How to use the Import Tool
Links
Steps
1. Navigate to the Import Tool page under Tools
2. Select what type of import you are undertaking
3. Upload the file
4. Match up required fields with corresponding data from uploaded file
5. Check the import is correct and confirm
How to allocate a payment against an unpaid invoice on the bank import tool
This video shows you how to use the bank import tool to allocate a payment against an unpaid invoice.
When you select a customer in the bank import tool a list of all unpaid invoices will appear as well as the most recent paid invoices.
You can then allocate the payment from the bank statement against the unpaid invoice. Clicking ‘Create Transaction’ will in this instance match up the payment and unpaid invoice so that the invoice is marked as paid.
How to use import rules on the bank import tool
This video shows you how to set up and use import rules on the bank import tool.
Rules can save you a lot of time; by learning what different items on your bank statement are, Clear Books can automatically select the correct supplier/customer name, accounting category, VAT rate and other details.
Importing Alliance & Leicester Bank Transactions
Here are some instructions for importing transactions from an Alliance & Leicester business bank account into Clear Books. A&L provide several ways to do this, and I am going to talk about the two main methods that Clear Books supports.
The first way is the preferred method as it get’s the most detail from your bank statement, however you can’t do it for periods longer than 56 days at a time. I would advise that you break up your downloads into files covering one month at a time.
Importing MBNA Business Card Transactions
Card Review
We’ve tested out importing transactions from a few different business credit cards here at Clear Books, and our current favourite has to be the MBNA business card.
Not only does this card come with really easy to use online banking and a decent export facility, it also pays 0.5% cash back. However, if you want to get the cashback there is a £29 annual fee per card, so it’s only worth doing if you spend more than an average of £5800 a year per card holder. If this isn’t the case then you can just go for the free card that doesn’t pay cashback.
For
- You can download each card statement as a separate file, which prevents duplicates. Some other banks force you to specify a date range each time you want to export data.
- It pays 0.5% cash back.
- The online banking is very easy to use.
Against
- Statement downloads aren’t instant. You have to wait a few minutes for the files to generate.
Importing Transactions
So how does the import process work?
Well firstly, visit their secure online banking site and enter your details. If you haven’t already got an online account up you will need to follow the sign up links.
How to import bank statement data into Clear Books
The bank statement import tool is the recommended method for entering your accounting data into Clear Books. If it is your responsibility to keep your company’s books up to date, then you will soon become very familiar with this tool.
- Help article
- How to import bank statement data into Clear Books
- Menu navigation
- Money > Import Tool
- Links
- Import Tool
Getting Started
Getting started quickly with Clear Books is a simple process. First complete your organisation details; second set up your bank accounts and credit cards; third start importing bank statement data; and the final step is to tell the accounts system about each transaction on the bank statement.
For example if you have a payment on your bank statement, you will need to tell the system who you paid, what the VAT rate was and what type of expense the payment was.
- Help article
- How to get started
- Menu navigation
- Home > Dashboard
- Links
- Dashboard
Let us look at these steps in more detail…
Re-create Bank Statements
Software Update
A bank statement can be re-created in Clear Books manually. This is useful if your bank has a cut off point for bank statement downloads i.e. you can only download statements as far back as say a month.
With no bank statement file to upload and import into Clear Books, it is therefore necessary to enter all historic bank statement transactions manually.
Once a bank statement is re-created it is managed in the same way as an imported bank statement.
System Navigation
Money > Import Statement