First Look: TransImporterQO

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I have previously written about some of the AaaTeX company’s products, especially those related to the import of iiF files into QuickBooks because they provide an additional layer of ‘data conformity’ and ‘verification’ prior to adding raw iiF files into your QuickBooks data.

Recently, the Intuit App Center began listing the AaaTeX TransImporterQO tool which allows you to import Excel-like files into QuickBooks Online.  This importer software can handle XLS, CSV, tab-delimited or any Excel-supported file types.  

This is Windows desktop software that connects to QuickBooks Online across the internet and allows you to create or update lists in QBO including customers, vendors, accounts, items and more.

TransImporterQO will also create transactions like Invoices, Sales Receipts, Expenses, Payments, and Bills. It will even create various list elements (like a new customer, or new vendor) ‘on the fly’ while importing transactions containing this kind of new information. 

One of the deciding factors in using AaaTeX products in the past has been the degree of flexibility in terms of settings and options their products offered over other 'importers'. The TransImporterQO product is no different. For example, you will find options that allow you to ‘reverse signs’ on amounts when importing. In other words, if your spreadsheet has a negative amount but it needs to be entered in QBO as a positive amount, just set the General Setting to ‘Reverse Signs on Amts’. 

Another option that can be extremely beneficial is to skip rows of data which are ‘hidden’ in your spreadsheet.  You might have a huge spreadsheet that has thousands of rows of data, but you only need a few different rows. Rather than take the time to copy and paste those rows into a different spreadsheet you could make all rows inactive except those you need. The select the option to ‘Skip Hidden Rows’ within TransImporterQO and you will get only the rows you want.

Like the other AaaTeX products there are different ‘versions’ of this product available (Standard, Silver, Gold, Platinum) each with different additional features you might find beneficial in your own unique situation.  You will just have to review each product to determine which is the best fit for you.

With the Gold edition (or better) there is an option that allows you to configure import for different types of transactions all within the same spreadsheet. This would be really beneficial if you had exported an ‘all transaction’ report from a file and needed to import it into another file.  With the proper set-up you wouldn’t have to worry about only importing one type of transaction at a time.

I will say that this product, as with many AaaTeX products, has more of a learning curve than most of the simple ‘transaction importers’ for QBO, especially those that are only designed to import one type of transaction (like a Journal Entry or Check).  In my way of thinking this is much more of a ‘professional tool’ than a product which the typical QuickBooks Online user might make use of.  Therefore, it’s a good tool that a ProAdvisor might ‘pre-configure’ for their QBO Client so that they could then use it on a routine basis without having to worry about any setting changes or other reconfiguration.

Another thing I have seen in the past about AaaTeX products is the fact that they seem to upgrade or enhance their products on a regular basis, so a feature that seems like it should be the 'next best thing' may soon be the 'newest thing' in the update you receive.

AaaTex offers a downloadable trial version of the product that is limited to 20 transactions and 200 rows of data. For more information you can checkout the TransImporter webpage at AaaTex. Unfortunately, both the version for QuickBooks Desktop (called TransImporter4) and the version for QuickBooks Online (TransImporterQO) are intermingled on the same webpage, so just be certain you are noticing the differences listed in the feature list, and that you select the correct product for download. 

Remember, this is desktop software (not a cloud-based SAAS App) that you purchase and run on your own computer even though it connects to QBO via the internet using the same OAuth process Intuit demands of all products connecting to QuickBooks Online.  At present you can't purchase the software via the Intuit App Center, so you will have to visit their website for not only your trial but purchase should you decide this is the importer for you.