DocuClipper logo
Docs/Help Center
Integrations

Export Your Chart of Accounts from QuickBooks Desktop

Step-by-step guide to exporting your QuickBooks Desktop Chart of Accounts as an IIF file (or pasting account names) so you can upload it to DocuClipper and validate IIF imports before they fail.

DocuClipper validates QuickBooks Desktop IIF exports against your Chart of Accounts (COA) so you never see the "The Account Name on a distribution does not exist in Quickbooks" error. To enable this, upload your QBD Chart of Accounts once per project. In DocuClipper, open the project (TreeView interface), open Project Settings, and click the QuickBooks Desktop tab (alongside the existing General and Sharing tabs). This article shows the two ways to get the account list out of QuickBooks Desktop and into that panel.

Option A. Export the COA as an IIF (recommended)

This is the cleanest option. The IIF file includes the full account hierarchy (sub-accounts, account types, opening balances) which gives DocuClipper the most accurate validator.

  1. Open your company file in QuickBooks Desktop.
  2. Go to File → Utilities → Export → Lists to IIF Files.
  3. In the Export dialog, check the Chart of Accounts box. Leave the other lists unchecked unless you want to export them too.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Choose a folder and filename, for example chart-of-accounts.iif. Click Save.

Screenshot placement: /kb/export-chart-of-accounts-from-quickbooks-desktop/01-export-lists-to-iif.png showing the QBD Export dialog with the Chart of Accounts checkbox selected.

You now have a .iif file that contains your full account list. Upload it to DocuClipper:

  1. In DocuClipper, open your project.
  2. Open Project Settings and click the QuickBooks Desktop tab.
  3. Use the file picker to select the .iif file you just saved.
  4. DocuClipper parses the file, shows a count badge (for example "142 accounts") and a searchable list of the parsed accounts (the first 10 are shown, with a "show all" expand). Use the Replace button to upload a newer version, or Remove to clear it.

Screenshot placement: /kb/export-chart-of-accounts-from-quickbooks-desktop/02-docuclipper-coa-upload.png showing the Project Settings → QuickBooks Desktop tab after a successful upload, with the count badge and account list visible.

Option B. Paste account names directly

Use this option if your QBD admin will not let you generate an IIF, or if you only have view access to the Chart of Accounts list.

The QuickBooks Desktop tab includes a textarea that accepts either:

  • A pasted IIF !ACCNT block (the same tab-separated format the IIF export produces), or
  • One account name per line.

To grab the account names from QBD without generating an IIF:

  1. In QuickBooks Desktop, open the Chart of Accounts: Lists → Chart of Accounts (or press Ctrl + A).
  2. At the bottom of the list, click Reports → Account Listing.
  3. Copy the Account column from the report and paste it into the DocuClipper textarea, one name per line.

Pasted lists cover account name matching, but they will not catch account-type mismatches (for example posting to an income account where QBD expects an expense account). If you can use Option A, prefer it.

What the IIF Chart of Accounts looks like

If you open the .iif file in a text editor, the Chart of Accounts is a tab-separated block headed by !ACCNT. It looks similar to this:

!ACCNT  NAME                          ACCNTTYPE   DESC                  ACCNUM   EXTRA
ACCNT   Checking Account              BANK        Primary checking      1010
ACCNT   Accounts Receivable           AR                                1200
ACCNT   Accounts Payable              AP                                2000
ACCNT   Office Supplies               EXP         Office consumables    6100
ACCNT   Meals & Entertainment         EXP                               6150
ACCNT   Auto:Fuel                     EXP         Vehicle fuel          6200
ACCNT   Sales Income                  INC                               4000

A few things to note:

  • The NAME column is what DocuClipper matches against. Matching is case, punctuation, and whitespace sensitive.
  • Sub-accounts are written with a colon, for example Auto:Fuel. DocuClipper category names must use the same colon-delimited path to match.
  • The ACCNTTYPE column tells DocuClipper which accounts are valid for vendor bills (typically EXP, AP) versus sales invoices (typically INC, AR). The validator uses this to suggest the right account when you have similarly named expense and income accounts.

How often to re-upload

Upload your Chart of Accounts again whenever you:

  • Add new expense, income, or bank accounts in QuickBooks.
  • Rename an existing account.
  • Restructure your account hierarchy.

DocuClipper does not auto-sync with QuickBooks Desktop, so the uploaded COA reflects whatever was in QBD at the time of upload. Use the Replace button on the QuickBooks Desktop tab to swap in a fresh export.

Where this article is linked

You will see a link to this article in two places inside DocuClipper:

  • The warning banner at the top of the bank and invoice IIF export dialogs when no COA has been uploaded.
  • The Project Settings → QuickBooks Desktop tab itself.

Related