QuickBooks 2019 Desktop - Enhanced IIF Import Functionality

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The earliest method Intuit developed for the exchange of data was a unique form of text file known as an IIF (Intuit Interchange Format) file. This file type has been used extensively to export or import QuickBooks Desktop data, to and from Company files as well as different platforms.

While IIF has been used for years, that is not to say that it has been full-proof. Essentially, IIF imports into QuickBooks directly, inserting the raw data into the QuickBooks Company file without any significant validation. While Intuit provided 3rd parties with detailed instructions and an import kit, including samples of IIF data, there was essentially nothing to enforce strict compliance. As a result, a history of file corruption has been associated with IIF import from either non-compliant sources, or simply due to formatting errors resulting from the rather complex layout of the IIF formatting.

Many 3rd parties migrated to the SDK (software developer kit) for connection of their data, or importation of data from spreadsheets or other sources into QuickBooks. SDK reliant products were inherently safer in terms of data integrity in part due to the verification and validation routines associated with SDK data exchanges. But even with the availability of SDK connectivity to QuickBooks Desktop, some 3rd parties continued to rely upon IIF as their data exchange preference. 

Intuit has now provided some safety precautions for those continuing to use IIF for data exchange. New to QuickBooks Desktop versions for 2019 is an improved IIF Import Functionality that essentially provides the same kinds of verification and validation routines associated with SDK data exchange. There is a new interface for IIF Import that helps to ensure that the data meets requirements before it is imported into a user’s QuickBooks Company file.

The new functionality still allows you to import both list data and supported transactions, providing you with a summary of your import. Further, these enhancements permit you to see the transactions in your IIF file that fail to meet the data requirements; allowing you the opportunity to fix the errors and re-import the data once corrected.

There are a couple of other key points to this new feature:

  1. IIF imports using this new method can be performed in multi-user mode. (Previously all IIF imports required the user to be in single-user mode.)
  2. There is still an option to import IIF files using the 'old' way.  To access that method, click the 'Import it for me. I'll fix it later.' link at the bottom of the Import IIF file window (as shown above).

I tested this several times with different list type data, and also with some different types of transactional data. In one sample set of data, I intentionally created a vendor with exactly the same name as a customer to see what would happen. After I clicked the blue ‘Import file’ button (shown above), QuickBooks displayed a Windows file dialog box from which I selected my IIF file.

When you click 'Open,' an import progress bar is displayed. This was a relatively short list of vendors, but I could clearly observe that it took longer than the previous IIF process by several seconds. Obviously, more is going on than just posting the data as with the old IIF import; and that 'more' is the extra validation routines this new process offers. It also took longer because of 'my intentional error' that had to be diagnosed and reported.

Upon completion, QuickBooks displayed the import results telling me that only some of my information was imported.

As you can see 37 vendors were imported but there were 2 failed records. I was expecting only 1, so I needed to find out what they were. This File partially imported window displays information that an entirely new IIF file was created that just contains the failed records. You can elect to open the file by clicking the blue 'Review now' button, or you can open the file folder where the file has been created, which is the same location as the original IIF file.

When I opened the IIF file I could see that the error I was expecting was present in the new file. As you can see (below) the new file reports that 'my error' was created by the existence of another entity (name) in QuickBooks with this same Name. This was in fact the error I was expecting.

The second import error (included in the report, but not shown in the above excerpt) was associated with some IIF formatting that I failed to properly configure; see, even the best of us can make an IIF file formatting mistake.

The key take-away is that the new validation works as part of this improved IIF import. The reporting it provides is clear, allowing the import file to be readily fixed, or the problem resolved.

I am very excited that this new process may help insure that corruptions are not imported into or created out of IIF files in the future. While it will take some time for users to recognize the importance of this feature, and get use to the extra import time as well as the possibility of rejected data, in the long run this is a real winner in my book.

Notes & Disclosures:

Graphics or other illustrations used in this article have either been prepared using a pre-release version of QuickBooks 2019 software, or were furnished and/or adapted from Intuit source content. Be aware that certain aspects of features described or illustrated herein may have changed between the pre-release software version we used and the release of QuickBooks 2019 desktop products scheduled for September 4, 2018.

This article is intended to serve as a summary of one specific QuickBooks 2019 product feature, it is not an in-depth review nor has it been written to provide instruction in the proper use of the software (or feature).

While the writer or editor may express a personal opinion within this article regarding this feature and/or the software as a whole, such personal opinion does not constitute a formal endorsement by Insightful Accountant or the publisher.