# Import Vendors into QuickBooks Online from a CSV

- Author: SimpleBankConvert (https://simplebankconvert.com)
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Category: Invoices, bills and lists
- Canonical: https://simplebankconvert.com/blog/import-vendors-into-quickbooks-online

> How to import vendors into QuickBooks Online from a spreadsheet so bank imports find payees: the columns, mapping screen and duplicate names to avoid.
To import vendors into QuickBooks Online, put one vendor per row in a CSV, Excel file or Google Sheet with headers in row 1, then go to Settings, Import data, Vendors and match each column to a QuickBooks field. Remove duplicates first, because the import never overwrites existing vendors and each name must be unique.

## Why import vendors into QuickBooks Online before bank lines?

A vendor list gives QuickBooks Online names to attach to the payments in your bank account. When bank transactions arrive by feed or by file, each one needs a payee before it can be categorized cleanly. With vendors already in place, you pick a name from the list instead of creating vendors one at a time mid-review.

The list also feeds everything else that refers to a supplier: bills, purchase orders, expenses and the 1099 reports at year end. Loading it in one go, before the transactions, means those later imports have something to point at. The same logic applies to the items you sell, which the guide to [importing products and services into QuickBooks Online](/blog/import-products-and-services-into-quickbooks-online) covers.

## Vendor spreadsheet columns and sheet layout

A vendor file is a plain table: one header row, then one vendor per row. Intuit's guide to [importing customers and vendors](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/customer-list/import-customers-vendors-email-contacts-quickbooks/L12erg8Db_US_en_US) asks for headers in row 1, the vendors on the first sheet, and no blank rows, formulas, charts or error values such as #N/A.

Name is the column that matters most. Company, email, phone, address and tax ID are the usual extras. Intuit sets a few rules on content: names can't contain colons or quotation marks, each contact can hold only one email address, and the address goes into the billing address field.

Here is an example of a vendor sheet before and after clean-up. The names are made up for illustration.

| Name as exported | Problem | Name in the import file |
| --- | --- | --- |
| "Cobalt Utilities" | Quotation marks | Cobalt Utilities |
| Brightline: IT Services | Colon in the name | Brightline IT Services |
| Northside Property Mgmt | None | Northside Property Mgmt |
| Northside Property Mgmt. | Same vendor with a period | Row deleted |

The last two rows show the most common problem in exported vendor lists: one supplier entered twice with a small difference. Keep one spelling, and make it the one your bank statements and bills will use.

## Matching vendor columns on the QuickBooks mapping screen

The vendor import is a short sequence: open Import data, pick Vendors, upload the file and match each of your headers to a QuickBooks field from a dropdown. Columns with no QuickBooks counterpart are set to No Match. A review screen then lets you clear any vendor you don't want before the import runs.

1. Select Settings, then Import data.
2. Choose Vendors.
3. Browse to your CSV or Excel file, or connect Google and pick the sheet.
4. Select Next.
5. For each QuickBooks field, choose the matching column from your file, or No Match.
6. Review the list of vendors and untick any that shouldn't come in.
7. Finish the import.

Take a second look at the review screen before you finish. Intuit's [common questions about importing data](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/common-questions-importing-data-quickbooks-online/L4OYJRFdj_US_en_US) says there is no bulk undo or delete for imported contacts, so a mistake here means fixing vendors one by one.

## Duplicate vendor names to clear out before the upload

The vendor import never overwrites a vendor that already exists. Intuit warns that this can create duplicate entries when a slightly different spelling comes in, and a vendor with exactly the same name is rejected. Either way, the clean-up is easier before the upload than after it.

Duplicates come from three places. The old system had them already. The new QuickBooks company picked some up from early bank categorizing. Or a corrected file was imported over a first attempt. Before re-importing a corrected file, Intuit suggests making the earlier imported vendors inactive or editing them one at a time.

A good pre-import step is to export the vendors already in QuickBooks, put them beside your file and remove any vendor that is already there. Sorting both lists by name puts near-duplicates next to each other, where a "Corp" against a "Corporation" is easy to spot.

## Can a vendor share a name with a customer?

No. QuickBooks Online needs each name to be unique across vendors, customers and employees. A business that both buys from you and sells to you needs two names, such as "Ridgeway Print Co" as a customer and "Ridgeway Print Co (vendor)" as a vendor. The import rejects the second record otherwise.

This comes up with marketplaces and payment platforms more than people expect. A platform can be a customer, paying you payouts, and a vendor, charging you fees. The guide to [importing Shopify sales into QuickBooks Online](/blog/import-shopify-sales-into-quickbooks-online) shows one way to keep a platform's sales and fees apart.

## Vendor lists longer than 1,000 rows

Intuit caps a vendor file at 2MB or 1,000 rows. A longer list has to be split into several files and imported one after another. Split alphabetically or by vendor type, and check the vendor count in QuickBooks after each file so you know every part arrived.

Long lists are usually a sign of old, inactive suppliers. Before splitting, consider dropping anyone you haven't paid in a few years; they can be added later if they reappear. A shorter list also makes bank review quicker, because the payee dropdown holds only names you actually use.

Bank files themselves vary in how well they carry payee names. A tidy text export from your bank can be turned into a structured bank file; the guide to [converting TXT to OFX](/blog/convert-txt-to-ofx) explains how. If your bank gives you only PDF statements, [SimpleBankConvert](/) is being built to produce a file QuickBooks Online can upload, so the bank's description on each line can be matched to a name on your new vendor list.