Importing Data

Overview

Beeswax lets you bulk-import data from CSV files so you can get up and running quickly — especially useful when migrating from another system. You can import four types of data:

• People — contacts and users
• Businesses — clients and suppliers
• Products & Services — items you buy and sell
• Chart of Accounts — your transaction accounts (income, expense, asset, loan, and transfer accounts)

Each import type has a downloadable CSV template you can use as a starting point.

Note: Bank statement imports are handled separately via Money > Bank Import. See the Bank Import help article for details on importing bank CSV files.

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Getting Started

Start an import from the list you're importing into: People, Businesses, Products & Services or Chart of Accounts. Click the cloud button in the toolbar and choose Import. This opens the first step for that type of record.

The first step has a Download Template button. The template has the correct column headers and a few example rows. Download it, replace the examples with your own records, save it as a CSV, then upload it.

The Import link in the breadcrumb at the top of each import step opens the Data Imports page. It has a card for each of the four types, with an Import button and a Download CSV Template link, and an Import History button.

Note: Importing is not available on the Free plan.

Import in this order

1. Chart of Accounts
2. Businesses
3. People
4. Products & Services

Products post to your income and expense accounts, and people belong to businesses, so those need to be in place first.

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The Import Workflow

Every import follows the same four-step process:

Step 1 — Select File

Choose your CSV file, then click Upload and Preview.

Requirement	Detail
File format	CSV (.csv)
Encoding	UTF-8 recommended
First row	Must contain column headers
Maximum size	10 MB

Step 2 — Preview

After uploading, Beeswax shows how many rows it found and a preview of the first five, so you can check the data before going on. If something looks wrong, click Upload Different File. Otherwise, click Continue to Field Mapping.

Step 3 — Field Mapping

Each row shows one column from your CSV: its header, the value from your first row, and the Beeswax field it maps to. When a header matches a template column, Beeswax picks the field for you. Otherwise, choose the field from the dropdown, or leave it blank ("Don't import") to skip the column. Each field can only be used once.

Required fields are flagged with a Required badge. Start Import stays disabled until every required field is mapped, and Beeswax lists the missing ones beside it.

Import Options

Option	Description
Update Existing Records	When enabled, if a matching record is found (by email for people, by name for businesses and accounts, by title for products), the existing record is updated instead of creating a duplicate. The field used for matching is locked while this is on.

Step 4 — Complete

Once the import completes, you see a summary showing:

• Number of records created
• Number of records updated (if Update Existing was enabled)
• Number of failures with error details

If any rows fail, the results page lists the first ten with the row number and the reason, so you can fix them in your CSV and click Import Again. The row numbers match your spreadsheet: the header row is row 1, so your first record is row 2.

Note: Large imports (over 500 KB or more than 100 rows) are processed in the background. You are taken to a results page that refreshes itself every few seconds, and a message appears when the import has finished.

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Importing People

Import contacts into your account. Each person is associated with a business. The template has no business column, but you can add one (headed company_name, company, business or organisation). If the business doesn't exist yet, it is created as a client. If no business name is provided, the person is assigned to your default company.

CSV Template Fields

Field	Required	Description
first_name	Yes	Person's first name
last_name	Yes	Person's last name
email	Yes	Email address (used to match existing records when updating)
address	No	Street address
city	No	City or town
state	No	State or region
postcode	No	Postal or ZIP code
country	No	Country
phone	No	Phone number
mobile	No	Mobile number
fax	No	Fax number
company_name	No	Not in the template; add the column yourself. Business to associate this person with — created as a client if it does not exist

Matching for Updates

When Update Existing Records is enabled, people are matched by email address and business within your account. If a person with the same email already exists at the same business, their details are updated.

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Importing Businesses

Import client and supplier businesses into your account.

CSV Template Fields

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Business name (must be unique within your account). New businesses are created as clients
address	No	Street address
city	No	City or town
state	No	State or region
postcode	No	Postal or ZIP code
country	No	Country
phone	No	Phone number
web_address	No	Website URL

Matching for Updates

When Update Existing Records is enabled, businesses are matched by name (case-insensitive) within your account.

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Importing Products & Services

Import the items you buy and sell. These appear as line items when creating invoices and expenses.

CSV Template Fields

Field	Required	Description
title	Yes	Item name (must be unique within your account)
description	No	Item description
kind	Yes	One of: Sell, Buy, or Buy & Sell
unit	Yes	One of: Units, Hours, or Days
sell_amount	Yes	Default sell price
buy_amount	No	Default buy price
sell_account_name	For items you sell	Name of the income account that sales post to, exactly as it appears in your chart of accounts. Not needed for Buy items
buy_account_name	For items you buy	Name of the expense account that purchases post to. Needed whenever the buy amount is more than zero
item_category_name	No	Item category name — created automatically if it does not exist (defaults to "Main")
active	No	Whether the item is active — accepts: true, false, yes, no, 1, 0

Validation Rules

• Kind must be exactly one of: Sell, Buy, or Buy & Sell (case-insensitive)
• Unit must be exactly one of: Units, Hours, or Days (case-insensitive, singular forms like "Hour" or "Day" are also accepted)
• Account names must match one of your income (sell) or expense (buy) accounts. The match ignores capital letters. A name that doesn't match fails that row, so a typo never sends sales or costs to the wrong account
• A Sell or Buy & Sell item needs a sell account. A Buy item doesn't: it is given your default income account

Matching for Updates

When Update Existing Records is enabled, products are matched by title (case-insensitive) within your account.

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Importing Chart of Accounts

Import transaction accounts (your chart of accounts). This is useful when migrating from another accounting system.

The template lists the accounts every new Beeswax business starts with, as an example of the format. Replace them with your own accounts: a name you already have fails that row, unless Update Existing Records is on.

CSV Template Fields

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	Account name
type	No	Account type — one of: IncomeAccount, ExpenseAccount, AssetAccount, LoanAccount, or TransferAccount. You can also use the short form: income, expense, asset, loan, transfer. Defaults to AssetAccount if not specified
opening_balance	No	Opening balance amount (decimal)
description	No	Account description
bsb	No	BSB number (for bank accounts)
account_number	No	Bank account number
bank_account	No	Whether this is a bank account — true, yes, y or 1. Anything else counts as no
active	No	Whether the account is active — true, yes, y or 1. Anything else counts as no

The template has the name, type and opening_balance columns. Add any of the others you need.

Account Types

Type Value	Description
IncomeAccount (or income)	Revenue accounts (e.g. Services, Interest Earned)
ExpenseAccount (or expense)	Expense accounts (e.g. Rent, Software & Subscriptions)
AssetAccount (or asset)	Asset accounts (e.g. Bank accounts, Equipment)
LoanAccount (or loan)	Loan and liability accounts
TransferAccount (or transfer)	Transfer accounts for moving money between accounts

Equity accounts are available in the application but are not supported by this CSV account importer. Create them through the chart of accounts instead.

Matching for Updates

When Update Existing Records is enabled, accounts are matched by name within your account.

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Import History

To see past imports, open the Data Imports page (the Import breadcrumb on any import step) and click Import History. Each result shows:

• The data type that was imported
• Number of records created, updated, and failed
• Status (Completed, Completed with Errors, Processing, Pending or Failed)
• Date of the import

Click on an individual result to see detailed error information for any rows that failed.

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Tips & Best Practices

• Start with the template. Download the CSV template for each data type and use it as your starting point. This ensures your column headers match what Beeswax expects.
• Import in order. Chart of accounts, then businesses, then people, then products and services.
• Clean your data first. Remove empty rows, fix formatting, and ensure required fields are filled in before uploading.
• Use Update Existing for corrections. If you need to fix data after an initial import, enable "Update Existing Records" and re-import your corrected CSV.
• Check the results. After each import, review the results page for any failed rows and fix them in your CSV before re-importing.
• Use UTF-8 encoding. If your data contains special characters (accents, symbols), save your CSV with UTF-8 encoding to avoid character issues.