How to Import QuickBooks Online Data into Conto

This guide shows you how to import your QuickBooks Online exports into Conto. QBO exports each data type as a separate Excel file. Conto’s bulk import accepts all of them at once and processes them in the correct order automatically.

Conto uses the term counterparty to mean any vendor, customer, or employee that appears in your transactions. When you import lists from QBO, Conto creates counterparties from the names in those lists.

Prerequisites

• Excel files exported from QuickBooks Online (see How to Export Data from QuickBooks Online)

Steps

1. Go to the Import Page

Open the client in Conto and navigate to the import page.

2. Upload Your Files

Drop all your exported Excel files at once. You can upload multiple files in a single operation — there’s no need to upload them one at a time.

Conto auto-detects each file’s type based on its column headers:

Detected Type	How Conto Identifies It
Chart of Accounts	Has “Account” and “Type” columns
Vendor List	Has a “Vendor” or “Vendor Name” column
Customer List	Has a “Customer” or “Customer Name” column
General Ledger	Has “Type” plus “Debit”/“Credit” or “Amount” columns

3. Review the Detection Results

Conto shows what it detected for each file — the file name, detected type, and row count. Verify that each file was identified correctly before proceeding.

4. Confirm the Import

Click to confirm. Conto processes the files in the correct order:

1. Chart of Accounts first — creates GL accounts
2. General Ledger second — creates transactions and calculates your readiness score
3. Vendor and Customer lists last — enriches counterparty data

This ordering ensures that GL transactions can reference the accounts from your chart of accounts, and that your readiness score reflects all available data.

What Gets Imported

File	What Conto Creates
Chart of Accounts	GL accounts with names, types, numbers, and hierarchy
Vendor List	Vendor counterparties (name, company, contact info)
Customer List	Customer counterparties (name, company, contact info)
General Ledger	Transactions with dates, amounts, payees, and account mappings

Employee lists from QBO

Conto’s employee list parser currently requires a numeric ID column that QuickBooks Online’s Employee Contact List does not include. To get employee names into Conto, upload a Payroll Journal from your payroll provider instead. This applies whether the client uses QBO’s built-in payroll or a third-party provider like ADP, Paychex, or Gusto.

Verification

After importing, confirm:

• All expected accounts appear with correct types
• Key vendors and customers are listed as counterparties
• Transaction count looks correct for the date range
• Readiness score is displayed

Troubleshooting

Wrong file type detected

Conto detects file types by column headers. If a file is misidentified, check that the column headers match what Conto expects (see the detection table above). QBO sometimes adds extra header rows or renames columns — open the file in Excel and verify the first row contains the expected headers.

File not recognized

If Conto shows a file as “Unknown,” verify it’s an Excel file (.xlsx). CSV files aren’t supported for list imports — re-export as Excel from QuickBooks Online. Also check that the file isn’t password-protected or corrupted.

Vendor or customer names don’t match GL payees

GL payee names must exactly match the names in your vendor/customer lists for auto-matching to work. “ABC Corp” won’t match “ABC Corporation.” Fix names in the source data and re-import, or adjust them in Conto after import.

Low readiness score

The readiness score improves when:

• Vendor names in the GL match known counterparties
• Check numbers are present on check transactions
• Payee names are specific (not generic like “PAYROLL” or “CASH”)

If your score is low, check whether you’ve uploaded all available lists. Adding a vendor or customer list often improves the score significantly.

Missing chart of accounts

If you uploaded only a GL without a chart of accounts, Conto still imports transactions but can’t map them to account types. Upload a chart of accounts file and re-import to improve categorization.

”Missing required columns” error

Re-export the file from QuickBooks Online and verify it contains the expected columns. See How to Export Data from QuickBooks Online for the specific columns each file type needs.

What’s Next

After importing, review your readiness score and begin matching transactions against bank statements. If the readiness score is below 60%, consider uploading additional lists or a payroll journal to improve auto-match rates.

Related

• How to Export Data from QuickBooks Online
• How QuickBooks Import Works in Conto
• How to Import a Payroll Journal — for employee counterparties
• Understanding Conto’s Readiness Score
• How to Import Vendors (Alternative) — standalone vendor Excel import