What are IIF files?

Intuit Interchange Format (.IIF) files are ASCII text, TSV (Tab-Separated Value) files that QuickBooks Desktop supports to import or export lists or transactions. IIF files make transferring data from Fyle to QuickBooks Desktop and managing company records easier.

Importing IIF files in QuickBooks Desktop is easy because QuickBooks Desktop formats the file. Also, Intuit suggests this is a faster and easier method to enter transactions directly into QuickBooks Desktop.

Transactions type and Data fields supported for IIF file generation

To support QuickBooks Desktop customers, we have built the IIF export format to help export reimbursable and credit card expenses from Fyle as transactions in QuickBooks Desktop, such as Bills, Journal Entries, Credit Card Charges, Vendor bill refunds, and Credit Card refunds.

Just so you know, you can only export the expense data from Fyle to QuickBooks Desktop via an IIF file but cannot import any data from QuickBooks Desktop to Fyle through IIF.

When generating an IIF file, the receipt copy can not be sent as an attachment to QuickBooks Desktop. However, we can always share the link to Fyle's receipt in the memo field if you want the receipt copy.

Also, only custom fields of drop-down nature ( Select type) can be exported to either class or customer: project dimension in QuickBooks Desktop, any other kind of custom field cannot be exported from Fyle to QuickBooks Desktop using IIF files.

Setting up QuickBooks Desktop Integration to generate IIF files

You can configure the QuickBooks Desktop Integration in Fyle under Settings > Integration > Native > QuickBooks Desktop and Start.

The setup will be a three-step process.

Step 1: Configuring your Export settings

In this step, you can specify the following:

How should the reimbursable or corporate card expenses be exported from Fyle to QuickBooks Desktop.
The Bank/Accounts payable account to which the expense should be posted.
If your employees are filing Mileage expenses, the expense account to which the mileage expenses should be posted.
How should the expenses be grouped? For example, if you choose the grouping by Report, all the expenses in a report will be part of one transaction in QuickBooks Desktop, each as a line entry.
The transaction date
State in Fyle when the expenses should be exported. For example, if you choose the state to be Payment processing, then as soon as expenses reach this state in Fyle, they will be available for IIF file generation.

Note: While sharing the details, such as the Account name, please ensure that it matches the exact name in your QuickBooks Desktop instance to avoid errors while importing the data.

Step 2: Field Mapping

Here, you could specify which expense field in Fyle corresponds to CUSTOMER: JOB and CLASS dimensions in QuickBooks Desktop.

This helps us generate the IIF File such that the expenses field values are passed on to the correct dimension in QuickBooks Desktop.

Step 3: Advanced

In this section, you can configure how frequently you would like the IIF file to be shared with you and what data you would like to pass to the Memo field of QuickBooks Desktop.

Schedule automatic export

The IIF file can be generated daily, Weekly, or monthly and shared with you on a preferred email address. The time zones are based on your timezone configured in Fyle's preference.

Modifying Memo

You can customize the data sets to be passed from Fyle to QuickBooks Desktop's top-level and transaction item-level MEMO details. For example, this would ensure that you have the preferred set of data in the required fields to search or pull out accurate reports on your QuickBooks Desktop.

Once the setup is complete, you can instantly download the IIF file based on the configuration from Dashboard, as shown below:

Please ensure expenses are available in the respective export states configured ( Payment Processing/Paid) before exporting the IIF file.

The IIF logs section in Dashboard also gives you a historical record of IIF files generated, such as the date of export, the expense type, the transaction type, and the file record. If you want to cross-check the exported data, you can download this file again and open it in notepad or excel to check by report details.

Points to Note

The integration ensures that an expense is not duplicated when generating an IIF file. For example, say the expense was in a processing state when the IIF file was generated and shared, and now you have moved it to the previous state and moved it back to processing again; it will not be fetched again in the new file.
Make sure the categories in Fyle match the accounts in QuickBooks Desktop precisely. Remember to include the account code. This avoids errors in expense coding.

Once you have received the file, you can follow the steps shared here to import them to your QuickBooks Desktop application.

Got any questions? Write to us at [email protected], and we will be happy to help.