WHERE: View > Import or Export
Accounting Software
Accounting Software – Export data from your old accounting software and import those files into Saasu.
Spreadsheets
Use or create spreadsheet data and tell Saasu how to treat that data using our easy data mapping tools and import formats.
Sample Import files: Service Sale | Item Sale | Chart of Accounts | Contacts | Inventory Items
Sample Mappings: Service sale file | Item sale file
Please note your browser may display these Sample Import Files in your browser. To download them simply right-click and choose “Save Link As..” or the equivalent depending on your browser. You can then download these Sample Import Files and prepare them with your data for uploading (importing) into Saasu.
Import Contacts
You can import your Contact records into Saasu. We support Comma-separated value files (CSV).
- (CSV) As long as ONE of the required headers exist – see below
- MYOB CSV (or TXT) It must match this formats headers and number of columns. It doesn’t matter if it’s a TXT or a CSV file as long as both are "Comma Separated" when you export them from MYOB.
Spreadsheet (CSV) Requirements
- A header record must always be present in the first row. Either First Name, Last Name or Organisation is required.
- Optional headers can be omitted from the CSV file.
- The ordering of the columns does not really matter. However, we encourage you to stick with default column ordering if you are importing from 3rd party software systems as this is what we tend to test against.
- Line breaks in fields should be specified using a ‘|’ (pipe) character.
Saasu’s Import Behaviour
Once you click the “Import” button, Saasu will attempt to import ALL records to your File directly if the required headers for each format are provided. It will create new records when it does this even if records already exist.
You cannot undo this once they are imported to your file without deleting these contacts 10 entries at a time. Always ensure you are importing the right records.
Format for CSV file
| Header | Required | Data rules and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Salutation | Mr. Mrs. Ms. Dr. Prof. | |
| First Name |  |
|
| Middle Initials | ||
| Last Name | |
|
| Organisation | |
|
| Organisation ABN | ||
| Organisation Website | ||
| Position | ||
| Twitter ID | ||
| Skype ID | ||
| Website | ||
| Main Phone | ||
| Home Phone | ||
| Mobile Phone | ||
| Other Phone | ||
| Fax | ||
| Contact ID | ||
| Street | ||
| City | ||
| State | ||
| Post Code | ||
| Country | ||
| Other Street | ||
| Other City | ||
| Other State | ||
| Other Post Code | ||
| Other Country | ||
| Accept Direct Deposit | ||
| Direct Deposit Account Name | ||
| Direct Deposit BSB | ||
| Direct Deposit Account Number | ||
| Accept Cheque | ||
| Cheque Payable To | ||
| Is Active | Yes, No – if no data exist the contact will be set to active | |
| Tags | ||
| Custom Field 1 | ||
| Custom Field 2 |
Import Chart of Accounts
Saasu supports import your chart of accounts from Spreadsheets (CSV) and other accounting software.
When importing spreadsheets they need to be in comma-separated value (CSV) files and a header record is required.
Import a spreadsheet with Chart of Accounts data
- Go to View > Import or Export.
- In the Import other Data sections click on Accounts.
- Select Spreadsheet (CSV) from the first drop down.
- Click Choose File and browse for the Spreadsheet (CSV) file you wish to upload.
- Click the Import button.
Once you click the Import button, Saasu will attempt to import ALL records to your File directly. You cannot undo this once they are imported to your File without deleting the file and starting again. Always ensure you are importing the right records. If you need to delete the records after importing, you will need to delete them one by one.
Format for CSV file
| Column | Required | Variable Options | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | |
Income, Expense, Asset, Equity, Liability, Other Income, Other Expense, Cost of Sales) | |
| Name | |
Alpha and/or Numeric. | A name that describes the ledger account. e.g. “Petrol” |
| Default Tax Code | Use Saasu Code names as displayed in Saasu Tax Code drop down lists. | ||
| Ledger Code | e.g. Your ledger code from your old software | ||
| Is Active | Yes, No | ||
| Is Bank Account | Yes, No | ||
| Bank Account Name | The exact name your account is in. | ||
| Branch/Route | For some countries only including USA and Australia. The branch identifier. | ||
| Bank Account Number | Full account number including any leading zero’s | ||
| Create Bank File | Yes, No | ||
| Bank Code | Unique Code used for ABA Direct Entry files. Usually three characters. e.g. WBC, SGB, CBA, NAB, ANZ | ||
| User Number | Some banks require this. ClientID for bulk payments it’s sometimes referred to as. Leave blank if you aren’t sure if you require this to process ABA Direct Entry files. | ||
| Currency | Three letter currency code e.g. USD, AUD, NZD |
Import Transactions
It is a good idea to do a test run first with no more than two or three transactions. Use an export format with only a few rows. One header row and a few transaction rows at the most. This will ensure you are happy with the result before you bring in large quantities of transactions.
- Export your spreadsheet data from your previous accounting system.
- Select View > Import and Export in the main menu.
- Select Import Transactions.
- Select the type of transaction your file contains that you are importing. Note: Only import one transaction type at a time e.g. Import Sales separately to Purchases.
- Click Browse and use the dialogue box to locate and select the CSV file.
- Choose the file format from the dropdown list, or, if the file format is not listed, create it by selecting custom.
- If you selected a format, click Review and Importto bring the transactional data into Saasu -OR-
- If you selected Custom, click Review and Import to move to the Mapping stage.
- For each column in your data file, choose the appropriate Saasu field. For service invoices, the minimum required fields are:
- Date, e.g. 2009-02-21.
- Invoice Number, or any transaction ID that groups lines that belong to the same invoice together will do.
- Line Item Account, e.g. Income: Sales. Must exist in your file before importing.
- Line Item Total Amount, e.g. 112.23.
- Line Item Tax Code, e.g. G1. Must exist in your file. See Settings > Tax Codes.
For item invoices, the minimum required fields are:
- Date.
- Line Item Quantity.
- Line Item Item Code. Must match an existing item code in Saasu.
- Line Item Unit Price.
- Line Item Total.
- Line Item Tax Code.
- If your data set has multiple line items in rows. Use the dropdown below the filed mapping area to set which column ties the transaction line items together. This is often an Invoice Number or an Order Number.
- Choose whether these are Invoices or Orders, etc, according to the stage in the transaction life cycle you are at for this data.
- Use the checkbox to set whether amounts in the file include or exclude tax.
- Give this custom format a name so it can be reused.
- Click Save.
- Start importing.
- If any error messages come up and the data fails to import, address the error message points made or, if the error isn’t identified by Saasu, create a help ticket for assistance.
Contact Creation for Transaction Import
When you import data we need to decide whether the transaction relates to an existing contact or if it’s for a new contact. If you have very basic information this can be quite difficult. For example, if your contact is “Mark” this could easily be an existing contact or someone new. To handle this we have business rules we use when deciding whether to create a new contact or use an existing one. They work like this:
| Situation | Behaviour (Business Rule) | Suggestions |
|---|---|---|
| If name, company, email, or contact ID is not specified | Set to No Contact | |
| Just first name, or last name, or first name + last name. | Create new Contact | |
| Just a Company Name | First available match in Saasu file | If user deals with multiple company, they should select first name, last name, email, and company. |
| Email only | First available match in Saasu file | |
| Just contact ID | First available match in Saasu file. If not found, Set to No Contact. | |
| Other fields are available to test | If say Firstname is available and Saasu finds a matching phone number or address it will Set to that Contact. | Saasu only relies on this if all of the above fail |
Do I need to set up my account codes before importing?
Yes, before you import data you need to have your Account codes set up in Saasu. This includes Accounts and Bank Accounts. Otherwise Saasu doesn’t know where to put the transactions when it codes them to Accounts. If you want to Import transactions without Account codes it is best to do this via the Bank Import area.
Troubleshooting files that won’t import
We recommend a quick read of wikipedia’s explanation of CSV data if you don’t have a basic understanding of CSV files.
- Missing Data – One of the most common problems encountered when importing data is a single row (or group of rows) missing data. This is caused by one or more blank cells missing when you export data from another source or edit it in a spreadsheet. A CSV file represents a blank cell by two commas. For example, a row in a CSV file with three populated cells would look like this:
X,Y,Z
- A row in a CSV file with three blank cells would look like this:
,,
- An export format in Saasu will be expecting a certain number of commas in each row of data (one between each piece of data or blank data. Sometimes Saasu generates a message such as Expecting 20 columns but only seeing 19 on Row 5. This means Row 5 (including the header row) is missing a comma. In other words, a whole data field or a blank data field is missing. To fix this you would need to ensure the columns in that specific row are aligned correctly with the header row and that enough commas are present. You can do this in a spreadsheet program. You won’t see the commas in a spreadsheet program because they aren’t displayed. You need to save the CSV file and open it in a Text Editor program like Notepad (PC) or Textmate (Mac).
- Commas- Ensure your data doesn’t include commas. In CSV files, Saasu uses commas to separate data into columns.
- Amount column formatting – Check that amounts don’t include commas. For example, 1,000.00 won’t import correctly. It needs to be formatted as 1000.00 or 1000.
- File Extensions – Ensure you have not accidentally added a double file extension – e.g. mydata.csv.csv.
To fix this, right-click the file to rename it and remove the first .csv in the name. - Date Formats- Ensure you have set the date format to dd/mm/yyyy. Some spreadsheets might automatically attempt to use US date format which has months before days – i.e. mm/dd/yyyy. Check your file in Notepad or TextMate. It’s a good idea to see what your file looks like in one of these programs.
Ensure the date format is dd/mm/yyyy and that amounts don’t include commas.
Import Items
WHERE: View > Import or Export > Items
Saasu supports importing from spreadsheet (CSV) files and some specific software packages and online applications. A header record must always be present in the first row. As long as the required headers for each format are provided, Saasu will be able to import them into your File. Optional headers can be omitted from the CSV file. The ordering of the columns does not really matter. However, we strongly encourage you to stick with our default column ordering if you are importing a file of one of the supported formats listed above.
Once you click the Import button, Saasu will attempt to import ALL records to your File directly. You cannot undo this once they are imported without deleting them one at a time so always ensure you are importing the right records.
Format for CSV file
| Header | Required | Data rules and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Code | maximum number of characters = 32 | |
| Description | maximum number of characters = 4000 | |
| Is Inventoried | Yes, No | |
| Asset Category | Only required if Yes is chosen for Is Inventoried | |
| Is Bought | Yes, No | |
| Buying Price | ||
| Is Buying Price Inc Tax | ||
| Expense Category | Only required if Yes is chosen for Is Bought AND Is Inventoried is No. | |
| Purchase Tax Code | Only required if Yes is chosen for Is Bought. Leave it blank if no tax code is applicable. For a list of valid tax codes that you can use, please sign in to your file then go to Settings > Tax Codes. | |
| Minimum Quantity for Restocking Alert | ||
| Primary Supplier First Name | ||
| Primary Supplier Last Name | ||
| Primary Supplier Organisation | ||
| Primary Supplier’s Item Code | ||
| Default Re-order Quantity | ||
| Is Sold | Yes, No | |
| Selling Price | ||
| Is Selling Price Inc Tax | ||
| Income Category | Only required if Yes is chosen for Is Sold | |
| Sale Tax Code | Only required if Yes is chosen for Is Sold. Leave it blank if no tax code is applicable. For a list of valid tax codes that you can use, please sign in to your file then go to Settings > Tax Codes. | |
| Cost Of Sales Category | Only required if Yes is chosen for Is Sold and Yes for Is Inventoried | |
| Notes | ||
| Is Active | Yes, No | |
| Is Visible | Yes, No | |
| Is Virtual | Yes, No | |
| VType |
Account and Bank Account fields
Enter value in the following format: Account Type: Account Name.
E.g.
- Asset: Computer Equipment
- Income: Sales
Valid values for Account Type:
- Income
- Expense
- Asset
- Equity
- Loan
- Other Income
- Other Expense
- Cost of Sales
Numeric Fields
Enter value without “$” and “,” signs.
E.g. 1200.23 and NOT $1,200.23
Default Re-order Quantity
This quantity can contain up to three decimal points, where as Rrp Incl. Tax can contain up to 4. If you need to enter multiple line value for description and notes, use \n to indicate a new line. As an example:
Text entered as:
This is Line 1\nThis is Line 2
Will yield:
This is Line 1
This is Line 2
Can I bulk edit my Items in a spreadsheet?
Yes in Saasu when you export and edit your Items and then re-import them Saasu updates existing entries and adds any new ones. It relies on the Item Code to do this. If you change an Item code it’s treated as new inventory. You just need to make sure that the spreadsheet tool that you use doesn’t alter the integrity of the CSV format e.g. changes data like date formats etc automatically. Make sure you save changes and keep it as CSV format. A quick test with a small sample of inventory Items is best first up to check it works with your spreadsheet program. Export the CSV from the Items list screen in Saasu, edit the Item in your spreadsheet program and then re-import having being edited to inactive.
Importing from MYOB (Australia and New Zealand)
- Export your Inventory Items from MYOB (“File > Export Data > Items”). Make sure you export all fields, comma-separated, and the first row is a header record.
- Export your Accounts from MYOB (“File > Export Data > Accounts”). Make sure you export all fields, comma-separated, and the first row is a header record.
- Click Browse to select the file containing the Inventory Items you exported from MYOB.
- Click Browse to select the file containing the Accounts you exported from MYOB. MYOB uses account number to reference Account in its exported Inventory Item file. Therefore, you need to upload a file containing MYOB Accounts for Saasu to determine which one to use.If the Account referenced by an Inventory Item does not exist in your File, Saasu will add that Account to your File automatically. Otherwise, it will use the one that is already in your File.
- As Saasu’s Tax Codes are different with MYOB Tax Codes, you need to specify how MYOB Tax Codes are mapped to Saasu Tax Codes. If you did not customise MYOB Tax Codes yourself, you can use the pre-selected mappings.
- Click “Import”.
Import Payments
You can import payments into Saasu using a simple CSV file. This is useful if you are importing payments that you wish to apply to existing Purchases or Sales. Saasu doesn’t yet have the ability to import payments and automatically allocate them to Sales or Purchase transactions. The following highlights an approach you can take to achieve this using our Import Bank Data area.
Creating an importable CSV file:
- We are going to create a Saasu.csv format file. Open a blank spreadsheet in a spreadsheet website or software.
- The first row will have data. There is no header row required for this import file. All four columns must be included even if you don’t have data in them. This data must not contain any commas. Having commas will lead to import errors because Saasu treats a comma as a delimiter (data separator) in your CSV file. The data entered is:
- Date - (dd/mm/yyyy i.e. 20/06/2007). NOTE: If you enter the month in letters, ensure there are three letters for each abbreviation of the English calendar. e.g. January = Jan.
- Amount – Negative (-) for a purchase and positive (+) for sales. No dollar signs, commas, or period formats should be used.
- Description – Transaction description e.g. Bank fees.
- Reference – Transaction reference i.e. EFT #123456.
- Save the spreadsheet file in CSV format. Sometimes you need to choose the Save As or Export As option in your spreadsheet program to do this.
- Select View > Import or Export > Import Bank Data.
- Use the Saasu.csv format to bring the data in.
- Allocate these payments to the appropriate Sales and Purchases. To do this, choose Sales with Payments if you haven’t already entered the Sale. Alternatively, choose A payment applied to Sales if you have already entered it.
During the import process (the last step above) you will be applying the appropriate accounts and tax code for the imported transactions.
Bank Data
Spreadsheet files can be exported from online banking and imported into Saasu:
- Go to Automate > Bank Feeds.
- Choose your Bank Account from the drop down.
- Click the Import link.
- Select the Bank and Select the format.
- Click Choose and select your file. Then click Import.
- Go to Automate > Bank Feeds.
It is important to check the sample file for the format you are looking at if you think your bank uses the same. Compare the sample file with your bank’s export file to see whether there are any minor differences, for example, the date format used, no dollar sign being used for amounts, extra details such as account number and business name being displayed on the top, etc.
Supported Banks
| Bank | Columns in data file |
|---|---|
| Amex | Date, Amount, Summary, Reference |
| ANZ (Australia) | Date, Amount, Description |
| ANZ (New Zealand) | Date, Amount, Description |
| Bendigo | Date, Amount, Description |
| Bank Of Queensland | Date, Description, Account, Debit, Credit |
| Bank West | BSB, Account Number, Transaction Date, Description, Cheque, Debit, Credit, Balance, Transaction Type |
| Banco Sabadell | Operation Date, Item, Value Date, Amount, Balance, Reference 1, Reference 2 |
| Citibank | Date, Summary, Amount, Empty, Empty, Account |
| Commonwealth Bank of Australia | Date, Amount, Description, Balance |
| Heritage Building Society | Date, Amount, Description |
| Illawarra Mutual Building Society (IMB) | Date, Description, Account, Debit, Credit |
| Lloyds TSB | Misc, Account Number, Date, Type, Summary, Debit, Credit, Balance |
| Macquarie Bank | Date, Category, Description, Debit, Credit, Balance |
| National Australia Bank | Date, Amount, Empty, Empty, Description, Reference |
| National Bank (New Zealand) | Category, Description, Reference1, Reference2, Reference3, Amount, Date |
| PayPal (Business) | Date, Time, Time Zone, Name, Type, Status, Currency, Gross, Fee, Net, From Email Address, To Email Address, Transaction ID, Counterparty Status, Address Status, Item Title, Item ID, Postage and Packing, Insurance Amount, VAT, Option 1 Name, Option 1 Value, Option 2 Name, Option 2 Value, Auction Site, Buyer ID, Item URL, Closing Date, Escrow ID, Invoice ID, Reference Txn ID, Invoice Number, Custom Number, Receipt ID, Balance, Address Line 1, Address Line 2/District, Town/City, State/Province/Region/County/Territory/Prefecture/Republic, Postcode, Country, Contact Phone Number |
| PayPal (Personal) | Date, Time, Time Zone, Name, Type, Status, Currency, Amount, Receipt ID, Balance |
| Qantas Credit Union | Effective Date, Entered Date, Summary, Amount |
| Royal Bank of Scotland, The | Sort Code, Account Number, Account Alias, Account Short Name, Currency, Account Type, BIC, Bank Name, Branch Name, Date, Narrative #1, Narrative #2, Narrative #3, Narrative #4, Narrative #5, Type, Debit, Credit |
| Saasu CSV | Date, Amount, Description, Reference |
| Sabadell | Operation Date, Item, Value Date , Amount, Balance, Reference 1, Reference 2 |
| Savings and Loans Credit Union | Effective Date, Entered Date, Summary, Amount |
| St George | Date, Description, Debit, Credit, Balance |
| Suncorp Metway | Date, Summary, Amount, Balance |
| Victoria Teachers Credit Union | Date, Amount, Description, Balance |
| Westpac | Bank Account, Date, Narrative, Debit Amount, Credit Amount, Categories, Serial |
| Westpac PayWay | PayWay ClientNumber, Merchant Id, Card PAN, Card CVN, Card Expiry, Customer Bank Account,Your Bank Account, Your Bank Reference, Transaction Source, Order Type, Principal Amount, Surcharge Amount, Amount, Currency, Order Number, Customer Reference Number, Customer Name, ECI, User, No Retries, Original Order Number, Original Customer Reference Number, Summary Code, Response Code, Response Text, Receipt Number, Settlement Date, Card Scheme Name, Credit Group, Transaction DateTime, Status, Authorisation Id, File Name,BPAY Ref, BPAY Ref for Excel |
| Westpac (New Zealand) | Date, Amount, Other Party, Description, Reference, Particulars, Analysis Code |
Create a Saasu CSV format
If you want to immediately import data from your bank statement, create a spreadsheet (CSV format) with these columns in the order listed:
Note: No header row is required. Data must not contain comma’s
- Date- (dd/mm/yyyy i.e. 20/06/2007) NOTE: If you enter the month in letters, make sure they are three letter abbreviations of the English calendar. e.g. January = Jan.
- Amount – Negative (-) for a purchase and positive (+) for sales. No dollar signs, commas, or period formats should be used.
- Description – Transaction description e.g. Bank fees.
- Reference – Transaction reference i.e. EFT123456.
PayPal Data
Saasu provides you the capability to import your merchant or personal PayPal statements. Before importing the statement, you need to setup an Account which is flagged as a bank account using the checkbox. This represents your PayPal account in Saasu.
Getting your PayPal data file
- Sign in to your Paypal account.
- Bring your mouse pointer over History in the Navigation Bar.
- Click on Download History.
- Enter the date range you need to import your statement for.
- Click on Comma Delimited – Completed Payments from the Files types for download pick list.
- Click on Download History.
- Save the statement onto a preferred location in your computer.
Note: Saasu only supports importing transaction in your base currency from PayPal at present. You will need to filter out and remove foreign currency transactions from your file.
Setting up a Bank Account for PayPal
A Paypal account is very similar to a day to day Bank Account, and regardless whether you are only receiving money into it or just using it for payments the running balance will never be a negative. To create a PayPal account:
- Go to Add > Bank Account
- Choose the Type to be Asset
- Enter the Account Name to be PayPal
For multi-currency PayPal accounts create one PayPal Bank Account in Saasu for each currency.
Importing your PayPal file
We will import the PayPal file via the Bank Import area:
- Go to View > Import or Export > Import Bank Data.
- Choose the PayPal bank account you set up earlier.
- Choose the bank for this import to be PayPal.
- Browse and load the file to bring in your transaction ready for finalising.
Setting up an Asset: Bank Account for PayPal
A Paypal account is very similar to a day to day Bank Account, and regardless whether you are only receiving money into it or just using it for payments the running balance will never be a negative.
