If you import your customer and supplier information opening balances, the import can fail.

When this happens you receive an error, which tells you the cell in the CSV file you need to correct.

Common import errors

• Reference must be unique ▼

  If you receive this message, the reference in the cell indicated isn’t unique. This can be because you have duplicate references in the CSV file. Or, you already have a record with this reference.

  Enter a unique reference and try the import again.

• VAT number format must match the selected country VAT number format ▼ 

  The VAT number for that customer isn’t a valid number.

  Enter a valid VAT number. When you enter the number, make sure you don’t enter the country code. For example, if you entered the VAT number as GB123456789, enter it without GB at the start.

  Also, if the VAT number starts with 0, ensure the CSV file doesn’t remove the leading zero. If it does, right-click the relevant cell then click Format Cells. From the Category list, select Text then click OK. You can now enter 0.

• The value supplied isn’t valid for Main Address Country ▼

  This value is the country’s two-digit country code. For example, GB for Great Britain and IE for Ireland.

  Enter the correct two-digit country code. If you leave this column blank, the contact imports as an IE contact.

• You haven't enabled Foreign currency ▼

  To import foreign currencies, you must, first of all, enable foreign currency transactions. You can then create the currencies in your service. Once you've done this, you can then import your contacts.

• The value supplied isn’t valid for Currency ▼

  If you've enabled foreign currency transactions, you can import contacts' currencies. The currency must be the correct currency code, for example, American dollars is USD. When the currency column is empty, it imports as your default currency.

• The value supplied isn’t valid for Ledger Account ▼

  Any default nominal ledger you've specified in the CSV file must already exists in your service.

  To resolve this, create the nominal ledger account or change the account in the CSV file to one that exists. For example, change this to the default sales nominal ledger account 4000.

  If you choose to create a new nominal ledger account, make sure in Chart of Accounts you've selected the visibility checkbox for Purchases - Invoice / Credit, Product / Supplier defaults, for the import to be successful.

• The value supplied isn’t valid for customer or supplier reference ▼

  If you're importing customer or supplier opening balances, you must ensure the customer reference in the CSV file matches the references in Accounting.

  To resolve this:

  • If the contact already exists, enter the correct reference in the CSV file
  • If you haven't created the contact, create it before you can import their opening balances
• The value supplied isn’t valid for Date ▼

  The date must be in the format dd/mm/yyyy before you can import it.

  Amend the date so it’s in the correct format. If Excel changes the date, right-click the relevant cell then click Format Cells. From the Category list, select Text then click OK and enter the correct date.

• Everything returned as an error ▼

  Check the file you’re trying to import is the correct file for the relevant option. For example, if you’re importing products, make sure you choose the product CSV file.

  Also, check that the file is a CSV file and not an XLS file.

• Contact (supplier or customer) import CSV file is too large ▼

  The size of your contact CSV file can’t exceed 0.5MB. Check the file size before attempting to import your contacts. If it is over the limit, split the contacts into two files and import them separately. The contacts you import in the first file aren't overwritten from any subsequent imports.

  If you get an error trying to import a contact CSV file, be sure that the data in the Reference column is unique (or blank) for each contact.

  If you're reimporting a file, change (or delete) the data in the Reference column. Do this for each contact to reimport the file.

  If all the above is complete and you still get this error message, refresh your web page and retry the import.