Import trial balances
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/import-trial-balances
section
2026-02-19T17:09:06+01:00
# Import trial balances
Import trial balances - overview
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/import-trial-balances/import-trial-balances-overview
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In Visma Net, to initialise the system during initial implementation, you can import either a trial balance (or balances) or a number of general ledger transactions from third-party software.
2026-02-19T17:09:06+01:00
# Import trial balances - overview
In Visma Net, to initialise the system during initial implementation, you can import either a trial balance (or balances) or a number of general ledger transactions from third-party software.
In Visma Net, to initialise the system during initial implementation, you can import either a
trial balance (or balances) or a number of general ledger transactions from third-party
software. If you import the general ledger transactions, you do not need to import the trial
balance because the trial balance will be computed by the system automatically
according to imported general ledger transactions.
If you do not need to keep the history of general ledger
transactions in Visma Net, you can import the trial balance only.
Before importing the trial balance, you need to select the period to start keeping records in Visma Net, and decide whether you want to import the history of balances for multiple preceding periods or just one period.
We recommend that you import the trial
balance for at least one period prior to the period in which you start using Visma Net.
For example: If you start using Visma Net in 01-2021, you import the trial balance for at least 12-2020.
In the third-party software, you should prepare the data to be imported. For each required period, you should run the trial balance report. If the third-party software has no such report, you need to use a traditional trial balance report and calculate the balances of accounts by using information about the account types.
## Prepare and edit the file to be imported
From the third-party software, you should export the prepared trial balance data to a CSV file (.csv) or to an Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx). The file should have the following columns:
+ **Account**: The account ID of the account to be imported.
+ **Subaccount**: The subaccount ID of the subaccount to be imported. If there is no specific subaccount for a particular account, specify a non-specific subaccount that fits the **SUBACCOUNT** segmented key in your system, for example, **000-00-00**.
This column is required only if you plan to use subaccounts with your accounts. In that case, the **Subaccounts** functionality should be enabled in the [Enable/disable functionalities (CS100000)](/visma-net-erp/help/common-settings/enable-or-disable-functionalites/enable-disable-functionalities-cs100000/) window.
+ **YTD balance**: The ending balance of the account for the period. The balance can be provided either with the positive or with negative sign. For details about the signs of the balance, see sections below in this topic. For this column, the **Currency** or **Text** format setting can be specified in the Excel file.
The file can contain multiple columns with the balances for different financial periods.
+ **Description** (optional): Any meaningful description of the account that you can add for convenient working with the file.
You should not import the balance of the **YTD net income** account; Visma Net calculates this balance automatically from the imported balances of income and expense accounts.
## Specify the sign of the trial balance
The following types of trial balances can be used in different accounting software:
+ Normal trial balances are those that have debit balances for asset and expense accounts and credit balances for liability and income accounts, and these balances are displayed with the plus sign if the respective debit or credit balances are positive.
+ Reversed trial balances are those that have normal balances of asset and expense accounts or positive amounts are displayed with the plus sign. The balances of liability and income accounts are reversed: the credit balances of these accounts are positive, but they are displayed with the minus sign.
From the third-party software, you have exported either the normal or the reversed type of the balance, so before you start importing the trial balance to Visma Net, you need to specify an appropriate option in the **Sign of the trial balance** field in the [General ledger preferences (GL102000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/general-ledger-preferences-gl102000/) window:
Normal
: To keep the signs of account balances while importing a trial balance
Reversed
: To reverse the signs of credit balances of the liability and income accounts while importing a trial balance
## Import normal balances
Normal balances satisfy the following validation criterion.
`Total debit balance of the (assets + expense)accounts = Total credit balance of the (income + liabilities) accounts`
The example below demonstrates a trial balance with normal account balances.
|Account|Type|Balance|
|---|---|---|
|Cash|Asset|100|
|Customer ledger|Asset|400|
|Supplier ledger|Liability|100|
|Shareholders' equity|Liability|100|
|Retained earnings|Liability|100|
|Sales|Income|400|
|COGS|Expense|100|
|Other expense|Expense|100|
|**Totals:**|||
|**Debit total (asset accounts +expense accounts)**||**700**|
|**Credit total (income accounts + liability a ccounts)**||**700**|
For a normal trial balance, you select **Normal** as the **sign of the trial balance** in the [General ledger preferences (GL102000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/general-ledger-preferences-gl102000/) window.
## Importing reversed credit balances
The reversed credit balances, implemented in some applications, satisfy the following validation criterion.
`Total debit balance of (assets + expense)accounts = - (Total credit balance of (income + liabilities)accounts)`
This criterion can also be expressed as follows.
`Total debit balance of (assets + expense)accounts + Total credit balance of (income + liabilities)accounts = 0`
The example below demonstrates a valid trial balance with reversed credit balances for liability and income accounts.
|Account|Type|Balance|
|---|---|---|
|Cash|Asset|100|
|Customer ledger|Asset|400|
|Supplier ledger|Liability|-100|
|Shareholders' equity|Liability|-100|
|Retained earnings|Liability|-100|
|Sales|Income|-400|
|COGS|Expense|100|
|Other expense|Expense|100|
|**Totals:**|||
|**Debit total (asset accounts +expense accounts)**||**700**|
|**Credit total (income accounts + liability accounts)**||**-700**|
Before importing a reversed trial balance, you should select the **Reversed** option in the **Sign of the trial balance** box in the [General ledger preferences (GL102000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/general-ledger-preferences-gl102000/) window, so that the balances of liability and income accounts will be imported properly.
## Process imported data
You import data by uploading a specially prepared Excel or CSV file with the trial balance in
the[Trial balance (GL303010)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/trial-balance-gl303010/) window.
You import
data to a selected target branch into its posting ledger to the specified financial
period.
For the import to complete successfully, you have to map the imported list
of accounts (and subaccounts, if any) to the internal accounts (and subaccounts)
used in Visma Net.
After you have uploaded the file with the trial balance, the list of accounts (and
subaccounts) to be imported are displayed on the **Transaction details** tab. Visma Net performs most of the mapping of the imported accounts (and subaccounts) and the
internal accounts (and subaccounts) automatically when you select the
**Validate** action and click **Process** or
**Process all** in the table toolbar.
However, after the
mapping process is finished, some lines can contain unmapped accounts (and
subaccounts).
Such records are marked as errors and displayed in red font. The
system also marks the duplicate records as errors.
In this case, you need to perform
the mapping of accounts and subaccounts manually, and merging the duplicate records
(by processing the **Merge duplicates** action on the table toolbar).
If you import the trial balance data for system initialisation, the
**Exceptions** tab will be empty because the target ledger
contains no records.
If you perform periodic imports, the
**Exceptions** tab contains the list of accounts (and
subaccounts) with their balances (as currently recorded in the ledger for the
specified period) that are not present in the data being imported. In this case, you
should review this list carefully and make sure that the balances of these accounts
should be equal to zero in the period for which you are importing the trial balance.
This review is needed because on release of the trial balance entry, for each
account listed on the **Exceptions** tab, the system generates a
transaction that makes the account balance zero for the period you are importing the
trial balance for.
If these accounts balances should be non-zero, verify and correct
the list of accounts in the file from which you are importing the trial balance.
Once you are done mapping the accounts and adjusting the records, clear the
**Hold** check box and release
(**Release**) the trial balance entry.
After the release, the
system will generate a batch of general ledger transactions that adjusts account balances in the
ledger to match the imported trial balance.
Only the **Balanced** trial balance entry can be released.
If you import the trial balance for the second financial period and all subsequent financial
periods, the system generates journal entries in the amount of the difference
between the ending balances of the previous period and the imported balance of the
next period.
Therefore, if you import the trial balance for more than one financial
period, you have to release each generated batch and post the transactions before
you import the trial balance for the next period; otherwise, the transactions might
be generated incorrectly.
During the release of the trial balance entry, the system generates a general ledger batch with the **On hold** status.
For normal balances, for each asset and expense account, the
system generates a debit entry if the imported balance is positive, or a credit
entry if the imported balance is negative. For each liability and income account,
the system generates a credit entry if the imported balance is positive, or a debit
entry if the imported balance is negative. For the reversed balances, for each
liability and income account, the system generates a credit entry if the imported
balance is negative, or a debit entry if the imported balance is positive.
If you have imported the trial balance incorrectly, or you have had some inconsistencies during the importing process, you can repeat the importing procedure once again. After you release and post the general ledger batch, the account balances will be adjusted.
Related pages
Tasks
Import trial balance
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/import-trial-balances/import-trial-balance
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2026-02-19T17:09:06+01:00
# Import trial balance
## Before you proceed
Before importing trial balances, make sure of the following:
+ The CSV file (.csv) or the Excel file (.xlsx) is correctly prepared for importing trial balance data in the system. For details, see: [Import trial balances - overview](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/import-trial-balances/import-trial-balances-overview/).
+ The chart of accounts is configured, and all required accounts are defined in Visma Net.
+ If the trial balance file to be imported contains subaccounts, the **Subaccounts** functionality is enabled in the [Enable/disable functionalities (CS100000)](/visma-net-erp/help/common-settings/enable-or-disable-functionalites/enable-disable-functionalities-cs100000/) window.
+ In the [General ledger preferences (GL102000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/general-ledger-preferences-gl102000/) window, in the **Sign of the trial balance** field, the selected option corresponds to the balances that you are going to import ( **Normal** or **Reversed** ).
1. Go to the [Trial balance (GL303010)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/trial-balance-gl303010/) window.
1. In the **Import date** field, specify the date of import. By default, the system business date is specified in this field.
1. In the **Period** field, specify the financial period to which the imported data should be posted. We recommend that you import the trial balance for at least one period prior the period in which you start using Visma Net. For example: If you start using Visma Net in 01-2021, you import the trial balance for at least 12-2020.
1. In the **Branch** field, select the branch of the organisation whose trial balance is to be imported.
1. In the **Ledger** field, select the ledger to which the imported data should be posted. By default, this is the default posting ledger specified in the [Ledgers (GL201500)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/ledgers-gl201500/) window.
1. In the **Control total** field, enter the control amount to be used to validate the total amount of the balance to be imported. This amount is equal to the sum of the debit totals (of the asset and expense accounts) and the credit totals (of the liability and income accounts) of the trial balance. This field is available only if the **Validate batch control totals on entry** check box is selected in the [General ledger preferences (GL102000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/general-ledger-preferences-gl102000/) window.
1. On the **Transaction details** tab, perform the following steps to prepare for the import:
1. In the table toolbar, click **Load records from file**.
1. In the **File upload dialog box**, select the required file and click **Upload**.
1. In the **Common settings dialog box**, do the following and click **OK**:
+ In the **Null value** field, type the character that is used as the null value in the source file, or leave this field empty.
+ In the **Culture** field, select the locale in which the data is presented in the source file.
+ In the **Mode** field, select the **Insert all records** option to update records existing in the system.
1. In the **Columns dialog box**, for the columns in your file, select the appropriate property name. Click **OK**. The records are exported from the file to the table area of the **Transaction details** tab.
1. In the table, select the unlabelled check box next to a record or all records.
1. In the table toolbar, select the **Validate** action, and click **Process** (to validate selected accounts) or **Process all** (to validate all accounts in the list). The system performs most of the mapping automatically.
1. If there are unmapped accounts or subaccounts, map them manually to the corresponding internal accounts or subaccounts.
1. If there are duplicate accounts or subaccounts, on the table toolbar, select the **Merge duplicate** action, and click **Process** or **Process all**. After that, select and process the **Validate** action once again.
1. Review the list on the **Exceptions** tab. If you perform periodic imports and the target ledger contains records, this tab displays the list of accounts and subaccounts (with their balances) that currently exist in the ledger for the period you are importing the trial balance for and that are not present in the data being imported. For details, see: [Import trial balances - overview](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/import-trial-balances/import-trial-balances-overview/).
1. Check the **Debit total** amount and the **Credit total** amount in the top part. Clear the **Hold** check box. The import entry gets the **Balanced** status.
1. Click **Save** in the window toolbar.
1. Click **Release** in the window toolbar.
1. In the [Journal transactions (GL301000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/journal-transactions-gl301000/) window, release and post the batch generated for the imported trial balance.
If you are going to import the trial balance for more than one financial periods, you have to import the trial balances one by one successively, and release and post each generated batch before you import the trial balance for the next period. It is required because the system generates journal entries in the amount of the difference between the ending balances of the previous period and the imported balance of the next period.