Import bills into QuickBooks Online from Excel: file checker

Yes, from a CSV file. Intuit’s import FAQ (updated August 2026) limits bill import to Advanced and higher in the US. If Settings > Import data shows Bills, your plan has it.

• Import data: Settings > Import data > Bills. Choose the file, map the columns, then start the import.
• Spreadsheet Sync (Advanced): the Invoices and Bills template adds vendor bills from a sheet.
• Other plans: All apps > Expenses & Bills > Bills > Add bill > Upload from computer takes PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF and PNG files, not spreadsheets.

The checker builds clean CSV files for Import data.

Intuit lists these columns as required: Bill no., Supplier (your vendor), Bill Date, Due Date, Account and Line Amount. Line Tax Code is needed only when sales tax is on.

• Every line repeats the bill no., vendor and bill date.
• Custom transaction numbers are on (Settings > Account and settings > Sales > Sales form content), or your bill numbers aren’t kept.
• Vendors and accounts already exist in QuickBooks, unless you tick the box that adds new vendors.
• The bill total is zero or more. Discounts and credits aren’t supported.
• Item details aren’t imported, so each line goes to an account.
• No more than 100 bills at a time, and fewer than 1,000 rows per file.

Ticking the add-new-vendors box turns “Lakeshore Paper” into a second vendor next to “Lakeshore Paper Co.”, so check names first. If the vendor list already has doubles, the duplicate customer finder works on vendor lists too.

It reads your sheet the way the import will, after these clean-ups:

• Title rows, blank rows and the total row are left out.
• A line with a blank bill no. gets the details of the bill above it (you can turn this off).
• Dates become MM/DD/YYYY. A date like 30/10/2026 is flagged, unless you tick the box that says the sheet is day/month.
• Dollar signs and commas come out of amounts, and “(150.00)” becomes -150.00.
• Names that differ from QuickBooks only in capitals or spacing take the QuickBooks spelling.

A line marked Fix has a missing field, an unreadable date or amount, a name QuickBooks doesn’t have, a negative bill total, or dates that differ within one bill. A line with an amount but no account is a Fix too, never dropped. Any bill with a Fix line stays out of the import files. Lines marked Check import, but deserve a look.

Both are standard reports in QuickBooks Online.

1. Go to Reports > Standard reports and type Vendor Contact List in Find report by name.
2. Select Export/Print > Export to Excel, then save the sheet as CSV.
3. Do the same for Account List.

If your sheet and the account list name a sub-account differently (“Freight In” against “Cost of Goods Sold:Freight In”), the checker marks the line Check and shows the list’s name.