Overview

 

Assuming you've completed the preliminary steps in the previous chapters, let's jump in and transfer your first invoice. (You did, didn't you?! Get things ready I mean? If not, you could be in for a bumpy ride!)
 

 

 

Step one - Exporting from Morning Flight

1. Open the Flight Engineer (F-11).

2.Go to QuickBooks > Export Invoices. You'll see the window above. Invoices 1032, 1036, and 1038 were exported earlier, indicated by the small blue icons. Invoices 1039 and 1040 are waiting to be exported and come up checked ("ticked" for our users abroad) when the window opens.

3.Because we're using real invoices for this exercise (though initially importing them into a dummy company file), the first invoice displayed in the pick list will be based on the range you entered under Preferences > Options. Uncheck all but one or two invoices, then click OK. Those same invoices can later by checked again and imported into your real company file, disregarding the little blue icons. The checked invoices get converted to a QuickBooks-friendly file structure and saved into the INVOICES.CSV file you specified earlier under Preferences > Settings.
 
Want to change your preferences from within the Export window? Click the blue light bulb.
 

 

4.Accept the Confirmation window that opens.
 

 

5.Verify the drive, file name and folder (C:\MFlight\INVOICES.CSV in the example), and click OK. You'll be greeted with a pop-up that asks whether you want to replace the existing file. Click Yes.
 

 

6.Congratulations! You've completed step one. The invoices you checked are now stored in the INVOICES.CSV file, ready to be imported into QuickBooks.
 

INVOICES.CSV is a temporary holding file that will be overwritten every time time you export. You can use Excel to view its contents, but make sure you keep the file in its original CSV (comma separated values) format if you're going to use it for importing.
 

 

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Step two - Importing into QuickBooks

1.Open QuickBooks. Go to File > Open Previous Company and select the dummy company file we set up when we prepared for QuickBooks.
 

 

2.Open the Transaction Pro 5 Importer. Under Select your file source choose "File" and browse to the INVOICES.CSV file we exported earlier. Make sure the rest of the fields are identical to what's shown in the window below.
 

 

3.Click the Options button. In the window that opens, select the Basic tab and check the three options that are checked in the example.
 

 

Once you're done experimenting, read the Transaction Pro 5 help file, then adjust any other preferences to the way you use QuickBooks. For now, ignore the Advanced and e-Commerce tabs.
 

4.Click the Next button. You'll see a preview of the invoices you're sending to QuickBooks.
 

 

5.Click Next.
 

 

6.No need to map fields. Morning Flight V14.1 versions come with a predefined map in your active Morning Flight directory (C:\Program Files\Printfire\MorningFlight\ by default). Click the Load Map button in the window above, then locate the "MFInvoiceMap.DAT" file. Highlight the file to select it and click the Open button.
 

You may want to make a copy of the original map file, paste the copy into the folder containing the INVOICE.CSV file, then load the copy as your map instead. That will safeguard the original should the copy get scrambled. True, we could send you a replacement, but it's quicker to just copy and paste.

 
 

 
 

7.We're almost there. Keep in mind that most of what we've done until now is set defaults and preferences. In a production setting, it's largely a matter of clicking Next a few times, then clicking Finish to complete the import. All of the entries, including the map location, will already be filled in.
 
In the final window (shown below), accept the default settings, then check the box "Save all Settings" at the bottom. It's unlikely you would create items under an account other than "Sales," but if do, you'll want to select the account you're going to use when importing invoices into your real company file.
 
After Transaction Pro 5 Importer confirms that your invoices have been imported, don't click Next, click Cancel instead. I know, there should probably be an Exit button for that, but we had no voice in designing the program. Except for that one little niggle, we really liked the Pro 5 Importer. I think you will, too. Beats keying in invoices by hand - by a mile!
 
 

 

Setting up for Invoices