Importing inventory items into QuickBooks Point of Sale

Use your employee's time more efficiently by using mailing list software.Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty ImagesQuickbooks Point of Sale is an accounting program that tracks your small business' inventory and sales. Unlike Microsoft Excel, which enables you to create any financial tracking system from scratch, Intuit Quickbooks is dedicated software that aims to replace the cash register. If you have recorded inventory or customer information previously using Excel, Quickbooks can import this data into its own files. The program applies the Excel data to its own standard fields, creating a new spreadsheet from the one in the Excel workbook.Click "File" from the Quickbooks menu bar.Click "Utilities" from the drop-down menu.Click "Import" to launch the Data Import Wizard and click "Next."Click the option button that corresponds with the type of data in the Excel spreadsheet. The three choices are "Inventory Items, " "Vendors" and "Customers." For example, if the Excel spreadsheet tracks inventory, select "Inventory Items."Click the option button labeled "Custom file." This option increases your flexibility when translating spreadsheet headers to Quickbooks fields. Click "Next."Click "Browse." Navigate to and select your Excel workbook.Click the drop-down box labeled "Data is on sheet:" and select the sheet that you want to import. For example, if your workbook contains sheets labeled "Inventory, " "Sheet2" and "Sheet3, " select "Inventory."Enter a number in the box labeled "Data starts on row:." If your Excel sheet's first row contains column headers, type "2."Click the drop-down box labeled "Choose file mapping:" and select to open the Mappings dialog box. This box lists potential fields for the Quickbooks spreadsheet and asks you to choose the corresponding fields from the Excel spreadsheet.Click the drop-down boxes in the "Import Data:" column to select fields from the Excel spreadsheet. For example, Quickbook's "Item Description" field may correspond with your Excel sheet's "Desc." field.Click "Save" to close the Mappings dialog box. Click "Next" twice to open the wizard's final screen.

Tip

• Your source sheet will probably not have a field for each of the fields that Quickbooks offers. That is fine.