Exporting payroll journal entries

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myPay Solutions Direct enables you to create export files (XML or IIF) with transactions for payroll liabilities, which you can then import into other applications, including QuickBooks Pro.

When creating these files, you have the option to specify a range of entries to include in the file and to specify file-creation preferences.

Special information for your QuickBooks client data

When you use the Export Transactions screen to export transactions, Accounting CS creates the following export files.

  • QBTrans.<client ID>PRD<end date selected on export> – includes detailed information on payroll checks and vendor payments based on options selected for export.
  • QBTrans.<client ID>PRS<end date selected on export> – includes summary information on payroll checks (P89 entry) and impound liabilities based on options selected for export.
  • QBChart.<client ID><end date selected on export> – includes the Accounting CS Chart of Accounts.

If you are importing a Chart of Accounts, first import data from the QBChart.<client ID><end date selected on export> file. Then, depending on the other information you exported, import data from either or both of the other two files.

Note: The application matches accounts based on the account description. QuickBooks limits the account description to 31 characters, while Accounting CS allows up to 120 characters. When you import data from the Chart of Accounts IIF file, the application truncates the account description to meet the 31-character limit. When you import data from the payroll journal entries IIF file, the application does not truncate account descriptions. Therefore, it is unable to match the account description to an existing account, and it creates a new (duplicate) bank account for each account it does not recognize. If this happens, we recommend that you modify the account descriptions in Accounting CS (using 31 or fewer characters) and then recreate the IIF files.

Creating the export file in Accounting CS

  1. Choose File > Export > Transactions.
  2. Mark the Payroll journal entries checkbox, if it is not already marked, and then click the Options button.
  3. In the Export Options dialog, note the location to which the export file will be saved. You cannot modify this location .
  4. In the Dates section, specify the date range for the transactions you want to export.
  5. In the File Creation section, mark the applicable checkboxes, and then click OK to save these options.
  6. In the Export Transactions screen, mark the checkbox for each client for which you want to export payroll journal entry transactions.
  7. If necessary, click the Client Options button next to a client in the grid to open the Client Options dialog, where you can verify the application to which you are exporting, modify the details to include in the file, and update the references for each type of entry for that client.
  8. Click the Export button to create the files in the default folder location; from there you can import them into another application or send them via email.
    The export file is named Trans.<CLIENT> - PR<MMDDYY>.xml, where <CLIENT> represents the ID of the client in Accounting CS and PR<MMDDYY> represents the payroll period end date specified in the export date range. If the Include client name in the file name checkbox is marked in the Export Options dialog, the export file is named Trans.<CLIENTNAME> - <CLIENT> - PR<MMDDYY>.xml.

The bank account name in myPay Solutions Direct must be the same as the bank account name in Accounting CS. Please let your Payroll Specialist know what your bank account name is before you begin exporting journal entries.

Importing data into QuickBooks

  1. In QuickBooks, choose File > Utilities > Import > IIF Files. Show me.
  2. In the Import dialog, select the IIF file to import, and then click the Open button.
  3. QuickBooks displays a prompt stating that the data has been imported. Click OK.

Troubleshooting

The following situations may cause errors during the export and/or subsequent import of payroll journal entries.

  • One or more accounts in Accounting CS use the same description as QuickBooks, but the account type in Accounting CS is different than the type in QuickBooks.
  • QuickBooks does not recognize the accounts used for the exported transactions because the Accounting CS account numbers do not match the QuickBooks accounts. To prevent this from happening, we recommend that you either import the Chart of Accounts IIF file before importing the transactions, or that you manually add the accounts in QuickBooks.
  • The account description for QuickBooks transactions does not match the account description in Accounting CS. Because QuickBooks does not require account numbers (only account descriptions), the descriptions must match exactly for the transactions to import correctly.

Example: exporting QuickBooks data with accounts and subaccounts

You use a handful of accounts for which the main account type is Insurance Expense, and you use a subaccount for each type of insurance. In this example, we will use Insurance Expense General as the account and subaccount.

When you imported the QuickBooks data into Accounting CS, it created the following accounts:

  • Insurance Expense
  • Insurance Expense:General (no spaces around the colon)

In the IIF file, any transactions posted to the main account are listed as an Insurance Expense, while transactions posted to the subaccount are listed as Insurance Expense:General.

To ensure that these transactions are posted correctly in QuickBooks, the descriptions must match exactly. If the descriptions do not match, the application creates a new account (using the Accounting CS description contained in the IIF file) in QuickBooks during the import.

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