Step 3. Migrate Open Accounts Payable

Prerequisites

Prior to performing this import you must have your Chart of Accounts and Vendor Accounts set up in Accounting Seed. Please refer to the following for more information: 

• Design Your Chart of Accounts
• Set up a Customer or Vendor

Overview

All open and unpaid bills your company owes in your legacy system prior to your changeover to Accounting Seed will need to be imported as Payables so that future vendor payments can be properly matched and paid against the respective vendor invoice due. The steps below will guide you through the process of importing your Open Accounts Payable (A/P) balances into Accounting Seed.

Note: These balances will represent the open and unpaid vendor invoices (Payables) at the end of your final accounting period utilizing your legacy system. The total of these amounts must agree with your ending/opening GL balance for Accounts Payables. If they do not, then you should reconcile your A/P Detail information to your A/P GL Account.

Payables in Accounting Seed are comprised of two data records: the Payable Header and the Payable Lines. The data relationship between the Payable Header and the Payable Lines must be maintained in order to properly import your A/P detail information. This is done by (1) first importing the Payable Headers for each billing to be imported and then (2) importing the individual Payable Lines related to each Header that was created.

Step 1 - Upload Payable Headers

1. Download the Opening A/P Template located in the Import Templates article.
2. Read the Guidance Tab on the Opening A/P import template carefully and completely before moving forward.
3. Using the information exported from your legacy system, complete the Payable Header worksheet within the Opening A/P import template.
   • Required Fields:
     1. Vendor Name or Vendor SF ID
        Note: It is best to use the Vendor SF ID when possible, however if you use the Vendor Name, make sure it is entered exactly as it appears in Accounting Seed.
     2. Original Invoice Date (Issue Date)
     3. Accounting Period
     4. Payee Reference (original Vendor Invoice # that will print on the check)
   • Optional Fields:
     1. Vendor Contact name or Contact SF ID
     2. Employee or Employee SF ID (if paying an expense report)
     3. Due Date
     4. Proprietary Payable Number: this should be entered and is used to enter your legacy systems invoice number.
     5. Posting Status: set to Approved
     6. Ledger: only needed if you are using the Accounting Seed Multi-Ledger functionality.
4. RECOMMENDATION: Save the Payable Header worksheet.
5. Delete all the worksheets in the import file except the Payable Header worksheet.
6. Delete any rows and columns that are not pertinent to the upload (i.e., Row 1: Instruction row, Key legend, etc.).
7. If you are using the Vendor SF ID column, delete the Vendor Name column. If you are not using the Vendor SF ID, then delete the Vendor SF ID column.
   
8. Save the file as a CSV file.
9. Using either the Salesforce Data Loader or the Data Import Wizard, import this file.
   Refer to the Salesforce knowledge articles on the importing process and how to use the Data Import Wizard or Data Loader.

Using the Data Import Wizard

1. Click the Gear icon and select Setup. Then, search for and select the Data Import Wizard.
2. Under Import your data in 3 easy steps! click Launch Wizard.
3. Select the Custom Objects tab.
4. Scroll through the list of Objects and select Payables.
5. Under Import your Data into Salesforce, click Add New Records.
6. Under What do you want to do:
   • For Which Account field in your file do you want to match against to set the Vendor lookup field? select either Name or Salesforce ID (depending on what you used).
7. In the “Where is your data located?” section, click on Choose File and select the file that you saved in Step 1 - Upload Payable Headers sub step 8 to upload.
8. Click Next and follow the prompts to complete the upload.
9. Open the Results file (generated after the import is complete) and verify that the upload was successful. Address any errors as necessary.
10. Keep the Results file open to use in Step 2 - Upload Payable Lines.

Step 2 - Upload Payable Lines

1. Open the Template file that you saved in Step 1 - Upload Payable Headers sub step 4.
2. Copy the newly created Salesforce ID's for the Payable Header from the Results file into the import template. Paste this data into the column labeled Payable SF ID on the Payable Lines worksheet.
3. Using your legacy systems data, complete the information on the Payable Lines worksheet.
   • Required Fields:
     1. Payable SF ID
     2. Expense GL Account or Revenue GL Account SF ID
        Important: Set this GL Account to your Opening Balance clearing account (i.e., 3999-Opening Balances) as noted in Creating/Entering Opening Balances Overview.
        This field cannot be set to your A/P Control Account, your A/R Control Account, or any other Equity Account.
        If you set this to another existing GL account that you plan to use as the clearing account, then note the account used (you will need this when entering/uploading your opening Trial Balance). This Account is used as a clearing account for the upload of your opening AR and AP balances and will be offset during the import of your opening Trial Balance. 
        Note: It is generally best to use the SF ID for the GL account.
     3. Quantity: enter 1 as the value in this field. 
     4. Unit Cost: this will equal the Total remaining unpaid balance for this Payable.
   • Optional Field:
     1. Comment
4. Delete all the worksheets in the import file except the Payable Lines worksheet.
5. Delete any rows and columns that are not pertinent to the upload (i.e., Row 1 - Instruction row, Key legend, etc.).
6. If you are using the Expense GL Account SF ID column, delete the Expense GL Account column. If you are not using the SF ID, then delete this column.
   
7. Save the file as a CSV file.
8. Using either the Salesforce Data Loader or the Data Import Wizard, import this file.
   Refer to the Salesforce knowledge articles on the importing process and how to use the Data Import Wizard or Data Loader.

Using the Data Import Wizard

1. Click the Gear icon and select Setup. Then, search for and select the Data Import Wizard.
2. Under Import your data in 3 easy steps! click Launch Wizard.
3. Select the Custom Objects tab.
4. Scroll through the list of Objects and select Payables Lines.
5. Under Import your Data into Salesforce, click Add New Records.
6. Under What do you want to do:
   • For Which Account field in your file do you want to match against to set the Expense GL Account lookup field? select either Name or Salesforce ID (depending on what you used).
   • For Which Payables field in your file specifies the Master/Detail relationship? set this to Salesforce ID.
7. In the Where is your data located? section, click on Choose File and select the file that you saved in Step 2 - Upload Payable Lines sub step 7 to upload.
8. Click Next and follow the prompts to complete the upload.
9. Open the Results file (generated after the import is complete) and verify that the upload was successful. Address any errors as necessary.

Step 3 - Post the Payables

Once your Data has been successfully uploaded into Accounting Seed:

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Create Entries tab. Then, under the Expenses menu, click Payables.
2. Change your list view to All.
   
3. Select all the Payables by clicking the check box located to the left of the Payable Name column header.
   
4. Click the Post Payables tab. If this button is not visible, click on the drop down arrow on the right side of the screen and select it from there.

Congratulations. Your A/P detail balances are now entered and available to be paid.