Can I import an excel file into QuickBooks?

Factual Questions
1

I did the google thing, but not finding anything that works.

Here’s the problem: I’ve got an Excel file that was exported from QuickBooks for Windows 2003. It’s a perfectly good file and works great in Excel. But a recently purchased QuickBooks 2012 for Mac doesn’t seem to be able to import it. If I click on File -> Import, there is not choice for .xls format. The best I can get from google is that I have to download some special tool to convert to an IIF format.

I’m finding it hard to believe it’s this complicated, but maybe it is…

2

It is that complicated.

I spent a couple hundred dollars on tools to do the import and have discovered that there’s no point if there’s less than about 100 transactions. The time it takes me to make sure the file and accounts are all set up properly, and then to verify the correct import, takes as long as manually entering about 100 transactions.

I think there are better and cheaper options nowadays, but I’ve learned to work around importing whenever possible.

Now… there is an exception if you want to import certain kinds of lists - accounts, customers or vendors. But not transactions. (And QB is quite sneaky in their advertising of this. They love to talk about how you can import from Excel… you have to dig into the documentation to find out just how little can be imported.)

3

What exactly are you trying to import, for what purpose? Is there some reason you cant just import the company file? If its something annyingly long and tedious like entering hundreds of customers, pay an unemployed friend for a day or two to plug it in.

4

As Juliet (in Lost) would say: It’s complicated.

But yeah, I’m going to give up and just do it manually. Actually, have someone else do it manually.