How to import journal entries into QuickBooks Online from a CSV

Updated 2026-10-19

How to do it by hand

1. Make sure the accounts exist. Every value in Account Name must match an account in your chart of accounts exactly. A sub-account is written Parent:Child. Create missing accounts first; the import does not create them.
2. Build the file with these columns. Journal No., Journal Date, Account Name, Debits, Credits, Description, and optionally Name, Location or Class. Save as CSV. Use one row per journal line.
3. Give every entry one Journal No.. All the lines of one entry share the same Journal No. That is how QuickBooks knows which lines belong together.
4. Check that each Journal No. balances. Add the Debits and the Credits for each Journal No. They must be equal to the cent. An entry that does not balance is refused. Put the amount on one side only for each line.
5. Check the dates and numbers. Use one date format throughout (MM/DD/YYYY works), plain numbers with two decimals, no currency symbol and no thousands separator. If you have set a closing date in QuickBooks, a date before it may be blocked.
6. Keep the file under 1,000 lines. Intuit limits one import to 1,000 lines. Split a bigger file between entries, never inside one.
7. Run the import. In QuickBooks Online choose Settings, then Import data, then Journal Entries. Browse to the CSV, click Next, confirm each of your columns is mapped to the right QuickBooks field, then import. Open a few entries afterwards and compare them with your source.

Why this happens

QuickBooks has no "journal entry" spreadsheet that it reads loosely. The importer reads rows, groups them by Journal No., and posts each group as one entry, so a single typo in an account name or a half-cent difference stops that entry. Intuit documents the process in Intuit's help article on importing journal entries; the screens and limits can change, so trust what the import screen tells you over any guide.

When the manual way is not enough

The manual route is fine for a handful of entries. It gets slow when the lines come from a sales report with dozens of categories and payment types every month, because you retype the same mapping and re-add the totals each time. The free journal entry CSV checker runs the balance, date and account-column checks on any file in your browser before you import it.