For QuickBooks Desktop products, you can download an IIF file to import transactions into QuickBooks. Before importing any transactions with an IIF file, please read through this article and backup your company file in QuickBooks, as imports are not reversible.
Setup QuickBooks IIF Export Settings
Under Organization Settings > Accounting, select "QuickBooks IIF" to customize the accounts and items used to generate the invoices and payments in QuickBooks.
Our default settings match the typical default settings in QuickBooks. However your accountant may have setup your accounts differently, so please consult with your accountant if you are unsure about these settings. Any account or item in these settings that does not exist in QuickBooks would be automatically created by QuickBooks when the IIF file is imported, no error will be reported by QuickBooks.
Once you have configured your settings, remember to click on "Save & Continue" at the bottom of the page.
Exporting An IIF File
You can export an IIF file from several places:
1. From the Dashboard > Financial page, you can select a date range (at the top left corner) of transactions to export, and click on "Export QuickBooks" to download the IIF file. You will be prompted to select the types of transactions (membership, events, cart, donation, other) to export.
2. From each event's dashboard, you can click on "Export QuickBooks" to export the event payments for just this event.
3. From each form under Forms Carts Donations, you can click on "Export QuickBooks" to export the payments for just this form.
IMPORTANT: Do not import the same transaction twice into QuickBooks - this will create duplicate transactions. There is no way for QuickBooks Desktop to determine if the transaction has previously been imported. There is also no way to update an existing transaction in QuickBooks Desktop, for example to reflect a subsequent refund.
To prevent duplicate transactions, we recommend exporting in such a way that you would not overlap any transactions from one export to the next. Some simple rules:
1. If you export by dates from the Dashboard > Financial, once you have imported transactions for a certain date make sure you do not overlap that date in the future. For example, only export once a month for the previous month from Dashboard > Financial.
2. If you export from each event, make sure you do not also export event transactions from the Dashboard > Financial. Also only export after the event is closed and all transactions have been finalized.
3. If you export from each form, make sure you do not also export cart and donation transactions from the Dashboard > Financial. Also only export after the form is closed and all transactions have been finalized.
Importing An IIF File Into QuickBooks
From QuickBooks, go to File > Utilities > Import > IIF Files, and select the IIF file you downloaded.
During the import note any error messages reported by QuickBooks.
How Transactions Are Generated
Each financial transaction - membership payment, event payment and forms/carts/donations payment - generates:
1. An Invoice (from QuickBooks - Customer > Create Invoices)
2. A Customer Payment for the gross payment (Customer > Receive Payments)
3. A General Journal Entry for the transaction fee (Company > Make General Journal Entries)
Note that the transaction fee entry is not created if there is no transaction fee recorded for the payment.
The invoice will reflect the name and address, and the items on the transaction. For membership payments, the invoice will list the membership level, membership add-ons, and any discount or adjustment. For event payments, the invoice will list the event tickets purchased. For forms/carts/donation payments, the invoice will list the items purchased.
Each type of transaction - membership, events, donations, cart and other - is exported as a different QuickBooks item (under Lists > Item List in QuickBooks) that you setup under the IIF export settings. It is not possible to have a different QuickBooks item for each specific membership level, event ticket, or cart item. However the description for each line in the invoice will reflect the specific membership level, event ticket name, or cart item.
Applying Payments To Invoices
One limitation of the IIF format is that payments cannot be attributed or applied to an invoice. By generating the invoice and payment, we ensure your Customer balance, Accounts Receivables, balance sheet and P&L are correct. However it will appear in QuickBooks that the invoices are not paid. You can manually apply the payment to the invoice by clicking on the "Apply Credit" button from the invoice screen.
Common Error: Cannot Add Customer - Name Already Exists
This error indicates that you have another entity in QuickBooks - a vendor, other name, sales rep, etc - with the same name as the customer the invoice refers to. QuickBooks does not allow a customer to have the same name as a vendor, other name or sales rep. You will need to rename the vendor, other name or sales rep to resolve the conflict.
Common Error: Invalid transaction
This error indicates that one or more of your export settings under Organization Settings > Accounting is invalid. Please check the following:
- From your QuickBooks program go to Chart of Accounts:
- Make sure all accounts listed in Organization Settings > Accounting match existing accounts in QuickBooks. The names must match exactly. Do not include account numbers in the settings if account numbers are not actually part of the "Account Name" under the account settings in QuickBooks.
- The Invoice Account setting must match a "Accounts Receivable" type account in QuickBooks
- The Deposit Account (credit card and other) settings must match a "Bank" or "Other Current Assets" type accounts in QuickBooks
- The Tax Account setting must match a "Other Current Liabilities" type account in QuickBooks
- The Fee Account setting must match a "Expense" type account in QuickBooks
- The Sales Account (Membership, Event, Donation, Cart, Handling and Other) settings must match "Income" type accounts in QuickBooks
- From QuickBooks go to Item List:
- Again make sure that all the Invoice Items listed in Organization Settings > Accounting match existing items in the QuickBooks Item List. The names must match exactly.
- For each item in QuickBooks, go to the item settings. Each item should have the "Account" setting set to the Income account in QuickBooks that matches the corresponding Sales Accounts you listed under Organization Settings > Accounting
- Finally in QuickBooks, go to the Vendors and Other Names list, and make sure none of your member or event registrant names are on those lists. If they are, you will need to delete or rename the existing Vendor or Other Name entry so there is no conflict. QuickBooks does not allow a Customer to have the same name as a Vendor or Other Name.
Common Error: Sales Tax Error Importing IIF To QuickBooks 2019+
If you receive an error "There is an invalid reference to QuickBooks Item Sales Tax ... in the Invoice" when importing the IIF file with 2019+ versions of QuickBooks, this is due to a bug in the QuickBooks IIF review system for invoices that report a sales tax amount of 0. To bypass this error, click on the "Import it for me. I'll fix it later" link at the bottom of the import dialog box:
Note: make sure these are the only errors reported by QuickBooks. Other errors should be resolved/fixed first before using the "Import it for me" link.