To import CSV into QuickBooks Online, open Settings, choose Import data, and pick the data type: customers, vendors, chart of accounts, products and services, invoices, journal entries or another listed type. Upload the CSV or Excel file, map each column to a QuickBooks field, review the rows and import. Keep each file under 1,000 rows.
Which QuickBooks data types accept a CSV import?
QuickBooks Online accepts a CSV import for lists and for many transaction types. The lists are customers, vendors, the chart of accounts, products and services, classes, employees and locations. The transactions include invoices, bills, checks, deposits, estimates, expenses, journal entries, purchase orders, sales receipts, time activities and bank data. Each type is chosen under Settings, Import data.
Intuit's US article Common questions about importing data to QuickBooks Online gives that list and a few rules that apply to every type:
- Import lists first: chart of accounts, customers, vendors, employees, classes, locations, then products and services. Transactions can follow in any order.
- Each spreadsheet must have fewer than 1,000 rows. Split a longer file and import the parts separately.
- QuickBooks uses the first row for mapping and does not import it, so the file needs a header row.
- Only specific fields can be imported for each type. The sample file on each import screen shows which.
- Bill imports are limited to QuickBooks Online Advanced and higher in the US. Other plans use the bulk bill upload on the Bills page.
The table below is the concrete version. Required columns are listed only where Intuit's article for that type names them; for the rest, the sample file on the import screen is the reference.
| Import type | Required columns | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices | Invoice number, Customer, Invoice date, Due date, Item amount | Import multiple invoices at once |
| Journal entries | Journal No., Journal Date, Account Name, Journal/Description, Debits, Credits | Import journal entries |
| Products and services | Not listed; name, description, SKU, income and expense accounts are formatted fields | Import products and services into QuickBooks Online |
| Customers, vendors | Not listed; columns are matched to QuickBooks fields on screen | Import customers or vendors from email contacts |
| Chart of accounts, others | Download the sample file from Import data | Common questions about importing data |
Some things cannot come in by file at all. On the invoice import, Intuit says negative charges such as discounts or credit memos are not allowed. The products and services article warns that an imported list cannot be undone. And the Import data screen is for QuickBooks Online; QuickBooks Desktop uses its own menu, covered further down.
Bank transactions follow a different path from everything above. They are uploaded from the bank account itself rather than through Import data; the guide to importing bank transactions into QuickBooks Online shows where that upload lives.
Field mapping for customer and vendor CSV imports
Field mapping for a customer or vendor CSV import means matching each column in your file to a QuickBooks contact field on the import screen. Columns with no QuickBooks equivalent are set to No Match and skipped. Names must be unique across customers, vendors and employees, so one name cannot be both a customer and a vendor.
Intuit's Import customers or vendors from email contacts to QuickBooks Online article gives the steps. Go to Settings, then Import Data, and choose Customers or Vendors. Upload the file or connect a Google Sheet, select Next, map each field, review the contacts and clear any you do not want, then select Import.
The same article sets the file rules:
- Up to 2MB or 1,000 rows per file.
- Column headers in row 1 of the first sheet, with no blank rows, formulas, charts or error cells.
- No colons or quotation marks in names.
- Sub-accounts cannot be imported. Convert them to parent accounts before the import.
The column most worth checking is the display name. It is the name QuickBooks uses to match invoices to customers later, and the invoice import requires customer names that match exactly. A customer list where one row says "Fernhill Landscaping" and an invoice file says "Fernhill Landscaping LLC" will fail to match or create a second customer.
Transactions imported later reference accounts as well as names. When the same CSV will later feed transactions that reference accounts, it helps to have the client's account list beside it. Exporting that list is covered in exporting the chart of accounts from QuickBooks Online.
Importing invoices into QuickBooks from CSV
Importing invoices into QuickBooks from CSV takes one row per invoice line, with each row carrying its invoice number, customer, invoice date, due date and line amount. Rows that share an invoice number become one invoice. A file can hold up to 1,000 rows and 100 invoices, and negative lines such as discounts are not allowed.
Intuit's US article Import multiple invoices at once states one limit to check before anything else: if sales tax is set up in the QuickBooks account, invoices cannot be imported this way. Check the client's sales tax settings first.
The steps, from the same article:
- Go to Settings and select Import data.
- Select Invoices, then Upload a file to import data.
- Optionally, check the box to add customers that are not yet in QuickBooks.
- Select Browse, choose the file and select Next.
- Map each column to an invoice field. Required fields carry an asterisk; set unused fields to Not applicable.
- Choose the date format the file uses.
- Select Next, review the summary and select Start import.
Products and services in the file should already exist in QuickBooks. If one is missing, the article says QuickBooks fills in a generic item called "sales". Intuit's invoice import guide adds two details: item names must match QuickBooks exactly, including category and subcategory, and your own invoice numbers are kept only if "Custom transaction numbers" is turned on.
A three-line invoice CSV
This example uses fictional customers and a fictional firm client. All names, numbers and amounts are made up. The headers follow the sample in Intuit's invoice import guide:
InvoiceNo,Customer,InvoiceDate,DueDate,Terms,Item(Product/Service),ItemDescription,ItemQuantity,ItemRate,ItemAmount
1081,Harbor Gift Shop,03/01/2027,03/31/2027,Net 30,Wholesale Mugs,Stoneware mug 12oz,48,9.50,456.00
1081,Harbor Gift Shop,03/01/2027,03/31/2027,Net 30,Wholesale Bowls,Serving bowl large,12,22.00,264.00
1082,Market Street Fair,03/04/2027,03/19/2027,Net 15,Booth Fee Rebill,March booth share,1,120.00,120.00
Lines one and two share invoice number 1081, so QuickBooks creates one invoice for Harbor Gift Shop totalling 720.00. Line three becomes invoice 1082 for 120.00. Every line repeats the customer and both dates, because the article says each line item needs them.
Client invoices often start as PDFs rather than spreadsheets. Reading the line items out of a PDF invoice, and the other ways invoice data gets captured, are covered across the receipts and invoices category.
Does the QuickBooks import tool take Excel files or only CSV?
The QuickBooks Online import tool takes Excel files as well as CSV. Intuit's Common questions article lists CSV, Google Sheets and XLS or XLSX as accepted formats for the Import data screen. Some import types are written around CSV, such as invoices and journal entries.
For those two, saving the workbook as CSV before uploading is the safe choice. The invoice article asks for a CSV when you use your own spreadsheet instead of the sample file, and Intuit's Import journal entries steps are written for a CSV file. The products and services article, Import products and services into QuickBooks Online, accepts an Excel or CSV file or a connected Google Sheet.
QuickBooks Desktop works differently. Intuit's US article Import and export data in QuickBooks Desktop says to use Excel or CSV files for general transfer of lists and transactions, and names the chart of accounts, customers and jobs, vendors and items among the lists. It also warns that an import cannot be undone, so back up the company file first.
A saved Excel file and a CSV can differ in ways that matter. A workbook can hold several sheets, formulas and merged cells; a CSV holds one sheet of plain values. Intuit's customer article asks for headers on the first sheet and no formulas, so converting to CSV and opening the result in a text editor is a quick way to see exactly what QuickBooks will read.
CSV import limits and the duplicate-name trap in QuickBooks
The main CSV import limits in QuickBooks Online are fewer than 1,000 rows per file, 2MB per contact file, and 100 invoices per invoice import. The duplicate-name trap is separate: a contact already in QuickBooks cannot be imported again, and re-importing a contact file does not overwrite existing records.
Intuit's Common questions article says a contact that already exists cannot be imported, and the fix is to rename the duplicate before import. The customer and vendor article adds that re-importing does not overwrite existing records and can create duplicates; it says to make the imported entries inactive before re-importing. The Common questions article also says there is no option to bulk undo or delete imported contacts, so sorting the file before the first import is cheaper than cleaning up a doubled contact list afterward.
Products and services behave the other way. The products article offers an overwrite checkbox that replaces details of existing items with the same name. It also warns that imports cannot be undone, so the overwrite should be run only on a file you have checked.
Journal entries have their own duplicate rule. The journal entry article says that if "Warn if duplicate journal number is used" is on, entries with numbers already in use may not import. The other journal import rules, for subaccounts and account numbers, are in the section on ledgers and journal entries in a QuickBooks Online export.
A firm moving a client's lists in can avoid most of this with one pass before import:
- Sort the file by name and remove exact and near duplicates.
- Compare it with the client's existing lists and drop names already present.
- Check that no name appears as both a customer and a vendor.
- Count rows and split the file if it reaches 1,000.
Schema CPA reads client invoices, receipts and statements and exports what it extracts as Excel or CSV; it has no connection to QuickBooks, so the firm imports the file through these same screens. The pricing section lists Excel and CSV export on the Free plan. Which import screen fits each kind of extracted file is mapped out in the guide to exporting to QuickBooks Online.