Troubleshooting Import/Export

If you are using the import/export process to set up a new company...

Export the information you want from the current company, create a new company, and import the information from the previously existing company. After the import is complete, print the reports from the old company and the new company to see if they match. If the amounts are not the same, is it possible that you did not use an early enough date as the “From” range, which means the beginning balances were not brought over. Remember to enter defaults in the new company. See Rebuild an Existing Sage 50 Company (Overview) for more information and detailed instructions.

If you are exporting to change your company from cash to accrual based accounting (or vice versa)...

The Sales Order, Sales, Cash Receipts, Purchase Order, Purchase, and Cash Disbursements journals will not import correctly if you import from a cash company to an accrual company, or vice versa.

Note: This is due to the different chart of accounts.

You can, however, import the General, Payroll, Assemblies, and Inventory Adjustment journals. You can also import lists such as the Chart of Accounts, Vendor List, Customer List, Job List, and Inventory Items List.

If your beginning balances for general ledger, customers, vendors, and employees are incorrect after importing...

You did not set the date back far enough to access all of the data. When you export, make sure you set the beginning date several years back to make sure you access all of the data. You can specify the date on the Filter tab. Tips.

If you are exporting information to a spreadsheet and want the field headings to appear...

Make sure you select the Include Headings check box on the Options tab.

If you are attempting to make changes to transactions that you have exported to a spreadsheet and then import the modified records into Sage 50...

The modified transactions will not import. Sage 50 only imports new transactions into the same company. You cannot edit an existing transaction through the import process. If you need to modify transactions, you must make the changes you want in Sage 50 before you export the data to a spreadsheet. You can modify maintenance list information. When you import the modified list, the information will be updated. However, be careful if you are making the modifications in a spreadsheet rather than Sage 50 itself. Tips.

If you are importing sales or purchase transactions and receive a message that an invoice number has already been used...

The new record has the same number as an existing invoice. You can choose to skip the record or cancel. If you select Cancel, the process is halted and only the records up to that point are imported.

If you receive the message “An error occurred importing the File XXXXX.csv, Line Number XXX, Field Name XXX”...

Sage 50 has encountered an invalid field during the import process. Click OK to skip that record and continue importing the next record. Select Cancel to halt the import process. Typical reasons for receiving this error are:

you may not have copied over default information the file is looking for
you may not have copied sales tax and payroll tax information
you may not have imported the files in correct order so certain fields referred to are not yet available
you may be importing transactions with dates past the end of the second fiscal year.

If you receive the message “WARNING! The reference number xxxxx has already been used”...

Sage 50 encountered a duplicate reference number. Click OK to skip this record and continue importing or select Cancel to halt the import process. If you select Cancel, only the records up to that point will be imported.

If you are importing the Customer List from one Sage 50 Company to another and you receive an error on the Tax Code field...

There could be two possibilities:

The Tax Codes, and possibly the Tax Authorities, do not match or exist in the new company. You should copy the taxcode.dat and taxauth.dat files from the original company to the new company. These files are located in the original company’s directory.
You didn’t import the Vendor List before the Customer List. Remember, you must import the list files in the proper order. For more information regarding the proper order for importing, see “Order in Which You Import Data” on page 916.

If you are importing the Employee List from one Sage 50 company to another and receive an error on the CalcName field...

The Tax table name in the import file does not match or exist in the user-maintained or Sage-maintained tax formula file. You should copy the taxtable.dat file from the original company to the new one. This file is located in the original company’s directory.

If you are importing either the Purchase Order, Purchase, Cash Disbursement, Sales Order, Sales, or Cash Receipts journals from one Sage 50 company to another and receive an error on the Amount Field...

Each line item of an invoice (or apply to expenses/revenue) generally has a Quantity, Unit Price, and Amount (Extension Price). During the import, Sage 50 checks to see if Quantity times unit price equals the Amount. If it does not, then you will receive the error. This could happen if you enter an item with a unit price established, and change the amount price without changing the unit price. To correct the error, refer to the line number in question and make the correction in the old Sage 50 company and export/import again.

This can also happen if you have rounding errors on multiple decimal place settings. For example, one computer could have Global Options set to 4 decimal places and the second computer you are importing to have Global Options set to 2. This will cause computation errors.

If you are attempting to export the Payments Journal (Cash Disbursements), and you receive the message “There is a Payment to [Customer Name] on [Date], with a missing check number. Before this record can be exported, a check number will need to be assigned”...

Before a customer payment (for example, issuing a refund check) can be exported, Sage 50 must have a check number established. This way it can later import properly to reference the customer ledger. The solution is to enter a check number (it can be temporary) and export again.

If you are attempting to export the Cash Receipts Journal, and you receive the message “There is a Receipt to [Vendor Name] on [Date], with a missing check number. Before this record can be exported, a check number will need to be assigned”...

Before a vendor receipt (for example, receiving a refund check) can be exported, Sage 50 must have a check number established. This way it can later import properly to reference the vendor ledger. The solution is to enter a check number (it can be temporary) and export again.

If you are exporting out Sales or Purchase Orders which are not 100% completed, but marked as closed...

During the import of Purchase or Sales Journal, Sage 50 must open all closed Purchase and Sales Orders to apply distributions. If an imported P.O. or S.O. is 100% completed, then after distributions are applied, it will be marked closed. All others will remain open. This means when you mark an incomplete PO. or S.O. Closed and export it and you import the Purchase or Sales Journal, these items will remain open, not closed. You will have to close them again after the import process is complete.