Importing Information into Big Business
Importing Information into Big Business
To make it easier to transition to Big Business, you can import information from other applications. For example, you can import a list of contacts from a contact manager. You can also import financial records, such as lists of transactions, general journal postings, and budgets. (Importing from payroll software follows a different pattern. See “Importing Payroll Information,” later in this chapter, for instructions.)
The information you import into Big Business must be in tab-delimited, text-only files. These files can be exported by most spreadsheet, database, and information management programs. A tab-delimited file is one where tabs separate individual items of data. For example, suppose you have a spreadsheet with a row for each customer and columns for name, address, and so on. When you export the file from the spreadsheet, each row becomes a paragraph and the each column becomes a text field separated by tabs.
When you import data from a text file, you use an Import window to match text fields in the file to fields in Big Business. Import windows have a Fields Available for Insertion list, which displays the text fields from the first paragraph in the file. If the first paragraph corresponds to a heading row, the headings are displayed. If the first paragraph is a data row, its text fields appear. The Fields list on the other side of the window shows the Big Business fields that you can import into. It’s possible that there will be fields in the file that don’t correspond to a Big Business field; it’s likely that the
file won’t contain a matching field for every Big Business field.
To match a text field to a Big Business field, click a field in the Fields Available for Insertion list, then click the matching field in the Insertion Order list, then click the Insert button. (You can also drag a Fields Available for Insertion field to its corresponding field.) The inserted field appears next to its match on the right side of the window. Continue until all matches have been made.
When you import customer information, Big Business will not import Accounts
Receivable categories that don’t match the defaults. The defaults are used instead.
Caution: Due to memory constraints, there is an upper limit to the number of records that can be imported simultaneously. For safety, you should import no more than 300 records at a time. (3108)
To import data:
1. Click the Import tool in the Maintenance toolbar.
2. Select the file you want to import, then click OK.
3. In the dialog box that appears, select the kind of data you’re importing, then click the OK button.
4. In the Import window, match text fields in the Fields Available for Insertion list with Big Business fields, then click the OK button.
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