Import Your Chart of Accounts and Contacts

Last updated: 2026-07-09 Summary:

The wizard imports up to seven record types; this page covers the master data — accounts, customers, vendors, and products.
Choose a source preset that matches your export; Wave and MYOB add a column-mapping step, the others don’t.
A CSV imports the chart of accounts only; the XLSX template imports everything.
Every confirmed import can be undone in one click from the Result screen.

Open Migration in the sidebar to start. The wizard runs Source → Upload → (Map columns) → Classify → Review → Confirm → Result.

1. Choose your source

On Where are your books coming from?, pick the option that matches where your data came from:

eKapital template (CSV/XLSX) — the generic template, works for any source. Download it here with Download template (.xlsx).
QuickBooks Online — export your lists and chart of accounts as CSV.
Xero — export your chart of accounts and contacts as CSV.
Wave — upload your exported CSV; you’ll map columns manually.
MYOB — upload your exported file; you’ll map columns manually.

Only Wave and MYOB trigger the Map columns step. For the other sources the wizard recognizes the headers and skips straight to Classify.

2. Pick your file format

On the Upload step, choose a .csv or .xlsx file (10 MB maximum):

XLSX uses the full template — one worksheet per record type (accounts, customers, vendors, products, opening balances, open invoices and bills).
CSV imports the chart of accounts only. Use it when all you’re bringing over is accounts.

eKapital reads the file and builds a preview without saving anything. If a worksheet name isn’t recognized, the wizard shows a “Some sheets were skipped” warning so a dropped tab is never silent.

3. Map columns (Wave and MYOB only)

If you chose Wave or MYOB, match each column in your file to the eKapital field it represents, then continue. The preview re-runs with your mapping applied. If no columns are detected, re-upload the file.

4. Classify account types

On the Classify step, set the account type (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Expense, and their subtypes) for each imported account. Rows where you supplied a matching AccountType hint in the template arrive pre-resolved; the rest are flagged for you to set. The type you confirm here drives how the account posts later, so review anything flagged before continuing. See Chart of accounts for background.

5. Review and confirm

The Review step lists everything to be created. Master-data records (customers, vendors, products) don’t need a date; opening balances and open items do — those are covered in Enter opening balances at cutover. The Confirm step summarizes the counts. Nothing posts until you click Confirm import.

6. Undo a batch if needed

The Result screen shows imported, skipped-duplicate, and failed counts. If anything is wrong, click Undo: it removes every record the batch created (and reverses any journal entries it posted), returning your books to their pre-import state. You can then fix your file and run Start another import.

Where people get tripped up

Wrong format for the job. A CSV only imports accounts. If your customers, vendors, or opening balances didn’t appear, you uploaded a CSV — switch to the XLSX template.
Unrecognized worksheet names. eKapital matches sheets by name (Accounts, Customers, Vendors, Products, and so on). A renamed tab is skipped and called out in the “Some sheets were skipped” warning — rename it to match the template.
Re-running the same file. Imports are idempotent per tenant: a record that already imported is counted as a skipped duplicate, not created twice. A previously failed row is retried on the next run.
Thin contact and product fields today. Customers and vendors import with Name and TIN; products import with Name and SKU as catalog entries. Add pricing, accounts, and the rest after the import — see Add a vendor and record a bill and Set up products and inventory.