# Import Chart of Accounts into QuickBooks Desktop

- Author: SimpleBankConvert (https://simplebankconvert.com)
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Category: QuickBooks Desktop imports
- Canonical: https://simplebankconvert.com/blog/import-chart-of-accounts-into-quickbooks-desktop

> How to import a chart of accounts into QuickBooks Desktop from Excel or IIF, with account types laid out so your bank and card imports have a home.
To import a chart of accounts into QuickBooks Desktop, list each account in Excel with its name, type, number and description, then open Lists > Chart of Accounts, choose Account > Import from Excel, pick the sheet and map the columns. Back up first. Get the bank and credit card account types right, because later imports depend on them.

## Excel or IIF for a Desktop chart of accounts import?

Use Excel unless you already have an IIF file from another Desktop company. [Intuit's article on importing and exporting Excel files in QuickBooks Desktop](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/list-management/import-export-ms-excel-files/L9BDPsTTX_US_en_US) lists the chart of accounts among the lists you can bring in from a spreadsheet, with its own import path and a column mapping step. IIF suits files exported from another Desktop company.

The Excel route is friendlier. You see every account in rows, you can sort and check them, and the mapping step lets Desktop learn which column is which. Nothing about the spreadsheet has to follow a fixed text layout.

### When IIF makes sense

IIF, the Intuit Interchange Format, is a tab-separated text file that Desktop uses for lists and transactions. [Intuit's IIF overview of the import kit, sample files and headers](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/list-management/iif-overview-import-kit-sample-files-headers/L5CZIpJne_US_en_US) describes it, and also says Intuit does not offer assisted support for creating or importing IIF files. The case for IIF is narrow: you exported a chart of accounts from one Desktop company and want the same list in another. Desktop wrote that file, so its headers are already right.

### When neither is worth it

A new business with twenty accounts can type them in Lists > Chart of Accounts faster than it can build and check an import. Desktop also offers a starter list of accounts for your industry when you create a company, which may cover most of what you need. Import when the list is long, when you are copying a template across several companies, or when your accountant has handed you a finished spreadsheet.

## Laying out chart of accounts columns in the Excel sheet

Give the sheet one row per account and one column per field: account name, account type, account number, description, and the parent account for subaccounts. Put the column titles in the first row. Keep account type spelled exactly as Desktop shows it, because the mapping step matches your values against Desktop's list of types.

### An example sheet

The sheet below is an example for a small service business. The account numbers and names are illustrative only.

| Number | Account name | Type | Description | Serves which import |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1010 | Business Checking | Bank | Main operating account | Web Connect files from the bank |
| 1020 | Business Savings | Bank | Reserve account | Web Connect files from the bank |
| 1200 | Accounts Receivable | Accounts Receivable | Customer invoices | Invoice imports |
| 1300 | Prepaid Expenses | Other Current Asset | Insurance paid ahead | Journal entries |
| 1500 | Equipment | Fixed Asset | Computers and tools | Journal entries |
| 2000 | Accounts Payable | Accounts Payable | Vendor bills | Bill imports |
| 2100 | Business Visa | Credit Card | Company card | Card Web Connect files |
| 2700 | Equipment Loan | Long Term Liability | Bank loan for equipment | Loan payment splits |
| 3000 | Owner's Equity | Equity | Owner contributions | Opening balances |
| 4000 | Service Income | Income | Fees from clients | Deposits |
| 6100 | Bank Service Charges | Expense | Monthly fees | Bank lines |
| 6200 | Software Subscriptions | Expense | Online tools | Card lines |

The last column is not for Desktop. It is a planning column that reminds you why each account exists. Delete it, or leave it unmapped, before the import.

### Subaccounts

Desktop shows a subaccount under its parent. When you write subaccounts in a spreadsheet, the parent has to exist first, so place parent rows above their subaccounts. Intuit's Excel article states this rule for sub-items in the item list, with a colon between parent and child names, and says names must match the chart of accounts exactly in spelling and capitalization. Follow the same discipline for accounts and test one subaccount before you import fifty.

### Clean-up before the import

- Remove blank rows and merged cells.
- Trim spaces from the start and end of every name.
- Check that no two rows share a name.
- Keep descriptions short and free of tabs or line breaks.
- Save a copy of the sheet as it was before any edits.

## Desktop account types that bank and card imports need

Two account types matter most for imports: Bank, for checking, savings and money market accounts, and Credit Card, for business cards. A Web Connect file only links to accounts of those kinds. If a checking account is imported as an Other Current Asset, Desktop will not offer it when the bank file asks where the transactions belong.

### The types and what they do

Desktop's account types fall into the balance sheet and the profit and loss. On the balance sheet sit Bank, Accounts Receivable, Other Current Asset, Fixed Asset and Other Asset, then Accounts Payable, Credit Card, Other Current Liability and Long Term Liability, then Equity. On the profit and loss sit Income, Cost of Goods Sold, Expense, Other Income and Other Expense.

Each later import leans on one of these. Bank files need a Bank account. Card files need a Credit Card account. Loan payments need a liability account for the principal. Invoices and bills need Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable. When you build the sheet, walk through every import you plan to run and confirm it has a home.

### Opening balances come after

The chart of accounts import creates the accounts. It is not the place to settle what each account held on your start date. Opening balances are a separate step with their own choices, set out in [importing opening balances into QuickBooks Desktop](/blog/import-opening-balances-into-quickbooks-desktop). Bank files come after both, and [how to import bank transactions into QuickBooks Desktop](/blog/how-to-import-bank-transactions-into-quickbooks-desktop) covers linking the first file to the new bank account.

## Mapping and previewing the chart of accounts import

The import runs from the chart of accounts window. Choose Lists > Chart of Accounts, open the Account menu at the bottom, choose Import from Excel, browse to the file, pick the sheet, map each spreadsheet column to a Desktop field, and import.

### The steps

1. **Back up the company file.** Intuit's Excel article recommends a backup before any import, saved without overwriting older backups.
2. **Open the chart of accounts.** Choose Lists > Chart of Accounts.
3. **Start the import.** Open the Account drop-down at the bottom of the window and choose Import from Excel.
4. **Pick the file and sheet.** Browse to the workbook, open it, and choose the sheet that holds the accounts.
5. **Map the columns.** Match each of your columns to the Desktop field it belongs in: name to account name, type to account type, and so on. Leave fields blank if your sheet has nothing for them.
6. **Preview if offered.** Intuit's article describes a Preview step in the advanced import mappings window, which shows how rows will land before anything is saved. Use it and read the errors it reports.
7. **Import.** If Desktop reports errors, save the error log it offers and read it.

### Reading the result

Open the chart of accounts after the import and sort by type. Every bank account should appear under Bank, every card under Credit Card. Count the accounts against the sheet. If Desktop saved an error log, read it before you fix anything, since one wrong value can cause a run of errors further down.

## What happens when an imported account name already exists?

When a row shares its name with an existing Desktop account, the import stops and asks what to do. Intuit's Excel article lists three choices: keep the existing data, replace it with the imported data while ignoring blank fields, or replace it including blank fields. You can apply your choice to one record or to all.

### Which choice to make

- **Keep existing** is the safe choice when the sheet is a full template and some accounts are already set up the way you like.
- **Replace, ignoring blanks** updates descriptions or numbers without wiping anything the sheet leaves empty.
- **Replace, including blanks** clears any field your sheet leaves blank. Pick it only when the sheet is the complete truth.

Account type is the field to watch. Changing an existing account's type through an import, for example from Other Current Asset to Bank, affects every transaction already posted there. Check with your accountant before you let an import change a type on an account that has history.

### Copying a chart between company files

Teams that keep several Desktop companies often import the same chart into each. If you also need history, not just the list, [copying transactions between QuickBooks Desktop company files](/blog/copy-transactions-between-quickbooks-desktop-company-files) explains what can move and what has to be rebuilt.

## Chart of accounts imports that create stray bank accounts

Stray bank accounts are the costly mistake, and they usually appear after the chart of accounts import, not during it. Intuit's IIF overview warns that a transaction naming an account that does not exist creates it as a new bank account. One spelling difference between the imported chart and a later transaction file is enough.

### How it happens

A chart that imports "Software Subscriptions" and a later IIF file that names "Software Subscription" is enough: the import makes a bank account with the shorter name and posts to it, with no warning. [Why an IIF file creates new bank accounts](/blog/import-iif-file-into-quickbooks-desktop#why-did-the-iif-file-create-new-bank-accounts) covers the fix for lines that already landed there.

### How to prevent it

- Export the chart of accounts after the import and use that list as the only source of names for every later file.
- Run a lookup in each transaction sheet that flags any account name not on the exported list.
- After each later import, sort the chart of accounts by type and look for bank accounts you did not create.

The same rule applies to journal entries in the Online version, where the chart lives in a different place. [Importing journal entries into QuickBooks Online](/blog/import-journal-entries-into-quickbooks-online) covers how Online handles names. Once the chart is in and the names are fixed, bank statements are the next step; [SimpleBankConvert](/get-started) is being built to turn PDF statements into a QBO file that links to the bank account you just created. It is in early access.