouped and categorized, Names can be concatenated with the parent account name followed by child account names separated by a colon. For example, a checking and savings account could be added as US Bank: Checking and US Bank Savings.
- Account Type - The column that will be used in the next step to determine where the account resides in the accounting equation; this field is required for import
- Current Balance - The current balance of the account, as of the date the file was exported; this field is required for import
- Account Number - The number of an account as it will appear in the Chart of Accounts view
- Deleted - A True/False field designating whether an account should be archived
9. Use the drop-down menus to match account type values from the file to expected account types in Church360° Ledger and click "Next". All options are required to be assigned in order to move to the next step.
For more information on how Church360° Ledger behaves with Funds, Book Equity, and Retained Income, please visit our articles here and here.
10. Select any fields included under Equity that fall under the definition of Book Equity and/or Retained Income. These accounts are not imported as Church360° Ledger will calculate them automatically.
11. With those equity accounts selected, click "Import" to start the import process. A summary will be available shortly.
- Processed - This number will reflect the number of accounts detected in the imported file
- Imported - This number will reflect the number of accounts successfully imported from the file
- Duplicates - This number will reflect the number of accounts detected as having the same name as an existing account or another account in the imported file and not imported
- Invalid - This number will reflect the number of accounts that failed to be imported
10. Click "Done" to close the import window.