Importing QuickBooks customer records into Autotask

NOTE  This step applies if you are transferring invoices and/or purchase orders to QuickBooks.

If your local organization has been using QuickBooks for some time before implementing Autotask and will begin transferring invoices from Autotask to QuickBooks, you will create duplicate customer records in QuickBooks, unless the QuickBooks Customer Name field exactly matches the Autotask Organization Name field.

The best way to avoid duplication is to import your customers from QuickBooks to Autotask at the beginning of your Autotask implementation. Follow the instructions below to export your customer records from QuickBooks and import them into Autotask.

NOTE  Best Practice: Once the initial customer list has been imported into Autotask, new customers should be created in Autotask and transferred to QuickBooks, where the QuickBooks Extension will automatically set up a new customer record for you. This ensures that new customer names will be identical in both applications, and you will not create any duplicates.

Before you begin, read Importing or updating data to familiarize yourself with the import process and prerequisites.

  1. Open QuickBooks and go to Reports > List > Customer Phone List.

  2. Click Customize Report.

  3. On the pop-up window's Display tab, select the QuickBooks fields listed in the table below for export.

QuickBooks Field Name Map to column in the Organization and Contact Import Template

Active Status

Contact: Active/Inactive
Customer [required] Organization: Name
Mr./ Ms./... Contact: Prefix
First Name [required*] Contact: First Name
M.I. Contact: Middle Name
Last Name [required*] Contact: Last Name
Main Phone [required] Organization: Phone

Work Phone

Contact: Phone

Mobile

Contact: Mobile Phone
Fax Organization: Fax
Main Email [required*] Contact: Email Address

Job Title

Contact: Title
Alt. Phone Organization: Alternate Phone 1
Street 1 Organization: Address 1
Street 2 Organization: Address 2
City Organization: City
State Organization: State
Zip Organization: Zip Code
Country Organization: Country

Sales Tax Code

Organization: Tax Exempt

On the export spreadsheet, replace Tax with No, and Non with Yes.
Rep

Organization: Account Manager

You will need to replace the initials exported from QuickBooks with the Autotask resource name in the format Last Name, First Name.
Additional and custom fields, as desired

Organization User-Defined Fields

You can select additional fields to export from QuickBooks and import into Autotask, as long as there are available matching system fields in Autotask or you have set up user-defined fields in Autotask to map the data. Refer to Managing user-defined fields.

  1. Click OK.
  2. On the main window, select Excel > Create new Worksheet > in new Workbook > Export . The selected fields are exported to an Excel spreadsheet.

Follow the instructions in Importing or updating data and Importing organizations and contacts at the same time to import your customer list.

The process involves downloading the import template in Autotask, copying your data over (be sure to following the field selection and mapping rules below and include all required data), then importing into Autotask CRM.

The following table shows the QuickBooks fields you should export and how they must be mapped to Autotask Organization and Contact fields.

QuickBooks Field Name Map to column in the Organization and Contact Import Template Map for Contact Import

Active Status

Contact: Active/Inactive

 
Customer [required] Organization: Name Organization [required]
Mr./ Ms./... Contact: Prefix Title
First Name [required*] Contact: First Name First Name [required]
M.I. Contact: Middle Name Middle Name
Last Name [required*] Contact: Last Name Last Name [required]
Main Phone [required] Organization: Phone Contact Phone [required]

Work Phone

Contact: Phone

 

Mobile

Contact: Mobile Phone

 
Fax Organization: Fax  
Main Email [required*] Contact: Email Address Email

Job Title

Contact: Title

 
Alt. Phone Organization: Alternate Phone 1 Contact Alternate Phone
Street 1 Organization: Address 1 Contact Address 1
Street 2 Organization: Address 2 Contact Address 2
City Organization: City Contact City
State Organization: State Contact State
Zip Organization: Zip Code Contact Zip Code
Country Organization: Country Contact Country

Sales Tax Code

Organization: Tax Exempt

On the export spreadsheet, replace Tax with No, and Non with Yes.

 
Rep

Organization: Account Manager

You will need to replace the initials exported from QuickBooks with the Autotask resource name in the format Last Name, First Name.

  
Custom Fields, as desired Organization User-Defined Fields Contact User-Defined Fields

Next step

Review the System settings that impact QuickBooks users.

NOTE  To learn everything about the QuickBooks Extension for Desktop, refer to the landing page for documentation links, configuration steps, videos, and walk-throughs that help you set it up.