If you are using a version of QuickBooks for Mac earlier than 2009, or wish to send your accounting exports as files to another computer, you can save each file to your hard drive, then import each one individually.
The basic steps for exporting from LightSpeed to QuickBooks using the file method are:
The details of your export will be displayed in a green status box if the export was successful, or a red one if not.
To create your LightSpeed Suppliers as QuickBooks vendors, you must do a once-only export of Suppliers. Once the Suppliers are set up in QuickBooks as Vendors, you do not need to re-export them. However, if you add any Suppliers to LightSpeed, you must re-export your list of Suppliers and re-import it into QuickBooks.
IMPORTANT: If you modify the name of a Supplier/Vendor in either LightSpeed or QuickBooks, you must manually update the same modification in the other software.
First, you must select which type of journal entry you prefer to export: Detailed Journal Entry or Summarized Journal Entry.
Detailed Journal Entry
Each Invoice is exported as a separate transaction. It is VERY IMPORTANT to understand that the Invoices are NOT imported into QuickBooks as invoices but as journal entries that debit or credit the appropriate GL account in QuickBooks.
If you look at the export file, each entry will have a common journal entry number generated by LightSpeed, the date of the transaction, a memo containing the original Invoice ID, the GL account number, and the debit or credit amount.
Summarized Journal Entry
All Invoices are exported as a single transaction. If you look at the export file, each entry will have a journal entry number generated by LightSpeed, the date of the journal entry, the GL account number, and the debit or credit amount.
Both export files have the same structure. The first line of each transaction is the Accounts Receivable account, followed by the Income, Tax, COGS, and Inventory accounts. The number of lines for each transaction will depend on how your GL accounts are set up in LightSpeed. If all Products use the same Income account, you will only see one line for Income, etc.
When you export Invoices, you will be asked to save a file, named Invoices (To Import). This is the file you will import into QuickBooks.
Rather than exporting unique Customer Names for each Invoice, LightSpeed exports a single summarized Journal Entry with “LightSpeed Export Customer” tagged as the Customer in Accounts Receivable. This Customer tag is a requirement in QuickBooks. The default file names will again include the date range of the export, and an ID number you can save for your records for later referral. Exporting Invoices is how you change the value of your Income, Asset, and COGS accounts, as well as your Accounts Receivable account.
Exporting Payments are how you change the value of the GL accounts that have to do with Payment Methods, as well as the value of your Accounts Receivable account.
Each Payment is exported as a separate transaction. If you look at the export file, named Payments (To Import), the first line is for the Accounts Receivable account and the second line is for the Payment Method account. Every line will have the same journal entry number generated by LightSpeed and the transaction date. Each transaction will have a memo containing the Invoice ID and the Customer Name, the GL account number and the debit or credit amount. The default file names will again include the date range of the export, and an ID number you can save for your records for later referral.
You have the choice of exporting credit cards and/or cash and checks.
Exporting Transfers are how you change the value of the GL accounts that track inventory value, as stock moves from store to store and while it's in transit.
When you enable LightSpeed’s Multi-Store functionality, you can set up a GL account to account for Product that is “in transit” – that is, not in the inventory of either location. Transfers are not posted, so it is very important that you do not export the same “in transit” transfers twice. Transfers will affect this asset/inventory GL account, as well as your regular asset/inventory GL account. When your Transfer Out is in transit, the value of the inventory will be taken out of your regular asset account, and moved to your “in transit” GL account. Then, when your other location receives the transfer, the value will be moved from this “in transit” GL account to the regular asset account of the receiving location. The file name is Transfers (To Import).
Exporting Supplier Invoices (Purchases) are how you change the value of your inventory after receiving Product on a PO, and the value of your Accounts Payable account.
When you export your PO’s into QuickBooks, you will be asked if you want to export your Suppliers. The first time, you must do this export, saved as Vendors (To Import), and then import it into QuickBooks (in QuickBooks, go to File >Import >From IIF Files, and then choose this file). You will also be asked to save two files – a Supplier Invoices (To Import) file, which is the file you will import into QuickBooks (see “Importing to QuickBooks” below), and a Supplier Invoices Detail (Do Not Import) file, which is simply for your records. As above, this file name can be modified if you wish.
Each transaction block in the export file corresponds to a Supplier Invoice. The number of lines depends on how the GL accounts for taxes (Collected and Paid) are set up in LightSpeed. The first line is for the Asset account and the others are for the Tax accounts. If you want the taxes (Paid) to be counted separate from the line items, you have to set up your GL accounts in Tax Setup accordingly. By default, the taxes are counted with the Asset account.
LightSpeed is able to export multiple payables for the same PO. Each time you receive product on an existing PO, you create and save a new Supplier Invoice. This will allow you to import multiple Supplier Invoices into QuickBooks for each PO entered in LightSpeed.
If you look at the export file, you will find the Supplier, the PO ID, the PO Date, the GL account number, and the amount.
In the US, taxes are counted in the Asset accounts while in Canada, some provinces count their Taxes separate from the line items.
Adjusting your Inventory negatively or positively will affect its value in your accounting software. Each adjustment you make must be exported along with your Supplier Invoices and Invoices as a credit or debit to your accounting package. The default name of this file is Inventory Adjustments (To Import), and may be edited.
Invoices
Payments
Transfers
Purchases
Inventory Adjustments
Recording History
Clicking the History button will open the History drawer, which lists in reverse chronological order the exports to QuickBooks you have done. The information listed is the type of export, its ID, the date range of the export, the user who performed the export, and the date the export was performed. For each entry, there is also a checkbox you can select once the export has been performed successfully. Imports into QuickBooks should only be performed once.
