Working Papers · Seamless Import & Software Integration

Your client's data, already in.

Bring a client's numbers in without retyping them. Pull current-year movements straight from QuickBooks Online over its API, export the general ledger from Xero and upload it as it downloads, or import from Excel from any bookkeeping software. Load the opening trial balance once, and from the second year the closing balances carry forward on their own. Import, map, done.

Xero · QuickBooks Online · Excel from any software · auto-mapping from year two

01 Versatile import options

Xero, QuickBooks, or Excel. Your choice.

However the client keeps their books, the data comes in. Connect QuickBooks Online and pull the current-year movements straight in over its API. For Xero, export the general ledger and upload it exactly as it downloads. Or bring in an Excel file from any bookkeeping software at all. No retyping, no reformatting, whichever route you take.

  • Connect QuickBooks Online and import movements directly.
  • Export the general ledger from Xero and upload it in the format it downloads in.
  • Or import an Excel file from any bookkeeping software, so nothing is ever locked out.
  • All three land in the same place, ready to map and review.

pick a source. the data flows in.

Import Current Year Movementschoose a source
02 Opening trial balance

Load it once. Carried forward after that.

For a new client, bring the opening trial balance in from an Excel file straight out of your finalisation software. The format is simple: accounting heads, debit, credit, and optional software codes. Upload it, and if you have pre-coded the software codes, Papercare maps them automatically. From the second year on, last year's closing balances become this year's opening balances on their own.

  • Import from an Excel file from your finalisation software, no code mapping to wrestle with.
  • Upload with software codes and the accounts auto-map. Without them, map once by hand.
  • From year two, the previous year's closing balances carry forward automatically.

real demo company balances, mapping as you watch.

Opening Trial Balancefirst year
Mapping Year 1: map Year 2: carried forward
Software CodeAccounting HeadsDebitCredit
03 Current year movements

Every transaction, straight from the source.

Import the year's movements over the API or from a file: every transaction with its date, type, the customer or supplier, the reference, the narration, debit and credit, and the VAT code and amount. This is the detail the whole file is built on, brought in as it stands in the client's books.

  • Full transaction detail: date, type, customer or supplier, reference, narration, VAT.
  • Over the QuickBooks Online API, or from a file: a Xero general ledger export, or Excel from any software.
  • Connecting QuickBooks over the API is a quick, standard sign-in, no files to move by hand.

connect over the api, or drop an excel file.

Current Year MovementsAPI
04 Transactional trial balance

The TTB builds itself.

Once the movements are in, Papercare prepares the Transactional Trial Balance automatically, the year's transactions summed into a working trial balance. You map it once, in the first year. From the second year onwards it maps itself, because the software already knows how your accounts line up.

  • The TTB is prepared automatically from the imported movements, nothing to build.
  • Map it once in year one. From year two the mapping is applied automatically.
  • The result is a working trial balance the rest of the file is built on.

map once. after that it maps itself.

Transactional Trial Balanceauto-prepared
Year Year 1 Year 2
Accounting HeadsMappingDebitCredit
05 Validation and error handling

It checks before it lets anything in.

Before a single figure is imported, the file is validated. Missing a mandatory column, a debit that should be a credit, a blank accounting head, the system catches it and tells you exactly what to fix in the Excel file before it will proceed. Bad data does not get in, so you are not unwinding it later.

  • The file is validated before submission, so common errors are stopped at the door.
  • You are told exactly what to correct in the Excel format before the import runs.
  • If the file has an issue, the data will not upload until it is fixed.

errors caught at the door, not deep in the file.

Validating importchecking
06 Flexible review and amendments

The mapping is yours to adjust.

Auto-mapping gets you most of the way, but the accounts are yours. Review and amend the mappings on both the opening trial balance and the transactional trial balance to suit how your firm keeps its accounts. However the data arrives, over an API or as a validated file, what you import is accurate, consistent, and yours to shape.

  • Review and amend account mappings on both the opening and transactional trial balances.
  • Customise to your firm's accounts, the auto-mapping is a starting point, not a cage.
  • Whichever route the data takes, it lands accurate and consistent, ready to work on.

remap any account. the file bends to your firm.

Review mappingseditable
Accounting HeadMapped toAmount
Click a mapping to change where an account lands.
Why it matters

The import is the whole start.

Every number in the file traces back to what was imported. Bring it in cleanly, over an API or a validated Excel file, and everything downstream, the trial balance, the lead schedules, the report, stands on accurate data instead of retyped figures.

The quiet one

Year two is where it pays off.

The first year you map the opening balance and the TTB. After that, opening balances carry forward and the TTB maps itself. The work you do once keeps paying back every year the client stays with you.

The bit people miss

Standard formats, not custom glue.

Whether the data arrives over QuickBooks' own API or as a file exported straight from the client's software, nothing about it is bespoke. It stays accurate, scales without custom development, and keeps working as the client's books change. Less to maintain, fewer places for data to drift.

The questions accountants actually ask

Straight answers.

YouWhich software can I import from?
PapercareConnect QuickBooks Online and import the current-year movements straight over its API. For Xero, export the general ledger as Excel or CSV and upload it exactly as it downloads. You can also import an Excel file from any other bookkeeping software. All three routes land in the same place.
YouHow does the opening trial balance work?
PapercareFor a new client, import it from an Excel file from your finalisation software: accounting heads, debit, credit, and optional software codes. If the software codes are included, the accounts auto-map. From year two, the previous year's closing balances carry forward automatically.
YouWhat is the Transactional Trial Balance?
PapercareOnce the current-year movements are imported, Papercare prepares the TTB automatically. You map it once in the first year, and from the second year onwards it is mapped automatically.
YouWhat if my import file has an error?
PapercareThe system validates the file before submission. If a mandatory column is missing or a value is wrong, it tells you exactly what to correct in the Excel file, and it will not upload the data until the file is fixed.
YouCan I change how accounts are mapped?
PapercareYes. You can review and amend the account mappings on both the opening trial balance and the transactional trial balance, so the file matches how your firm keeps its accounts. Auto-mapping is a starting point you can always adjust.
YouDo I have to re-map every year?
PapercareNo. The mapping is a first-year task. After that, opening balances carry forward and the TTB maps itself, so returning clients need almost no setup to import.

Import a client in about a minute.

Open the live demo, connect QuickBooks or drop in a Xero general ledger or an Excel file, watch the movements come in, the TTB build itself, and the mappings fall into place. Then adjust anything you want. That is the whole import.