Import Error 25 - Purchase Item

[Gloria]

Hi,

I created a test PO and exported it to get the template to import geniune data.

However, when I import the exact same file that I exported, it returned with the error 25, invalid amount.

I am unsure which amount is invalid as it doesn't specify on the error log.

Could you please assist?

Thank you.

Gloria

[Steven_M]

Hi @Gloria 

The attached file should be able to be used as a template to import item purchases. Using the data you have provided I have managed to import that transaction as expected using this template.

[Gloria]

Hi Steven,

Thanks for the template.

Is it possible to not include the Tax Amount column and yet will calculate the GST automatcially as majority of the supplier do not have the individual tax amount per line on their invoice.

Regards,

Gloria

[The_Doc]

Hi @Gloria 

Importng and exporting from and to MYOB is an art form - exporting, say, an invoice from MYOB then immediately trying to import the exact invoice is often deemed to fail - and over 25 years of importing and exporting I have NEVER assumed anything should be as it seems.

Yes - the 1st approach is to do an export from MYOB of what you need to import.

However, the 1st problems I find is that there seems to always be a difference to the exported header names to the import header names - i.e hence when you do an import 'matchall' doesn't align and 'automatch' is not much better.

OK - so the best there is 'auto' and do a manual drag of missed connections - not the end of the world but messy.

I just spent many hours lastnight importing an 87 line item time billing invoice - and I have been importing for a long time having worked out and learnt MYOB's import tricks - yet the import just kept throwing errors.

And here is 1 very important trick - -the import error log DOES NOT expose all errors - it only tells you the 1st error encountered (if it is a critical error) and that error may actually not be the true error causing the problem -  confused - yes - very.

Here is the trick which will (can save you hours) - create your import - but reduce it to 1 line of import. A big or multi-line import may only have a small insig error but if it is critical it will crash the entire import and the error log tells you nothing useful.

So reduce your import to 1 line. It is generally easy then to identify errors easily.

Also if you are 1st creating the import template on a spreadsheet then saving it as a tab text file (and that by far is the best format I believe after years of importing) - be careful - the EXCEL save to tab delineated txt file puts      "  " around anything with commas in them - an erant address, and here is where you can get  an error 25 - I found my prices were formated as $2,400   and because there was a comma in there the export was "$2,400" in the import file.

How to get around - inspect your import for these " " and just use edit to replace them with nothing - easy to do.

Even when I did this and the import worked fine on 1 line - a multi-line crashed it - annoyingly - a critical single error right at the beginning will do this and the error log is useless.

Add a few more lines and import test - it should expose the next critical error.

And suddenly - at about time late 0100 AM - the last import attempt beofre giving up - it imported an 87 line time billing faultlessly in 5 secs - blip - and done.

And that is just the beginning of the learning curve of the joys of importing - being a programmer I was going to resort to using the API to POST it but frankly - importing once you get it right works fabulously.

The Doc

[Steven_M · Accepted solution]

Hi @Gloria 

Great to see @The_Doc has shared his experience with importing. Personally, I've had some import files/transactions that have given me some grief over the years. My advice is similar to @The_Doc's, keep it simple to start with and add more complexity as you go. I always start by importing all the fields and then removing unwanted fields later down the track. 

In terms of your question about importing without the tax amounts. The short answer is yes you can do it but it doesn't work as, I think, you are expecting. When you are importing, it bypasses certain checks and processes on the data that would be typically be involved if you enter the transaction in the front-end. You can not include those tax amounts on the purchases using the template provided in my previous post. However, removing those columns actually caused the transaction(s) to not have any tax code listed. It will not look at the supplier's tax code or automatically calculate the tax component, it just will not add any tax code to that lines. I did remember reading something that it's being looked at as a potential issue with the software as you shouldn't be allowed to have a transaction with a tax code, but in its current state with AccountRight 2021.1, you can import those transactional lines without a tax code which can have some ongoing effects to your GST and other reports. The recommendation to avoid that would be to have that tax information listed in the import file, as is with my supplied template.

[Gloria]

Thanks @The_Doc and @Steven_M 

I've tried the trick of exporting existing data and use as a import template, not only some header names are different but the dollar cell format as well. Hence I seek help in this forum. 

Will stick with the basic and calculate the GST manually.

Thanks again for your help.