JAQ Software

Exporting data to other applications

JAQ can export data in two formats.

CSV, for exporting lists or tables of data.
Accounting Software Templates, for exporting purchases ( supplier bills ) and customer invoices to your accounting software.

CSV Exports.

Most pages in JAQ with lists ( job list, stock list, etc. ) have a "Export CSV" button. Clicking on this button will create a CSV file of the displayed data and prompt you to save it.

A CSV ( Comma Separated Values ) is a industry standard file format for saving tables of data. You can open a CSV with and spreadsheet software ( Microsoft Excel, Open Office, Libra Office, etc ) or database software ( Access, dBase, SQL, etc ).

If you find a CSV export is missing columns you need, or a page without a Export CSV button, please contact JAQ support to see if we can add it for you.

Accounting Software Templates.

JAQ can export purchases ( bills ) and customer invoices in a format that can be imported by most versions of MYOB, with the exception of MYOB Essentials. MYOB Essentials, a cloud version of MYOB, has very limited import and export functionality and thus can not import records from JAQ ( or import anything useful from anything for that matter ).

Xero can import MYOB files, so will work fine with JAQ exports. JAQ Software recommends Xero as a accounting system simply because its importing functions are well documented compared to other systems.

Reckon / Quickbooks uses a more complicated import file format ( called IIF ) that is not well documented compared to MYOB's file format documentation. Currently JAQ can only export purchases ( supplier bills ) in a Reckon friendly format.

Preparing to Export Purchases ( Bills ) and Customer Invoices.

Before you can export to your accounting program, you need to check JAQ is set up correctly to use account numbers.

First, on the JAQ Setup Page ( under "M" for management ), section O, make sure O1 Accounting System Compliant is ticked, and you have selected your accounting program in option O2. This will tell JAQ to use account numbers on the line items for jobs, purchases, stock, fees, etc. The other settings in O should be OK if left as the defaults, please contact JAQ support if you need help with these.

Next we need to set up the account numbers in JAQ to match the account numbers in your accounting program. You can find the Accounts List under "M", and you use the Accounts List page to edit or add new account numbers.

When adding or editing an account, you need to select the account Class ( Income, Business Expense or Cost of Sale ), the Account Number or Code and Account Name, if it a Header Account, and if its Active. The Account Number or Code in JAQ is limited to 8 characters, and can either be a simple number or description. For example, "4-1234" or "PPE".
The field called MYOB code ( or XERO Code or Reckon Code, depending on what system you selected in option O2 above ), is where you type in the EXACT code as it is used in your accounting program.
When JAQ exports data to be imported into your accounting program, it will use the value in this field.
The Account Category option is used if you want to group several accounts together under one account type, for reporting purposes. You may purchase several types of fuel ( LPG, Diesel, etc ), but want to report on them all under the category “Fuel”.

Once you have set up account numbers, you can export Customer Invoices and Supplier Bills from JAQ to your accounting software, see below.

Note about customer and supplier names. When you import invoices or bills, your accounting software checks to see if the supplier or customer are already in its card file. If not, it will add them automatically for you. This can be a problem, because the customer and supplier name in JAQ must match exactly the customer and supplier name in your accounting program. If not, your accounting software will add them. Say you had a customer in JAQ called "B Smith", and in your accounting software they are recorded as "Bill Smith", then as your accounting software imports the JAQ data, it will add a new customer called "B Smith", as it could not find a exact match. So you end up with a "B Smith" and a "Bill Smith" after the import. Just something to be aware of.

Exporting Supplier Bills

JAQ will let you export one supplier bill at a time, or in bulk. To export one purchase, open the purchase in JAQ and check it has been closed off, and you are sure the information on the purchase is correct, including prices, account numbers, and supplier invoice number. When ready, you can export the purchase using the "Export to Xero" button ( this could be labeled "Export to MYOB" or "Export to Reckon" ). This will take you to the Export Purchases page. This page will display the purchase order to be exported, what job number its for, and who the supplier is. The tick box to the left of the purchase number should be ticked, meaning its to be included in the export. If it looks OK, click Export.

JAQ will prompt you to save a file. This is the template file you need to import into your accounting software, explained below. You then go through the process of importing that file, and once done, you return to the JAQ screen where you see a tickbox next to the exported purchase, and a Update Jaq button. If the import went ok, leave the checkbox ticked, and click the Update Jaq button. This tells JAQ the purchase was exported OK, and it doesn't need to export it again.

You can also export more than one purchase at a time. Go to the P ( Purchases ) menu option, and click Export. This will display all purchases that are ready to export. It works the same as exporting a single purchase, but in bulk. If you want the export to skip a purchase, just untick the checkbox next to the purchase number.

Exporting Customer Invoices

This works pretty much the same as exporting Supplier Bills, above. You can export a single invoice by opening the invoice in JAQ and clicking the Export button, or in bulk by opening J ( for Jobs ), Export Invoices page

Importing into your accounting program.

Below are links to tutorials and videos provided by the various accounting software's providers.

Xero Importing Customer Invoices Youtube Link

Importing Purchases ( Bills ) Youtube Link

In both videos, they break it down into 3 steps.

    Step 1, Download the template.
    Step 2, Copy info to the template.
    Step 3, Import the template.

JAQ does steps 1 and 2 for you, and provides the "template" file ready to import into Xero.

MYOB Importing Data Link

JAQ creates the import file ( or Template ) for you, and you dont need to edit the template before importing.

Reckon Importing Data Youtube Link

Although Reckon can import a range of data, including customer invoices and supplier bills, information from Reckon on importing is hard to find.