Canonical page: https://bokeping.com/help/getting-started/import-field-reference/ Markdown page: https://bokeping.com/help/getting-started/import-field-reference.md Source updated: 2026-10-14 Text version of the public page. Check the canonical page for current terms and interactive features. # Import field reference Every field each Bokeping import accepts, which ones are required, and what each is used for. Bokeping can import data in 19 places, from your chart of accounts to invoices, bills and bank statements. This article explains how importing works, then goes through each import, module by module: which fields Bokeping needs, which are required, and what each field is used for. **In this article** - [How importing works]() - Accounting: [Chart of Accounts]() · [Manual Journals]() · [Tax Rates]() - Contacts: [Customers]() · [Vendors]() - Products & Inventory: [Item Categories]() · [Items]() · [Inventory Adjustments]() - Sales: [Estimates]() · [Invoices]() · [Sales Receipts]() · [Credit Memos]() · [Payments Received]() - Purchases: [Purchase Orders]() · [Bills]() · [Expenses]() · [Vendor Credits]() · [Payments Made]() - Banking: [Bank Statements]() * * * ## How importing works ### Where to start Open the list you want to import into, for example **Contacts → Customers**, and click the **upload icon** in the toolbar. Bank statements are imported from the bank account itself (see [Bank Statements]()). You can upload **CSV, XLSX or XLS** files. ### The three steps 1. **File Upload.** Choose your file. The page lists the required columns, and **Download template** gives you a sample file with every column Bokeping accepts, plus example rows. 2. **Mapping.** Bokeping matches your file’s columns to its fields. Columns with the same name as a Bokeping field match automatically; for the rest, pick the matching column from the list. Required fields are marked with an asterisk (\*). Anything you don’t map is not imported. Some fields also let you apply one value to every row, for example _Yes for all_. 3. **Review.** Every row is checked before anything is saved. Rows that need attention are flagged with the reason, and you can fix the value right in the table or ignore the row. Under **Import settings**, turn on **Import all or nothing** if you’d rather import nothing at all when any row fails. ### Two ways to prepare your file - **Use the template.** Rename and arrange your columns to match the template, and the mapping fills itself in. - **Upload your file as it is.** Keep your own column names and match them on the Mapping screen. This works well for files exported from another accounting program. ### Formats Bokeping expects | Kind of value | What to enter | | --- | --- | | **Dates** | The templates use YYYY-MM-DD (2026-09-28). Common formats such as 09/28/2026 are recognized too. | | **Yes/No fields** | Yes/No, True/False or T/F. Status fields also accept Active/Inactive. | | **Numbers and amounts** | Plain numbers, without currency symbols. | | **Linked records** | Accounts, items, customers, vendors, categories, warehouses, branches and tax rates are matched by **name**. Accounts and items can also be matched by **code**. The record must already exist in Bokeping, except for customers and vendors on sales and purchase documents, which are created automatically if the name is new. | ### Documents with several lines Estimates, invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, purchase orders, bills, expenses, vendor credits and payments can have several lines. In the file, **each row is one line**: - Rows that share the same document number become **one** document. For example, three rows with Invoice No. 1035 become one invoice with three lines. - Document-level fields, like the date, customer or terms, belong to the whole document. Repeat them on every row of that document. ### Suggested import order Records that other records point to need to exist first: 1. Chart of Accounts, then Tax Rates 2. Item Categories, then Items 3. Customers and Vendors 4. Transactions: Manual Journals, or sales and purchase documents 5. Payments Received and Payments Made, after the invoices and bills they pay 6. Bank Statements * * * ## Accounting ### Chart of Accounts - **Where:** Accounting → Chart of Accounts → upload icon - **Creates:** accounts in your chart of accounts. - **Required:** Account Name, Account Type. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Account Name | Yes | The account’s name, as it appears in reports and account lists. It must be unique and at least 3 characters long. Use _Parent:Child_, such as _Vehicles:Original Cost_, to create a sub-account. | | Account Type | Yes | Decides where the account appears on your financial statements and how its balance behaves. See [Account types and detail types]() for the full list. | | Detail Type | No | A more specific description within the account type. Leave it empty to use the type’s default. | | Account Code | No | A unique number for the account (up to 10 characters). Leave it empty and Bokeping assigns one. | | Description | No | A note about what the account is used for. | | Active | No | Whether the account can be used. Blank imports as active. | | Currency | No | The account’s currency, for accounts held in a foreign currency. | | Parent Account | No | Another way to make a sub-account: enter the name of the parent account. | | Source System, Source Account ID, Source Parent Account ID | No | For migrations. Record the other system’s own account IDs and build the parent/sub-account structure from those IDs instead of names. The parent row must appear earlier in the file. | ### Manual Journals - **Where:** Accounting → Manual Journals → upload icon - **Creates:** manual journal entries, one or more lines each. - **Required on every line:** Journal Date, an Account (by name or code), and a Debit or Credit amount. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Journal Date | Yes | The date the entry is posted to your books. | | Account / Account Code | Yes (one of the two) | The account the line posts to. | | Debit / Credit | Yes (one of the two) | The line’s amount. Each journal’s debits must equal its credits. | | Journal No. | No | Groups lines into journals: rows with the same number become one journal. Leave it unmapped and Bokeping splits the rows wherever the debits equal the credits, and numbers the journals for you. | | Contact Type, Contact | Needed on A/R and A/P lines | Which customer or vendor a line belongs to. Lines posting to Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable need a contact, so the balance shows up against the right customer or vendor. | | Source Transaction Type | No | Keeps the original transaction type from another system, such as _Invoice_ or _Bill_. The record is still imported as a manual journal. | | Reference No. | No | Your own reference number. | | Memo | No | A note for the whole journal. | | Description | No | A note for one line. | | Currency, Exchange Rate | No | For journals in a foreign currency. | | Branch | No | The branch the line belongs to, if you use branches. | **Moving from another accounting program?** You don’t need to rebuild your history in this template. Upload the Journal report exported from your old software as it is: Bokeping recognizes the layout, maps the columns, and rebuilds one journal per original transaction. ### Tax Rates - **Where:** the Tax Rates list → upload icon - **Creates:** tax rates you can apply to sales and purchase lines. - **Required:** Tax Name, Code, Rate. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Tax Name | Yes | The name shown on documents and tax reports. | | Code | Yes | A short code for picking the rate on document lines. | | Rate | Yes | The tax rate. | | Description | No | A note about the tax. | | Non Recoverable | No | Marks tax you can’t claim back, so it’s treated as part of the cost. | | Compound | No | Marks a tax that’s calculated on top of other taxes. | | Active | No | Whether the rate can be used. | * * * ## Contacts ### Customers - **Where:** Contacts → Customers → upload icon - **Creates:** customers. - **Required:** Display Name. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Display Name | Yes | The name shown on invoices, lists and reports. Transactions you import later are matched to customers by this name, so keep it exactly the same. | | Customer Type | No | Business or Individual. Blank rows import as Business. If your file has no such column, choose a fixed value for every row on the Mapping screen. | | First Name, Last Name | No | Your contact person at the customer. | | Company Name | No | The customer’s legal or trading name. | | Email | No | Where invoices and statements are sent. | | Work Phone, Personal Phone | No | Phone numbers. | | Website | No | The customer’s website. | | Opening Balance, Opening Balance At | No | What the customer still owed you when you started using Bokeping, and the date of that balance. **If you’re also importing past invoices or journals that already include this balance, leave it empty, or the balance will be counted twice.** | | Tax Exempt | No | Yes means no sales tax is charged on this customer’s invoices and receipts, even when a line has a tax rate. Blank imports as No. | | Status | No | Active or Inactive. Blank imports as Active. | | Note | No | Internal notes about the customer. | | Billing Address 1, 2, City, State, Postcode, Country, Phone | No | The billing address, one part per column. | | Shipping Address 1, 2, City, State, Postcode, Country, Phone | No | The shipping address, one part per column. | ### Vendors - **Where:** Contacts → Vendors → upload icon - **Creates:** vendors. - **Required:** Display Name. The vendor import has the same contact, address, status and opening balance fields as customers, with two differences: the phone fields are called **Work Phone Number** and **Personal Phone Number**, and there’s no Customer Type or Tax Exempt. Vendors also have fields for 1099 reporting: | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Display Name | Yes | The name shown on bills, lists and reports. Transactions are matched to vendors by this name. | | Contractor Type | No | Leave blank for an ordinary supplier. Choose 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC to include the vendor in 1099 reporting. | | Tax ID | No | The vendor’s EIN (12-3456789) or SSN (123-45-6789). Nine digits without dashes are accepted too. | | Tax Classification | No | The federal tax classification from the vendor’s W-9: Business, Individual / sole proprietor, or Nonprofit. It also decides how a 9-digit Tax ID is formatted (SSN for individuals, EIN for everyone else). | | W-9 Status | No | Not collected, Requested or Received. Blank imports as Not collected. | | Opening Balance, Opening Balance At | No | What you still owed the vendor when you started using Bokeping. **Leave it empty if you’re also importing past bills or journals that include this balance.** | * * * ## Products & Inventory ### Item Categories - **Where:** Products & Inventory → Categories → upload icon - **Creates:** item categories. - **Required:** Name. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Name | Yes | The category name. Items are linked to a category by this name. | | Description | No | What the category covers. | Import categories **before** items: an item can only use a category that already exists. ### Items - **Where:** Products & Inventory → Items → upload icon - **Creates:** products and services, and optionally their opening stock. - **Required:** Item Type, Item Name. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Item Type | Yes | Inventory, Service or Non Inventory. Inventory items track quantity and value; the others don’t. | | Item Name | Yes | The name shown on documents and lists. | | Item Code | No | Your SKU or product code. Items can be matched by code in later imports. | | Sellable, Purchasable | No | Whether the item can be used on sales documents and on purchase documents. Map a column with true/false for each row, or set one value for all items. Blank or invalid values use the fallback you choose (false by default). Each item needs at least one of the two. | | Sales Price, Cost Price | No | The default prices on sales and purchase documents. | | Income Account | No | Where sales of the item are recorded. Matched by account name or code. | | Purchase / Cost Account | No | Where the item’s cost goes. Inventory items need a Cost of Goods Sold account; services and non-inventory items can use an expense, asset or liability account. | | Inventory Account | No | The asset account that holds the value of an inventory item’s stock. | | Opening Quantity | No | Inventory items only: the stock on hand on the opening date. Needs an Opening Quantity Date and a cost (Opening Unit Cost, or the item’s Cost Price). Each item with opening stock gets an inventory adjustment that debits the Inventory Account and credits Opening Balance Equity. | | Opening Unit Cost | No | The unit cost the opening stock is valued at. You can leave it blank if Cost Price is filled in; enter 0 only if the stock really has no value. | | Opening Quantity Date | With an opening quantity | The date the opening quantity is counted. A blank date fails the row rather than defaulting to today. | | Warehouse | If you track stock by warehouse | Which warehouse the opening quantity is in, by warehouse name or code. | | Sales Description, Purchase Description | No | Default line descriptions on sales and purchase documents. | | Category | No | The item’s category, by name. The category must already exist. | | Internal Note | No | Notes visible only inside Bokeping, never printed on documents. | | Status | No | Whether the item still appears in pickers and new documents. Blank imports as Active. | **Importing opening stock and past transactions together?** If the transactions you import also contain the value of that stock, the opening stock is counted twice. Record one journal entry afterwards to remove the duplicate. ### Inventory Adjustments - **Where:** Products & Inventory → Inventory Adjustments → upload icon - **Creates:** inventory adjustments that change an item’s quantity, value, or both. - **Required:** Date, Item, Adjustment Account, Reason. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Date | Yes | The date of the adjustment. | | Item | Yes | An existing inventory item, by name or code. | | Adjustment Account | Yes | The account on the other side of the adjustment, for example Inventory Shrinkage. | | Reason | Yes | Why the adjustment was made, for your audit trail. | | Mode | No | Leave blank for a quantity adjustment. _Quantity & value_ sets the counted quantity and value; _Value only_ revalues the stock without moving quantity. | | Type | For quantity adjustments | Increment or Decrement. The value modes work out the direction themselves. | | Quantity | For quantity adjustments | How much the quantity moves, always as a positive number. | | Unit Cost | When incrementing | The cost of the added stock. Ignored when decrementing, where the cost comes from the item’s valuation method. | | New Quantity | For _Quantity & value_ | The target quantity on hand. | | New Value | For _Value only_ and _Quantity & value_ | The target total value. | | Adjustment No. | No | The adjustment’s number. Leave it blank to number automatically; a number you enter must not already be in use. | | Publish | No | T posts the adjustment to your books. Blank or F saves it as a draft. | | Description | No | Extra notes. | | Warehouse, Branch | No | Where the adjustment applies, if you use warehouses or branches. | * * * ## Sales All sales documents share the same line fields: | Line field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Item Name | No | The product or service, by name or code. Leave it blank to import the line as a free-text service line. | | Rate | Yes | The price per unit. | | Quantity | Yes | How many units. | | Line Description | No | The description printed on the line. | | Line Discount, Discount Type | No | A discount on this line, as a percentage or an amount. | | Tax Code | No | The tax rate for this line, by name. | Each also has these optional document-level fields: **Exchange Rate** for foreign-currency documents, **Amounts Include Tax** if your line amounts already include tax, **Branch** and **Warehouse**. ### Estimates - **Where:** Sales & Receivables → Estimates → upload icon - **Required:** Customer, Estimate Date, Expiration Date, Estimate No., and Rate and Quantity on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Customer | Yes | Who the estimate is for. A name Bokeping doesn’t know yet is created as a new customer. | | Estimate No. | Yes | The estimate’s number. Rows with the same number make one estimate. | | Estimate Date, Expiration Date | Yes | When the estimate was issued and until when it’s valid. | | Reference No. | No | Your own reference. | | Customer Note | No | A message shown to the customer. | | Terms & Conditions | No | Terms printed on the estimate. | | Memo | No | An internal note. | | Document Discount, Discount Type | No | A discount on the whole estimate. | | Adjustment | No | An amount added to or taken off the total, such as rounding. | ### Invoices - **Where:** Sales & Receivables → Invoices → upload icon - **Required:** Invoice No., Customer, Invoice Date, Due Date, and Rate and Quantity on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Invoice No. | Yes | Groups the file: rows that share an invoice number become one invoice with several lines. If you don’t map it, every row becomes a separate invoice. | | Customer | Yes | Who you’re billing. A new name is created as a new customer. | | Invoice Date | Yes | The invoice date. | | Due Date | Yes | When payment is due. It drives overdue status and A/R aging. | | Payment Terms | No | Due on receipt, Net 10, 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90, or Custom. | | External Reference | No | A reference number, for example the customer’s PO number. | | Customer Message | No | A message printed on the invoice. | | Terms & Conditions | No | Terms printed on the invoice. | | Memo | No | Team-only notes. Never printed, emailed or shown to the customer. | | Document Discount, Discount Type, Adjustment | No | A discount on the whole invoice, and any final adjustment to the total. | Repeat every invoice-level field on each row of the same invoice. ### Sales Receipts - **Where:** Sales & Receivables → Sales Receipts → upload icon - **Creates:** sales paid on the spot, so no invoice is needed. - **Required:** Receipt No., Receipt Date, Customer, Deposit Account, and Rate and Quantity on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Receipt No. | Yes | The receipt’s number. Rows with the same number make one receipt. | | Receipt Date | Yes | The date of the sale. | | Customer | Yes | Who bought. A new name is created as a new customer. | | Deposit Account | Yes | Where the money went, for example a bank account or Undeposited Funds. | | Payment Method | No | Cash, check, credit card, online or other. | | Reference No. | No | Your own reference. | | Receipt Message | No | A message printed on the receipt. | | Memo | No | An internal note. | | Document Discount, Discount Type, Adjustment | No | Discount and adjustment on the whole receipt. | ### Credit Memos - **Where:** Sales & Receivables → Credit Memos → upload icon - **Creates:** credits you’ve given customers, for returns or allowances. - **Required:** Credit Memo No., Customer, Credit Memo Date, Reason, and Rate and Quantity on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Credit Memo No. | Yes | The credit memo’s number. Rows with the same number make one credit memo. | | Customer | Yes | Who receives the credit. A new name is created as a new customer. | | Credit Memo Date | Yes | The date of the credit. | | Reason | Yes | Why the credit was given. | | Return Items to Stock | No | Puts returned inventory items back into stock. | | Reference No. | No | Your own reference. | | Customer Note, Terms & Conditions | No | Text printed on the credit memo. | | Memo | No | An internal note. | ### Payments Received - **Where:** Sales & Receivables → Payments Received → upload icon - **Creates:** customer payments, applied to invoices. - **Required:** Payment No., Customer, Payment Date, Deposit Account, and Payment Amount on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Payment No. | Yes | A unique number for the payment. Rows with the same number make one payment. | | Customer | Yes | Who paid. A new name is created as a new customer. | | Payment Date | Yes | The date the payment was received. | | Deposit Account | Yes | Where the money went, by account name or code. | | Invoice | No | The invoice this line pays, by invoice number. Leave it blank to import an unapplied payment. | | Payment Amount | Yes | How much of the payment goes to this invoice. | | Amount | No | The total amount received. | | Payment Method | No | ACH transfer, check, credit card, cash, wire transfer or other. | | Reference No. | No | For example the check number. | | Memo | No | An internal note. | | Exchange Rate, Branch | No | For foreign-currency payments, and branch tracking. | Import the invoices first, so payments can be matched to them. * * * ## Purchases Purchase documents use similar line fields to sales documents: **Rate** and **Quantity** are required, and **Description**, **Line Discount**, **Discount Type** and a tax rate are optional. Bills and vendor credits can post each line to an **Item** or directly to an **Account**. ### Purchase Orders - **Where:** Purchases & Expenses → Purchase Orders → upload icon - **Required:** PO No., Vendor, Purchase Order Date, and Item Name, Rate and Quantity on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | PO No. | Yes | Rows with the same PO No. are combined into one purchase order, so every row needs it. | | Vendor | Yes | Who you’re ordering from. A new name is created as a new vendor. | | Purchase Order Date | Yes | The order date. | | Item Name | Yes | What you’re ordering, by item name or code. | | Expected Delivery | No | When you expect the goods. | | Reference No. | No | Your own reference. | | Vendor Message, Terms & Conditions | No | Text printed on the purchase order. | | Memo | No | An internal note. | | Adjustment | No | An amount added to or taken off the total. | ### Bills - **Where:** Purchases & Expenses → Bills → upload icon - **Required:** Bill No., Vendor, Date, and Rate and Quantity on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Bill No. | Yes | The bill’s number. Rows with the same number make one bill. | | Vendor | Yes | Who sent the bill. A new name is created as a new vendor. | | Date | Yes | The bill date. | | Due Date | No | When the bill is due. It drives A/P aging. | | Payment Terms | No | Due on receipt, Net 10, 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90, or Custom. | | Item / Account | One of the two on each line | What the line is for: an item, or the account the cost goes to. | | Landed Cost | No | Marks a line, such as freight, as a cost to spread over the inventory on the bill. | | Reference No. | No | Your own reference. | | Vendor Memo | No | A note from the vendor. | | Memo | No | An internal note. | | Document Discount, Discount Type, Adjustment | No | Discount and adjustment on the whole bill. | ### Expenses - **Where:** Purchases & Expenses → Expenses → upload icon - **Creates:** expenses you’ve already paid, so no bill is needed. - **Required:** Expense No., Payment Account, Payment Date, and Amount on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Expense No. | Yes | The expense’s number. Rows with the same number make one expense. | | Payment Account | Yes | The account you paid from, such as a bank or credit card account. | | Payment Date | Yes | The date you paid. | | Expense Account / Item Name | One of the two on each line | What the money was spent on: an expense account, or an item. | | Amount | Yes | The line amount. | | Vendor | No | Who you paid. | | Tax Rate | No | The tax on this line. | | Landed Cost | No | Marks the line as a cost to spread over inventory. | | Reference No., Memo, Line Description | No | References and notes. | | Amounts Include Tax, Branch | No | Tax-inclusive amounts and branch tracking. | ### Vendor Credits - **Where:** Purchases & Expenses → Vendor Credits → upload icon - **Creates:** credits a vendor has given you. - **Required:** Vendor Credit No., Vendor, Vendor Credit Date, and Rate and Quantity on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Vendor Credit No. | Yes | The credit’s number. Rows with the same number make one vendor credit. | | Vendor | Yes | Who gave the credit. A new name is created as a new vendor. | | Vendor Credit Date | Yes | The date of the credit. | | Credit Type | No | Physical return, price allowance or expense refund. | | Item / Account | One of the two on each line | What the credit is for. | | Reference No., Memo | No | Your own reference and notes. | | Document Discount, Discount Type, Adjustment | No | Discount and adjustment on the whole credit. | ### Payments Made - **Where:** Purchases & Expenses → Payments Made → upload icon - **Creates:** payments to vendors, applied to bills. - **Required:** Payment No., Vendor, Payment Date, Payment Account, and Payment Amount on each line. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Payment No. | Yes | A unique number for the payment. Rows with the same number make one payment. | | Vendor | Yes | Who you paid. A new name is created as a new vendor. | | Payment Date | Yes | The date you paid. | | Payment Account | Yes | The account the money came from. | | Bill | No | The bill this line pays, by bill number. Leave it blank to import a vendor prepayment. | | Payment Amount | Yes | How much of the payment goes to this bill. | | Amount | No | The total amount paid. | | Payment Method | No | Check, ACH, credit card, cash or other. | | Reference, Memo | No | For example the check number, and notes. | | Exchange Rate, Branch | No | For foreign-currency payments, and branch tracking. | Import the bills first, so payments can be matched to them. * * * ## Banking ### Bank Statements - **Where:** Banking → open the bank account → **Import** - **Creates:** transactions in the bank account, ready for you to match or categorize. - **Required:** Date, plus the amount in one of the two ways below. | Field | Required | What it’s for | | --- | --- | --- | | Date | Yes | The transaction date on the statement. | | Amount | Use this, or Deposit and Withdrawal | A single column for the transaction amount. | | Deposit (money in), Withdrawal (money out) | Use these, or Amount | Two columns, if your bank shows money in and money out separately. | | Bank Merchant / Payee | No | Who the money came from or went to. It helps when matching and categorizing. | | Bank Description | No | The bank’s own description of the transaction. | | Reference No. | No | For example a check number. | | Memo | No | Your own note. |