
Migrate From QuickBooks to Zoho Books
Notes: We are working on a tool to help you migrate seamlessly from QuickBooks to Zoho Books. We’ll update this space once it’s ready.
STEPS TO MIGRATE…
- Set up your Zoho Books Organisation
- Configure Settings
- Exporting Data from QuickBooks
- Prepare Exported Data for Import
- Import the Data into Zoho Books
- What You Can Do after Migrating
Set up your Zoho Books Organisation
Before you migrate any data, you’ll have to make sure that you’ve set up your organisation in Zoho Books. Here’s how you can do it:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to Settings > Organisation Profile.
- Fill in your organisation details.
- Click Save at the bottom of the page.
Another important step while setting up your organisation in Zoho Books is to add all the taxes that you deal with in your business.
To add taxes in Zoho Books:
- Go to Settings > Taxes.
- Click the + New Tax button in the top right corner of the page.
- Enter the Tax Name and Tax Rate.
- Select a Tax Type from the drop down.
- Click Save.
Similarly, you can create new Tax Groups (multiple taxes grouped as a single tax) and add Tax Exemptions as per your business requirements.
Configure Settings
You can use the Settings section in Zoho Books to customise your organisation to suit your business requirements. To access Settings, click the Gear icon in the top-right corner of the page. Here, ensure that you:
Enable Modules
Zoho Books has various modules such as Estimates, Timesheets, Recurring Bills, Debit Notes, and so on to manage transactions easily. You can enable the ones that are needed for your business. Here’s how:
- Go to Settings > Preferences > General.
- Mark the modules that you require under the Select the modules you would like to enable option.
Zoho Books comes with Stock Adjustments and basic Inventory Tracking to manage your stock. But if you want an advanced inventory management option that lets you create shipments and manage warehouses, you can enable the Zoho Inventory add-on.
In the same page, you can also choose how you want to provide discounts (if any) or apply taxes to your transactions.
Once you’ve configured all the details, click Save.
Configure Module Preferences
Now that you have enabled the necessary modules, you can configure their preferences. You can customise each module to suit your business needs. To do this:
- Go to Settings > Preferences.
- Select the module that you want to customise from the left sidebar.
Each module comes with multiple customisation options.. You can read about customising modules from the help document for preferences.
Insight: If you have certain fields in your previous system that you cannot find in Zoho Books, you can create custom fields for them in Zoho Books.
Exporting Data from QuickBooks
You will have to export the following from QuickBooks Online to import them later into Zoho Books. Here’s how you can:
Export Account List
The Account List in QuickBooks is the Chart of Accounts in Zoho Books. To export:
- Login to your QuickBooks account.
- Go to Reports in the left sidebar.
- Search for Account List.
- Click the Export icon in the top right corner of the report and click Export to Excel.
Export Trial Balance and Other Reports
Export all the necessary reports from QuickBooks Online. While importing them into Zoho Books, ensure that, all the mandatory fields are included in the import file.
If you are migrating at the beginning of a financial year, then export the Trial Balance and the Inentory Valuation Detail reports as on the starting date of the current financial year.
Let’s say you begin your accounting on 1 April 2022. In this case, export the Trial Balance and the Inventory Valuation Detail reports with the last date as 31 March 2022.
To export reports from Quick Books:
- Login to your QuickBooks account.
- Click the Gear icon in the top right corner of the page and click Export Data.
- Enable the toggle for all the reports and click Export to Excel.
Insight: Data can be uploaded either as CSV (Comma Separated Value), TSV (Tab Separated Value), or XLS (Excel Spreadsheet) files in Zoho Books.
Export Lists
You can export the list of Customers and Vendors from QuickBooks. Here’s how:
Customers
To import customers from QuickBooks:
- Login to your QuickBooks account.
- Click the Gear icon in the top right corner of the page and click Export Data.
- Enable the Customer toggle in the Lists tab and click Export to Excel.
Insight: All the customers and the sub-customers in QuickBooks will be saved as parent customers in Zoho Books.
- Customer Contact List: List of all the customers in your business.
Below is the list of fields in your import file:
QuickBooks Online | Zoho Books | Comments |
---|---|---|
Customer | Display Name | Mandatory |
Phone Numbers | Mobile Phone | Not necessary for import |
Email ID | Not necessary for import | |
Full Name | Customer/Vendor Name | Not necessary for import |
Billing Address | Billing Address | Not necessary for import |
Shipping Address | Shipping Address | Not necessary for import |
Last Modified | Last Modified Time | Not necessary for import |
Create Date | Created Time | Not necessary for import |
Last Modified By | Not necessary for import | |
Website | Website | Not necessary for import |
Delivery Method | Not necessary for import | |
Other | Not necessary for import | |
Tax Rate | Tax Rate | Mandatory |
Taxable | Taxable | Mandatory |
Resale # | Custom field | |
Credit Card # | Custom field | |
Terms | Payment Terms | Not necessary for import |
CC Expires | Custom field | |
Payment Method | Custom field | |
Customer Type | Custom field | |
Billing Street | Billing Street2 | Not necessary for import |
Billing City | Billing City | Not necessary for import |
Billing State | Billing State | Not necessary for import |
Billing ZIP | Billing Code | Not necessary for import |
Billing Country | Billing Country | Not necessary for import |
Shipping Street | Shipping Street2 | Not necessary for import |
Shipping State | Shipping State | Not necessary for import |
Shipping City | Shipping City | Not necessary for import |
Shipping Country | Shipping Country | Not necessary for import |
Last Name | Last Name | Not necessary for import |
First Name | First Name | Not necessary for import |
Shipping ZIP | Shipping Code | Not necessary for import |
Currency | Currency Code | Mandatory |
Vendors (Suppliers)
To import your vendors (suppliers) from QuickBooks:
- Login to your QuickBooks account.
- Click the Gear icon in the top right corner of the page and click Export Date.
- Enable the Suppliers toggle in the Lists tab and click Export to Excel.
Below is the list of fields in your import file:
QuickBooks Online | Zoho Books | Comments | Fields in Zoho Books which are not available in QB |
---|---|---|---|
Supplier | Vendor Display Name | Mandatory | Customer/Vendor ID |
Email ID | Not necessary for import | Taxable | |
Address | Billing Address | Not necessary for import | Tax Percentage |
Account # | Not necessary for import | Tax Type | |
First Name | First Name | Not necessary for import | Exemption ReasonState |
Website | Website | Not necessary for import | Customer/Vendor Name |
Create Date | Created Time | Not necessary for import | Salutation |
Tax ID | Not necessary for import | Skype Identity | |
Country | Billing Country | Not necessary for import | |
Created By | Not necessary for import | ||
Terms | Payment Terms | Not necessary for import | Credit Limit |
Company Name | Company Name | Not necessary for import | Price List |
City | Billing City | Not necessary for import | Notes |
Street | Billing Street2 | Not necessary for import | Customer/Vendor Address ID |
Currency | Currency Code | Mandatory | Billing Attention |
Not necessary for import | Billing Phone | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing Fax | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Attention | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Address | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Street2 | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping City | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping State | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Country | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Code | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Phone | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Fax | ||
Not necessary for import | Source | ||
Not necessary for import | Last Sync Time | ||
Not necessary for import | Status |
Export Other Modules
Import the details from other modules in QuickBooks by importing the relevant reports. Here’s how:
Items (Products and Services)
You can import the list of products and services you sell from Quick Books to Zoho Books by exporting the Products/Services List. Here’s how:
- Go to Reports from the left sidebar in QuickBooks.
- Search for the Products/Services List report.
- Click the Export icon in the top right corner of the report and click Export to Excel.
Below is the list of fields in your import file:
QuickBooks Online | Zoho Books | Comments | Fields in Zoho Books which are not available in QB |
---|---|---|---|
Product/Service | Item Name | Mandatory/ Description | Item ID |
Type | Product Type | Not necessary for import | Taxable |
Description | Description | Not necessary for import | Exemption Reason |
Price | Rate | Mandatory | Reference ID |
Cost | Purchase Rate | Mandatory | Source |
Taxable | Taxable | Not necessary for import | Last Sync Time |
Purchase Description | Purchase Description | Not necessary for import | Item Type |
Expense Account | Purchase Account | Mandatory | Usage unit |
Cost | Purchase Rate | Mandatory | Inventory Account |
Expense Account | Purchase Account | Mandatory | Initial Stock |
Preferred Vendor | Vendor | Not necessary for import | Initial Stock Rate |
Sales Transactions
Sales transactions can be imported from QuickBooks to Zoho Books using the Sales by Product Service report. Here’s how:
- Go to Reports from the left sidebar in QuickBooks.
- Search for the Sales by Product Service report.
- Click the Export icon on the top right corner of the report and click Export to Excel.
If you wish to import open Invoices you’ll have to search for the Open Invoice in the reports section and export it.
Below is the list of fields in your import file:
QuickBooks Online | Zoho Books | Comments | Fields in Zoho Books which are not available in QB |
---|---|---|---|
Date | Invoice Date | Mandatory | Invoice ID |
Num | Invoice Number | Mandatory | Estimate Number |
Customer | Customer Name | Mandatory | Invoice Status |
Qty | Quantity | Not necessary for import | Customer ID |
Sales Price | Item Price | Not necessary for import | Is Inclusive Tax |
Amount | Total | Not necessary for import | Invoice Level Tax |
Balance | Balance | Not necessary for import | Invoice Level Tax % |
Product/Service | Item Name | Not necessary for import | Invoice Level Tax Type |
SKU | Not necessary for import | Invoice Level Tax Exemption Reason | |
Taxable | Not necessary for import | Invoice Level Tax Authority | |
Create Date | Not necessary for import | Due Date | |
Last Modified | Not necessary for import | Expected Payment Date | |
Created By | Not necessary for import | Purchase Order | |
Last Modified By | Not necessary for import | Template Name | |
Client/Vendor Message | Not necessary for import | Discount Type | |
Payment Method | Not necessary for import | Is Discount Before Tax | |
A/R Paid | Not necessary for import | Entity Discount Percent | |
Open Balance | Not necessary for import | Entity Discount Amount | |
Tax Name | Item Tax | Not necessary for import | Product ID |
Foreign Net Amount | Not necessary for import | Usage unit | |
Foreign Tax Amount | Not necessary for import | Discount | |
Foreign Amount | Not necessary for import | Discount Amount | |
Not necessary for import | Expense Reference ID | ||
Not necessary for import | Sales Order Number | ||
Not necessary for import | Tax ID | ||
Not necessary for import | Item Tax % | ||
Not necessary for import | Item Tax Type | ||
Not necessary for import | Item Tax Authority | ||
Not necessary for import | Item Tax Exemption Reason | ||
Not necessary for import | Item Total | ||
Not necessary for import | Custom Charges | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Bill# | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Bill Date | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Bill Total | ||
Not necessary for import | PortCode | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Charge | ||
Not necessary for import | Adjustment | ||
Not necessary for import | Adjustment Description | ||
Not necessary for import | Round Off | ||
Not necessary for import | Sales person | ||
Not necessary for import | Payment Terms | ||
Not necessary for import | Payment Terms Label | ||
Not necessary for import | Last Payment Date | ||
Not necessary for import | Notes | ||
Not necessary for import | Terms & Conditions | ||
Not necessary for import | Recurrence Name | ||
Not necessary for import | PayPal | ||
Not necessary for import | Authorize.Net | ||
Not necessary for import | Google Checkout | ||
Not necessary for import | Payflow Pro | ||
Not necessary for import | Stripe | ||
Not necessary for import | 2Checkout | ||
Not necessary for import | Braintree | ||
Not necessary for import | Forte | ||
Not necessary for import | WorldPay | ||
Not necessary for import | Payments Pro | ||
Not necessary for import | Square | ||
Not necessary for import | WePay | ||
Not necessary for import | Razorpay | ||
Not necessary for import | GoCardless | ||
Not necessary for import | Partial Payments | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing Address | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing City | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing State | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing Country | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing Code | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing Phone | ||
Not necessary for import | Billing Fax | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Address | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping City | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping State | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Country | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Code | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Fax | ||
Not necessary for import | Shipping Phone Number |
Purchase Transactions
Import the purchase transactions from QuickBooks to Zoho Books using the Unpaid Bills report. Here’s how:
- Go to Reports from the left sidebar in QuickBooks.
- Search for the Unpaid Bills report.
- Click the Export icon on the top right corner of the report and click Export to Excel.
Prepare Exported Data for Import
- Chart of Accounts
- Trial Balance
- Reports for Customer/Vendor Balances
- Export Customer Balances
- Export Vendor Balances
- Foreign Customers/Vendors
The data that you’ve exported from QuickBooks will have to now be prepared for import. Here’s how:
Chart of Accounts
The account list that you’ve exported from QuickBooks will be imported as Chart of Accounts in Zoho Books. However, if you wish to add new accounts to Zoho Books to match them to any of your accounts in QuickBooks:
- Go to the Accountant module in Zoho Books, select Chart of Accounts, and click + New Account.
- Choose the Account Type, and enter the Account Name.
- If it is a sub-account, then check the Sub Account box and choose the parent account from the drop down.
- Enter the Account Code and a short Description of the account, if required.
If you wish to add this account to the Watchlist on the Dashboard then check the option to add to the watchlist and click Save.
Notes: Some account types in Quick Books may vary from those in Zoho Books. Ensure that you make the necessary changes before importing the import file.
Also, if you have sub-accounts, make sure to include the parent accounts in the top followed by the child accounts in the import file. Here’s how you can map the accounts:
- Click Choose File and upload the file from your system.
- On the Map Fields page, make sure that the fields in Zoho Books are mapped to the corresponding fields in your import file.
- If you want to save the mapping for future imports, then check this box.
- Click Next, and select Import.
Opening Balance
Trial Balance
You’ll have to enter the opening balance in Zoho Books. The opening balance is the closing balance in your trial balance. After you have exported it, you can get the balances for each account using the Trial Balance and update them in Zoho Books.
Reports for Customer/Vendor Payments and Balances
In QuickBooks Online
The opening balance of a customer is the total value of two major entities:
- Outstanding Invoices : Amount that you are yet to receive from your customers.
- Customer Advances : Amount that you have already received from your customers.
In QuickBooks Online, both the entities are tracked under a single account, i.e. the Accounts Receivable (A/R) account.
Similarly, the opening balance of a vendor is the total value of two major entities:
- Outstanding Bills: Amount that you owe your vendors.
- Vendor Advances: Amount that you have already paid your vendors.
Both the entities are tracked under a single account, i.e. the Accounts Payable (A/P) account in QuickBooks Online.
In Zoho Books
In Zoho Books both the outstanding invoices and the advance payments of customers are tracked under two different accounts:
- Outstanding Invoices: Accounts Receivable (A/R)
- Customer Advances: Unearned Revenue
Similarly, both the outstanding bills and advance payments of vendors are tracked under two different accounts:
- Outstanding Bills: Accounts Payable (A/P)
- Vendor Advances: Prepaid Expenses
Now let’s see how to export customer and vendor balances from QuickBooks Online.
Export Customer Balances
The Accounts Receivable (A/R) report contains the details of Outstanding Invoices and Customer Advances.
To export the Accounts Receivable (A/R) report:
- Log in to your QuickBooks Online account. Go to the Reports module and select the Trial Balance report.
- Click the value in the Accounts Receivable (A/R) field.
- Select Transaction Type in the Group By filter.
- Click the Run Report button.
- Click the Export icon in top of the page and select Export to PDF or Export to Excel.
When you filter this report based on the Transaction Type, you can see two different types of transactions:
Invoices The transactions listed here will contain all the Outstanding Invoices of the customer.
Payments The transactions listed here will contain all the Customer Advances of each customer.
Export Vendor Balances
Next, you’ll have to import into Zoho Books two major entities for your vendors:
- Outstanding Bills
- Vendor Advances
These can be obtained from the Accounts Payable (A/P) account.
To export the Accounts Payable (A/P) report:
- Go to the Reports module in QuickBooks Online.
- Select the Trial Balance report.
- Click the value in the Accounts Payable (A/P) field.
- Select Transaction Type in the Group By filter.
- Click the Run report button.
- Click the Export icon in top of the page and select Export to PDF or Export to Excel.
When you filter this report based on the Transaction Type, you can see two different types of transactions:
Bills The transactions listed here will contain all the Outstanding Bills of the vendor.
Payments The transactions listed here will contain all the Vendor Advances of each vendor.
Overseas Customers and Vendors
If you deal with your overseas customers/vendors in different currencies and have created transactions for them in QuickBooks Online, you can get their opening balances as well.
- Go to the Reports module in QuickBooks Online.
- Select the Trial Balance report.
- Click the value in the Accounts Receivable (A/R) field for customers and Accounts Payable (A/P) field for vendors.
- Click the Settings icon in the top right corner of the report.
- Select the Foreign Amount and Exchange Rate fields.
- Click the Run report button.
- Click the Export icon in top of the page and select Export to PDF or Export to Excel.
For each currency, the A/R and A/P reports will be created separately. You can save these reports based on the currency name. For example, if you are exporting Dirhams (AED), then you can save the report as A/R in AED.
Once done, you will be able to view all the outstanding invoices and advance payments done by your overseas customers. This will be used as your exchange rate for that particular customer in Zoho Books.
When you import the balances of your overseas customers or vendors into Zoho Books, you’ll need to convert them into their base currency by taking the Average Exchange Rate for each currency. In Zoho Books, all these currencies will be tracked under one account.
The customers and vendors will be grouped as per their currency in the Accounts Receivable (A/R) account.
Overseas Vendors
You can follow similar steps for getting the balances of your overseas vendors. Here’s how:
- Go to the Reports module in QuickBooks.
- Select the Trial Balance report.
- Click the value in the Accounts Payable (A/P) field.
- Click the Settings icon in the top right corner of the report.
- Select the Foreign Amount and Exchange Rate fields.
- Click the Run report button.
- Click the Export icon on top of the page and select Export to PDF or Export to Excel.
For each currency, the A/P report will be created separately. You can save these reports based on the currency name. For example, if you are exporting Dirhams (AED), then you can save the report as A/P in AED. However, when importing them into Zoho Books, all these foreign currency amounts will be tracked under one account, irrespective of their currencies.
After doing this, you will be able to view all the outstanding bills and advance payments for your vendors. Calculate the average exchange rate of all the exchange rates of any currency, and this would be used as your exchange rate for the particular vendor in Zoho Books.
Import the Data into Zoho Books
Data can be imported from QuickBooks Online to Zoho Books in two ways:
Import Transactions of the Current Financial Year (Recommended)
Enter the Opening Balance Date as the date on which you begin the current financial year and bring in your current, as well as the transactions before the opening balance date.
After this, enter the closing balance of each account as on that date and import the corresponding open transactions into Zoho Books.
We recommend that you use this approach to import data into Zoho Books. We’ll be following this approach in this help document.
Import Historical Data
Enter the Opening Balance Date as the date on which you started your business and bring in all the transactions you have created since that date.
Let’s say, you have started your business on 21 February 2011. You can enter the opening balance date as 21 February 2011 and import all the open transactions you have carried out from that date until the current date.
Import Data for Each Module
Now, let’s see how you can import all your data from QuickBooks Online to Zoho Books based on the reports that you’ve exported.
Notes: Before you import your data into Zoho Books, you’ll have to make sure that the import file has the recognised format for GST related information.
Insight: If you have attachments, you can download them from QuickBooks and import them into Zoho Books as Documents and manually match them with the transactions. However, we are working on a tool that would automatically match the Transaction ID with the attachments. We’ll update this space once it’s ready.
For a smooth migration, import the modules into Zoho Books in the given order:
- Chart of Accounts
- Customers and Vendors
- Items
- Opening Balance
- Sales and Purchases
- Sync Transactions
- Banking
Chart of Accounts
The Chart of Accounts refers to the list of accounts that are used in a company’s general ledger. The Accounts List report in QuickBooks Online is the equivalent of the Chart of Accounts module in Zoho Books (you would have already exported this report in earlier steps).
The Chart of Accounts in Zoho Books consists of a list of predefined accounts, most of which will be similar to the accounts in QuickBooks Online. So, when you’re importing your accounts into Zoho Books, you can skip the duplicate accounts and import just the additional accounts that you have.
Notes: All the accounts and sub accounts from QuickBooks will be imported as Parent accounts in Zoho Books. You can mark them as sub accounts after importing.
To import the chart of accounts into Zoho Books:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to the Accountant module in the left sidebar.
- Select Chart of Accounts.
- Click the Settings icon in the top right corner of the page.
- Select Import Chart of Accounts.
- Click Choose File and upload the import file from your system (refer the Accounts List report). Click the sample file to download and view the format of import file to make the necessary changes in the file before uploading it.
- Click Next.
- In the Map Fields page, make sure that the fields in Zoho Books are mapped to the corresponding fields in your import file.
- If you wish to Save these selections for use during future imports to use similar format for imports in the future, mark the corresponding box.
- Click Next.
- Click Import in the Preview page.
After this, the Chart of Accounts will be imported into Zoho Books.
Customers and Vendors
After importing your Chart of Accounts, import your customers and vendors into Zoho Books.
The Customer Contact List and the Vendor Contact List reports in QuickBooks Online is the equivalent of the Customers and Vendors module in Zoho Books (you would have already exported these reports in earlier steps).
Mandatory Fields There are a few mandatory fields for Customers and Vendors in Zoho Books. While importing them, make sure you include the following fields in the import file:
- Customer/Vendor Display Name
- Tax Name
- Tax Authority
- Tax Percentage
If you have enabled sales tax in your Zoho Books organisation, these fields will be available in the import file. If you are not able to find these fields in the sample file in Zoho Books, then add them as custom fields after which, they will appear in the sample file.
You can also include additional fields for your customers/vendors by creating custom fields in Zoho Books and mapping these fields to the fields in the import file (Map Fields page).
You can either add your customers and vendors manually , or you can import them.
Import Customers and Vendors:
To import your customers and vendors into Zoho Books:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to Sales > Customers (for customers) and Purchases > Vendors (for vendors).
- Click the Hamburger icon in the top right corner of the page.
Select Import Customers or Import Vendors.
Select Customers and click Continue.
- Click the Choose File button to upload the import file (refer to the Customer Contact List report). You can download a sample csv or a sample xls file to view the format of the import. You can also choose to Skip or Overwrite the Duplicate Records.
- Click Next.
- In the Map Fields page, ensure that all the fields in Zoho Books are mapped correctly to the fields in the import file.
- Click Next.
- Click Import.
To manually add customers and vendors:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to Sales > Customers (for customers) and Purchases > Vendors (for vendors).
- Click the + New button in the top right corner of the page.
- Enter all the details of your customer/vendor.
- Fill in the Opening Balance. For foreign customers, you can select the Currency and enter the corresponding Exchange Rate.
- Click Save at the bottom of the page.
Items
Items are all the goods and services in your organisation.
The Product/Service List report in QuickBooks Online is the equivalent of the items present in the Items module in Zoho Books (you would exported the Product/Service List report earlier ).
Track Inventory in Zoho Books
To track inventory for your items in Zoho Books, you’ll have to enable inventory. Here’s how you can do it:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to Settings > Preferences.
- Select Items in the left sidebar.
- Mark the box I would like to enable Inventory and enter the Inventory Start Date (the date on which you migrate to Zoho Books). This date should be the same as your Opening Balance Date.
- Click Save.
Mandatory Fields
During the import, include the following fields in the import file to track inventory for your items:
- Inventory Account
- Initial Stock
- Initial Stock Rate
- Item Type (Sales, Purchase, Sales and Purchase, Inventory)
Import Items
To import your items into Zoho Books:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to the Items module in the left sidebar.
- Click the Hamburger icon in the top right corner of the page.
- Select Import Items.
- Click the Choose File button and upload the import file (refer to the Product/Service List report). You can download the sample file to view the format of the import. You can also choose to Skip or Overwrite the Duplicate Records. Make sure you enter the closing stock of each item in the Initial Stock field in the import file.
- Click Next.
- In the Map Fields page, ensure that all the fields in the import file and Zoho Books are mapped correctly (make sure that the mandatory fields mentioned above are also added and mapped correctly).
- Click Next at the bottom of the page.
- Click Import.
All your items (products and services) will be imported to Zoho Books.
Opening Balances
Opening Balances are the closing balances of different accounts in your QuickBooks Online organisation.
The Trial Balance report exported earlier from QuickBooks contains the opening balances. You will have to add all the balances in this report to Zoho Books.
While entering the opening balances in Zoho Books, make sure you enter them in the following order:
- Customers and Vendors
- Asset accounts
- Expense accounts
- Bank accounts
- Liability accounts
- Equity accounts
- Income accounts
To enter your opening balances in Zoho Books:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to Settings > Opening Balances.
- Click the Edit icon in top of the page.
In this page, you’ll be able to enter all your opening balances.
Customers and Vendors Opening Balance
There are two ways to enter the opening balances for customers:
- While creating the customer
- While importing it in the opening balances module
Notes: If you have added the opening balances of your customers while creating or importing them, you’ll not be able to import the balances.
To import your customers’ balances in the Opening Balances module:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to Settings > Opening Balances.
- Click the Edit icon on top of the page.
- Under the Accounts Receivable section, click the link to import opening balances.
- Click the Choose File button and upload the import file. You can download the sample file to view the format of the import file.
- Click Next.
- In the Map Fields page, ensure that all the fields in the import file and Zoho Books are mapped correctly.
- Click Next at the bottom of the page.
- Click Import.
After this, you would have successfully imported all your customers’ opening balances.
Notes: Opening balances can be imported only if the customers already exist in Zoho Books.
Assets
The inventory asset and other asset accounts will be listed here. Enter the balances against the corresponding accounts.
Expenses
Enter the opening balances for the different expense accounts in your organization. Enter the balances against the corresponding accounts.
Bank
If you have added any bank accounts in Zoho Books, you’ll be able to view them here. Enter the bank balance for these accounts.
Liability
Liabilities and Other Current Liabilities will be listed here. Enter the account balances against the corresponding accounts.
Equity
Accounts such as Drawings, Retained Earnings and Owner’s Equity will be listed here. Enter the balances against the corresponding accounts.
Income
Accounts related to your business income such as Sales, Discounts, etc,. will be listed under the Income section. Enter the balances against the corresponding accounts.
- Once you’ve entered the opening balances of all the accounts, click Continue, verify if you’ve entered the balances correctly, then click Confirm.
- Click OK in the confirmation pop-up.
You have now successfully entered the opening balances.
After you’ve made changes to all the accounts mentioned below, follow these steps:
- After entering the opening balances of different accounts, click Continue at the bottom of the page.
- Click Confirm to save the opening balances.
Notes: You’ll be able to see an additional column Available Balance. The value in this column will be populated based on the transactions that you have created before the opening balance date.
You can add new account(s) under any category by clicking + New in the respective category.
The opening balances in Zoho Books can be edited at any point of time.
If you’re migrating in the middle of a financial year and would like to bring in the transactions after the opening balance date into Zoho Books, import these post-dated transactions after entering your opening balances.
Sales and Purchases
The outstanding invoices or bills and advance payments from your customers and vendors in QuickBooks can be used to import sales and purchase transactions.
If you have already entered the opening balances of your customers, you’ll not be able to bring in their open transactions. The pre-dated transactions will sync with the opening balances.
Let us see how to bring in the following transactions into Zoho Books:
Sales
Sales transactions mostly include your invoices and the payments that you received from your local and overseas customers. You’ll have to import two major aspects in the sales transactions:
- Outstanding invoices
- Customer advances
As the opening balances (Customer Balances) for the customers have been imported while creating the customer, it is not necessary to create or import open invoices again. The open customer advances will however have to be imported.
As the opening balances (Customer Balances) for the customers have been imported while creating them, it is not necessary to create or import open invoices again. The open customer advances will however have to be imported.
If you had exported the Accounts Receivables (A/R) report from QuickBooks Online the Payments section will contain all the payments received from different customers. Import these details into Zoho Books. Here’s how:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to Sales > Payments Received.
- Click the Hamburger icon in the top right corner of the page.
- Select Import Payments.
- Click the Choose File button and upload the import file. You can download the sample file to view the format of the import.
- In the Map Fields page, ensure that all the fields in the import file and Zoho Books are mapped correctly.
- Click Next at the bottom of the page.
- Click Import.
The customer advances will be imported to Zoho Books.
Notes: The open transactions should be dated before the opening balance date.
Purchases
Purchase transactions mostly include your bills and the payments that you have made to your local and overseas vendors. You’ll have to import two major aspects in the purchase transactions:
- Outstanding bills
- Vendor advances
If you had exported the Accounts Payables (A/P) report from QuickBooks Online the Payments section will contain all the outstanding bills and payments made to vendors.
You’ll first have to import your bills into Zoho Books, followed by the payments you receive from various vendors.
To import the open vendor advances:
- Go to Purchases > Payments Made.
- Click the Hamburger icon in the top right corner of the page.
- Select Import Payments.
- Click the Choose File button and upload the import file. You can download the sample file to view the format of the import.
- In the Map Fields page, ensure that all the fields in the import file and Zoho Books are mapped correctly.
- Click Next at the bottom of the page.
- Click Import.
Your open vendor advances will be imported.
After importing your bills, vendor advances and customer advances, you would’ve successfully imported all your pre-dated open transactions (transactions before the opening balance date).
Also, if you have inventory items and wish to bring in the closed transactions of the previous financial year as well, then:
- Import the stock increasing transactions, i.e. bills, credit notes, etc. first, followed by the stock reducing transactions, i.e invoices, debit notes, etc.
- Imported the transactions in the ascending order of their date.
Notes: If you have Jobs in QuickBooks Online, you can create them as Projects inside Zoho Books.
Sync Transactions
After you have imported all the required transactions, it is important that you check if they’ve been properly synced with the Opening Balances. Only then will you get accurate account values in the Trial Balance report.
If you had imported transactions that are dated on or before the migration date, then you need to sync them manually with the Opening Balances in Zoho Books. To do this:
- Go to Settings > Opening Balances.
- The number of transactions that are backdated will be listed here.
- Click Sync.
Banking
With Zoho Books, you can add your bank account and fetch live bank feeds. You can also import your bank statements manually.
Live Bank Feeds
If you choose to fetch live feeds from your bank, fetch the feeds from the date you’ve entered the opening balance, as there is a chance of automatically fetching the previous financial year’s statements.
To add a bank account and fetch live bank feeds:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to the Banking module in the left sidebar.
- Click the Add Bank or Credit Card button in the top right corner of the page.
- Select a bank from the list of popular banks or type in the search bar to find your bank.
- Enter the credentials of the bank that you’ve selected and accept the Terms & Conditions.
- Click Continue to connect to your bank account.
Import Bank Statements
To import bank statements, add a bank or credit card account manually in Zoho Books and upload their statements. Here’s how you can do it:
- Log in to your Zoho Books account.
- Go to the Banking module in the left sidebar.
- Click the Add Bank or Credit Card button in the top right corner of the page.
- Click the Enter your account manually button at the bottom of the page.
- Enter the bank or credit card details. You can make this bank account the primary account by marking the box Make this primary.
- Click Save.
After you’ve added a bank or credit card account, you can import their statements by clicking the Import Statement button. You can also record transactions for them in Zoho Books by clicking Add Transaction and selecting the required transaction.
Notes: The transactions for the last 90 days only can be fetched into Zoho Books.
What You Can Do after Migrating
Now that you have migrated to Zoho Books successfully, you can customise your organisation further. You can set up payment gateways to accept online payments or integrate with other apps such as Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics.
Zoho Books also has many features that you can utilise to streamline your accounting process, here’s some of them to get you started:
- Transaction approvals
- Auto-charge for recurring transactions
- Template customisation
- Payment reminders
- Client Portal
If you have any queries about the integration, you can write to us at support@zohobooks.com.