Importing Online Order Data into QuickBooks

Many small businesses use Intuit QuickBooks (http://www.quickbooks.com) for bookkeeping. While it isn't designed especially as mail order management software, it may be your current software and supplies the rudiments. For example, fields track "Ship Date," and "Ship Via," and shipping addresses.

A current Intuit FAQ answers the question "Is QuickBooks suited for a direct mail and catalog business?" this way: "It depends on the size of the business, the number of customers and the number of items sold. QuickBooks has a maximum limitation of 10,000 customers and 14,500 items. Practical limitations are half of those amounts." http://www.intuit.com/retail/products/faq-qb.html

If you decide to use QuickBooks, there are provisions for importing IIF (Intuit Interchange Format) transaction files from your online ordering system into QuickBooks.

While this gets pretty technical and will require special programming to prepare IIF files from your online order files, here are some of the basics, and places to find more information:

• IIF files are either comma- or tab-delimited, and the first line (header) of the data file contains field names.
• Prior to importing the actual sales transaction information (such as number of items, price, etc.), the new customer or account names referred to must be imported into QuickBooks.

You can learn more online at the Intuit website. http://www.intuit.com/support/quickbooks/faqs/win/1208.html

Even more information can be obtained in the QuickBooks help file accessible from within QuickBooks under "IIF file format."

Here's the caveat from the Intuit website: "Creating an IIF file or changing data from another accounting program into an IIF file is technically complex and is not recommended for those who do not have programming experience. Unless you have a very large customer database or more than 200 transactions, it may be less time-consuming and easier to enter the data directly into QuickBooks."

I would guess that writing a macro to convert data from your online order file to the correct type of IIF format would be time-intensive, but would be worth it in time and accuracy if it saves data entry over a period of months or years.

FAQs

Bridge21.com has several FAQs on importing data into QuickBooks that look similar to information in the QuickBooks help file.

Examples of transactions that can be imported into QuickBooks Software http://www.bridge21.com/faqs/qbfaqs/faq5.htm

How do I import transactions into QuickBooks® Software? http://www.bridge21.com/faqs/qbfaqs/faq11.htm

How do I import/export lists in QuickBooks® Software? http://www.bridge21.com/faqs/qbfaqs/faq12.htm and http://206.154.102.72/support/quickbooks/faqs/docs/w_importinglists.html

What is an IIF File? http://www.bridge21.com/faqs/qbfaqs/faq32.htm

Shopping Cart programs that interface with QuickBooks include:

Q-Cart allows you to collect Order, Payment and Account Information directly into QuickBooks or Peachtree Accounting Programs using the Q-Cart AccountLoader http://q-cart.com/

Mercantec SoftCart offers an option called QBLink to import order information directly into QuickBooks. http://www.mercantec.com/products/Qblink2.html

CCNow credit card orders can be converted to QuickBooks IIF files by CCShip from EnviOrnament, Inc., $49.95. http://www.catgift.com/ccship/