Lightspeed POS and QuickBooks

If you export data from LightSpeed for importing into QuickBooks then you’ve already experienced the benefits of this workflow. However, you may have noticed some bumps along the way that make this solution less than optimum.

The Problem

If you include expenses such as freight, insurance and other handling charges on your Supplier Invoices, LightSpeed 2 will separate them into multiple transactions. This causes them to be flagged by QuickBooks as duplicates and you will be prompted to manually over-ride each one during the import process. Xsilva quietly fixed this in LightSpeed 3 but if you’re still using version 2.9.1 or below, it can still be a problem.Furthermore, when viewing and paying your bills in QuickBooks, each Supplier Invoice will be represented as two bills that must be paid together.This also makes a mess of your Accounts Payable reports and sub-ledgers.

The Solution

LightSpeed 3 seems to have solved this problem but not everyone is ready to upgrade, so here is my solution…I wrote this program to merge these transactions so that they don’t cause errors and they appear as consolidated bills in your accounts payable… the way you expected they would.

Before…

Start by clicking the ‘Import’ button and choosing your purchases.iif file as exported by LightSpeed. It will be presented in proper accounting format (with debits first) that is easy to read so you can scan through the file before continuing.Notice, as in the screen shot below, that each SI is separated into two transactions. This is what causes the errors. You can click on the image to view a larger version.

After…

Click the ‘Clean Up’ button to instantly see the transformation take place. Any transactions with duplicate numbers have been merged and displayed for you to browse before clicking on the ‘Export’ button.Simply replace the original export file with the new, optimized file and you’re good to go.