I did the same thing for a grocery store about 15 years ago.  The entries were roughly 500-700 lines and I believed they were using Simply 2004.

I created a small program that took their cash register export of all items sold during a day and manipulated it into the final format to be imported based on the SDK Import documentation.

The invoices we imported took forever to look up in Simply (about an 1 or more hours - go to lunch then review one invoice), so I gave them the option of importing as a Sales order because SO lookup was faster.  Then once they reviewed it and it was validated, they deleted that SO and imported as an invoice.  They also managed inventory in Simply.

The documentation is in the import.pdf in the SDK for Sage 50 Canadian.  Search for it on the Knowledgebase or open internet and you should find an article or page for downloads.  Just make sure you get the Canadian version.  Sage's website links tend to push you toward the Sage 50 US version which is not compatible.

Hello Richard,

Thank you for the reply.

I managed to download the SDK here and to install it on my computer. I've read the pdf called "dev-import" in the Manuals folder located in the SDK's install location but I must admit I don't understand what the next steps should be exactly.

Is there a step-by-step tutorial available somewhere that could guide my through the process from A to Z ?

Thanks again for your help and have good one.

Regards,
Etienne

I"m afraid that is the step-by-step guide and it's been the same since around version 9.

You can search this forum for samples as there are several.

Page 7 is the setup for the header of <SalInvoice> (you might want to just search this forum for SalInvoice and you will see sample templates).

The tax information is the pickiest part but if you piece out the setup of your tax codes in Sage 50 you can mimic them in the setup.  Be aware that the tax info on page 7 as part of the header transaction options is only for the freight.  The rest of the tax information for line items is at the bottom of page 7 under Sales Invoice Detail Lines.  Use the template on page 8 to fill in the correct field information.

The last page has a good example layout.

Your original post here shows three columns in Excel.  They relate to the Item Number, Quantity and Amount fields in the Sales Invoice Detail Lines template on page 7.  I've never imported without a unit Price so you may need to calculate that.  I would copy it into a spreadsheet you wish to use as your template creator.  Then set up formulas on a different sheet to format the data.  Then export to txt file with an imp extension.

There are options on the customer ledger in Sage 50 for importing.  You will want to set them so you are not asked for item codes each time.  You will likely have to play with the import on a copy of your original Sage 50 file before you try it on your live file.  I would work with a few line items first, then build up.

Hello Richard,

Thanks again for your precious help. After reviewing the import PDF along with your answer and by doing some additional research on this forum, I think I'm starting to understand a bit more what layout the .IMP should have.

I do have a followup question, though. Is it possible, in the detail lines of a SalInvoice transaction type, to include other fields than those listed in the import PDF (Item number, Quantity, Price, Amount, Tax info) ? For example, an item description or internal reference number ?

Best,
Etienne

No, sorry.  The description is not importable.  The full SDK allows for this (though I have never used it) but not the import utility.  For one client years ago, I created an update utility that imported and then updated the descriptions but that was all done through programming, not just using the import file through File, Import/Export.

Hello again Richard,

I see. Thank you for the clarification. I think I could still manage to make something work with the IMP files and SalInvoice transaction, even if not all the information follows.

I still have two questions, which you might be able to answer :

- If I understand it correctly, an IMP file is simply a text file with the .imp extension, am I right ? Consequently, I could simply enter the data in, say, a Notepad document and save it with the .imp extension ?

- Which leads me to my second question : do you know of a way I could efficiently transfer the data located in my Excel spreadsheet into a text file, formatted to follow the requirements of the SalInvoice type transaction ?

Thanks again for your help.

Best,
Etienne

Hi Etienne
Since your data is in Excel, you could create a macro in Excel that creates a .imp files with the data needed. I did that for one of my client.

Regards,

Danielle

Hi Danielle,

Thank you for your answer. Would you by any chance be able to point me towards a tutorial or other ressource where I could find the steps to follow in order to create such a macro in Excel ?

Best,
Etienne

Hi Etienne

Are you familiar a bit with Macro in Excel? If no that's the first step

If you are a littre familiar with macro, I please contact me privately we' will go throuig it!

Reagrds,

Danielle

Hi Etienne

Are you familiar a bit with Macro in Excel? If no that's the first step

If you are a littre familiar with macro, I please contact me privately we' will go throuig it!

Reagrds,

Danielle