Critical Things to Check Before Importing Data into Sage Intacct (and How to Avoid Common Errors)
Data imports can be one of the most powerful features in Sage Intacct, allowing you to load large amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Whether you’re importing customers, vendors, GL accounts, journal entries, or transactional data, imports can save significant time — but only when the data is clean and formatted correctly.
A consistent pre‑import checklist helps you catch issues early and avoid the most common errors. Below are the top things to check before you hit “Upload,” along with the mistakes they typically prevent.
1. Verify Required Fields Are Completed: Each Intacct import template includes mandatory fields such as:
- Record ID (Customer ID, Vendor ID, Account Number, etc.)
- Name or description
- Status
- Key address or contact information (depending on the module)
- Even one blank required field can cause the entire row to fail.
Before importing, filter each required column for blanks to make sure nothing is missing
Pro tip:
In excel, create a Conditional Formatting Rule on your import template so that any cell containing “Required: Yes” automatically turns blue. This makes it visually obvious which fields must be filled out before importing and helps prevent accidentally missing something important.
2. Confirm Column Headers Match the Intacct Template Exactly: Column headers must match Intacct’s expected naming conventions:
- Same spelling
- No extra spaces
- No added words
- Make sure “DONOTIMPORT” is the first column
Using the Intacct template is always best. Customizing headers, even slightly, is one of the most common causes of import errors.
3. Ensure Dimensions Exist Before Importing: Imports will fail if a file references a dimension that doesn’t exist yet. This includes:
- GL Accounts
- Locations
- Departments
- Projects
- Vendors or Customers
Even a single character difference (like “Dept01 ” vs. “Dept01”) can cause a mismatch.
4. Watch Out for Leading or Trailing Spaces: Invisible formatting issues often break imports. Intacct sees “Location1” and “Location1␣” as two different values.
- Use Excel tools such as:
- TRIM()
- CLEAN()
- Find/Replace for hidden characters
This step prevents one of the most frustrating and hard‑to‑spot errors.
5. Confirm Date Formats Are Valid
- Your dates must match whatever format is defined in your Company Configuration settings. If your company is set to MM/DD/YYYY, your import must follow that. If your company uses DD/MM/YYYY or another format, your file needs to follow that instead
6. Check That Numbers Are in Number Format
- Excel will sometimes auto-convert numbers, especially if they were copied from another system.
7. Validate Character Limits and Valid Values:
- Intacct fields have formatting rules, and it’s not just about the length, you also need to ensure each field contains valid, acceptable values based on Intacct’s requirements
- This includes checking for:
- Maximum character limits (IDs or descriptions that are too long)
- Fields that must be alphanumeric (letters + numbers only)
- Fields that must be numeric only (quantities, IDs that require numbers, count fields)
- Fields that must be alphabetic only (certain custom fields or classifications)
- Fields that do not allow special characters
- Valid values, such as True/False
- Valid dimension values (e.g., department IDs, location IDs, or project IDs that actually exist)
8. Verify Parent–Child Relationships
- When importing hierarchical structures (like GL accounts or departments), import parent records first.
- Common mistakes:
- A child department referencing a parent that hasn’t been created
- Spelling errors in parent IDs
- Incorrect rollup or hierarchy mapping
Getting this wrong can cause structural or reporting issues that are time-consuming to fix.
9. Confirm the File Is Saved in CSV (or the Required Format)
- Some imports require:
- CSV
- XLSX
If you upload the wrong file format, Intacct will reject it immediately.
10. Make Sure IDs Don’t Start With Leading Zeroes (Unless Needed)
- Excel often strips leading zeroes off IDs, such as:
- “00123” → becomes “123”
If your Intacct configuration requires zero‑padded IDs, reformat these as Text before entering them.
11. Bonus: Test a Small Batch Before Importing Everything
- Always import 5–10 rows as a test before uploading the full file.
- This simple step helps you:
- Validate formatting
- Confirm mappings
- Catch errors early
- Avoid re-doing hundreds (or thousands) of records.
It’s one of the easiest ways to ensure smooth import.
Final Thoughts
Imports into Sage Intacct don’t have to be stressful. With clean, validated data, you can avoid the most common errors and dramatically speed up implementation and day-to-day maintenance. A few quick checks upfront save hours of troubleshooting later.
