How to import your data from Wave or QuickBooks

Moving to BooksGPT does not mean starting from scratch. You can bring your full history across from Wave or QuickBooks in about 15 minutes. You export a few reports as CSV files from your old software, drop them into BooksGPT, and we rebuild your chart of accounts, your opening balances, every past transaction, and any unpaid invoices or bills. You do not need a paid AI plan to do the migration.


What you will need


  • Your login for Wave or QuickBooks, so you can download the reports.
  • At least one of these two reports, exported as a CSV file: Trial Balance, or General Ledger (in Wave this report is called "Account Transactions").
  • Optional, only if they apply to you: Aged Receivables (unpaid invoices your customers still owe you) and Aged Payables (unpaid bills you still owe vendors).
  • A few minutes. The files process in the background, so you can keep working.


You only need one of Trial Balance or General Ledger, because either one contains your full list of accounts. The Trial Balance gives the cleanest opening balances. The General Ledger also brings over every individual past transaction. If you have both, upload both and we use the best of each.


Step 1: Open the import page in BooksGPT


After you sign in, look at the bottom of your Dashboard for the tile that says "Onboard from Wave or QuickBooks", and click it. You can also reach the same page from the left sidebar under "Onboard from Wave / QuickBooks". This opens a page with four upload cards, one for each report.


Step 2: Export your reports from Wave


In a new tab, open Wave (there is an "Open Wave in a new tab" link at the top of the BooksGPT import page). Then download each report you have:


  • Trial Balance: go to Reports, open Trial Balance, click Export, and choose CSV.
  • General Ledger: go to Reports, open Account Transactions (General Ledger), click Export, and choose CSV.
  • Aged Receivables: go to Reports, open Aged Receivables, click Export, and choose CSV.
  • Aged Payables: go to Reports, open Aged Payables, click Export, and choose CSV.


Step 2 (QuickBooks version): Export the same reports from QuickBooks


QuickBooks uses the same four reports. In QuickBooks Online, go to Reports, search for and open the report you want (Trial Balance, General Ledger, A/R Aging Summary, or A/P Aging Summary), then use the export option and choose Export to CSV (often shown as a small export icon above the report). Save each file. Please note: BooksGPT reads these CSV reports. It does not yet read a QuickBooks company file (the .qbo or .iif type), so always use the CSV report exports above.


Step 3: Drop the files into BooksGPT


Back on the BooksGPT import page, drag each CSV onto its matching card, or click the card to browse for the file. Upload them one card at a time:


  • Put your Trial Balance or General Ledger file on its card first. The banner at the top turns green and says "Ready to migrate" once at least one of those two is uploaded.
  • If you have Aged Receivables or Aged Payables, drop those on their cards too.
  • If you do not have a report, click "I don't have this report, skip it" on that card.


Files must be CSV. The size limit is 200 MB per file, which is far larger than a normal export.


Step 4: Let it process


Each file uploads to secure storage and then processes in the background. You will see a live progress bar on the card showing rows processed out of the total. You can stay on the page and watch, and large histories can take a little while. When a card finishes it turns green and shows a short summary of what came across.


What gets rebuilt


When the import finishes, BooksGPT will have set up your Chart of Accounts from your old account list, posted your opening balances so your books balance from day one (this comes from your Trial Balance when you provide it), imported your historical transactions tied to the right accounts (this comes from your General Ledger), and brought over your open customer invoices and open vendor bills along with the matching customers and vendors (from the aging reports).


You will see a "Migration complete" summary listing how many accounts, transactions, invoices, and bills were created. From there, open the Transactions page to start reviewing, or run a Trial Balance report in BooksGPT to confirm everything balances.


Troubleshooting


If a card shows an error, the most common cause is the wrong file or format. Make sure you exported as CSV (not PDF or Excel), and that you used the exact report named on the card. If a number looks wildly off (for example an opening balance over 10 million dollars), that is almost always a typo in the original data, so fix the underlying transaction in Wave or QuickBooks, re-export, and upload again. Re-uploading the same report is always safe: we skip anything already imported, so you will not get duplicates. If you are still stuck, start a chat with us from the help bubble and we will walk through it with you.

Updated on: 18/06/2026

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