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Import Accounting Data Via CSV Trial Balance

Connect a company through a CSV Trial Balance file to create financial statements automatically

You can connect a company to Reach Reporting by uploading a CSV Trial Balance file. This is an excellent option if your bookkeeping is stored in a general ledger that isn't currently supported by Reach's direct integrations. When you upload multiple companies using the CSV method, you can also use Consolidations within Reach Reporting to combine data from multiple entities.

Getting Started

Download the CSV Template

To begin uploading your trial balance data:

  1. Navigate to your workspace and select "Add Company"
  2. Choose "Upload CSV Trial Balance"
  3. Click to download a CSV template

You can either:

  • Copy and paste your trial balance data directly into the template, or
  • Create a new tab in an existing spreadsheet using the same data structure

Note: When adding new monthly data to an existing CSV company, you can update the original imported file that you have stored on your computer, or download the previously uploaded CSV, add the new month column, and re-upload using the Update function. 

Required Formatting Rules

To ensure your data imports properly, follow these formatting requirements carefully:

Mandatory Columns

Column A - Account ID
General ledger account numbers. Every account must have a unique identifier.

Column B - Account Name
The name of each account in your chart of accounts.

Column C - Parent Account
Used to establish parent and sub-account relationships. This creates the account hierarchy in your financial statements. This column can optionally be left blank.

Tip: You can map accounts in the CSV file by creating custom accounts with no data, and then use the Account Parent ID column to create groupings. Be sure that your custom account has an Account ID, Account Name, and Account Type, and that the corresponding sub-accounts follow the same Account Type as the parent account.

For example, Cash and Cash Equivalents is a custom parent account with no data. Reach will show the totals of rows 3-8 for Cash and Cash Equivalents:

Column D - Account Type
The general ledger account type must match one of Reach Reporting's account types exactly. See the Account Types table below for accepted values.

Column E and Beyond - Monthly Data
Starting with Column E, enter your monthly trial balance data. You can begin with any fiscal period and continue with subsequent months across the row.

Accepted Account Types

Your Account Type entries in Column D must match these exact values:

Critical Formatting Requirements

Data Entry Guidelines

Header Row
  • Keep your header row intact—this tells Reach how to map your fields
  • The first row should contain: Account ID, Account Name, Account Parent ID, Account Type, and then your date columns.
Account Structure
  • Every account must start on its own line
  • No duplicate Account IDs are allowed
  • Each row needs a corresponding unique Account ID
Date Formatting
  • Date columns should be labeled with the month, last day of the month, and year (e.g., "1/31/2025")
  • Dates must be formatted as "Date" within your spreadsheet application
  • The dates must also be formatted with the Locale as "English (United States)"
  • There must not be duplicate date columns

Cumulative Balances
  • This is critical: Your data must show actual cumulative fiscal ending balances, not monthly changes or activity.
  • Profit & Loss Accounts: Should show year-to-date cumulative totals. For example, if a company is profitable, income should continue increasing month over month because you're showing the year-to-date balance, not just the monthly change.
  • Balance Sheet Accounts: Should show the ending balance as of that period's date.
Quarterly or Annual Data
  • You can upload quarterly or annual data instead of monthly. Simply enter the total trial balance for the applicable period. For example, put Q1 data as of 3/31/2025 in the quarterly column.

Important Note: If you want an accurate Cash Flow Statement, include the month prior to your reporting period, since cash flow is calculated based on balance sheet changes month to month.

Debits and Credits
  • Keep your debits and credits formatted with the correct sign. Reach Reporting will automatically transform these so they work correctly in financial statements and metrics.

For example:

  • Income accounts should be entered as negative numbers - Reach will multiply by -1, so it displays as a positive number on your Profit & Loss statement (credits)
  • Asset and Expense accounts should be entered as positive numbers (debits)
  • Each column must balance to zero (total debits must equal total credits)

Number Formatting
  • Use dot (.) as a decimal separator
  • Use comma (,) as a thousand separator
  • The enclosing character (double quotes) must be used when the delimiter appears in the field
File Type
  • Save your file as CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)
Delimiter
  • Use commas (,) to separate data. Depending on your regional settings, the default delimiter may be different (usually semicolon or commas).

Regional Settings Workaround

If your regional settings use different number or delimiter formats, follow these steps:

  1. Format all cells as "General" in your spreadsheet
  2. Save the file as CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)
  3. Open the file in a text editor such as Notepad
  4. If you're using a number format that doesn't have dot (.) as a decimal separator, use the Replace option (CTRL+H) to replace commas with dots
  5. Use the Replace option again to replace all delimiters with commas (,)

Uploading Your CSV File

Once your CSV file is properly formatted:

  1. From your workspace, click "Add Company"
  2. Select "Upload CSV Trial Balance"
  3. Click “Choose File” to attach your saved CSV file
  4. Reach will automatically create your financial statements from the uploaded data

Error Handling

If anything is incorrect in your file, Reach will flag the errors and let you know exactly what needs to be fixed before you try uploading again. Common errors include:

  • Unbalanced trial balance (debits ≠ credits)
    • Note: Sometimes an error will show that the trial balance is out of balance by a small amount, even though the column may sum to 0 in Excel. This is often due to small, fractional penny balances within some of the accounts. You can use the ROUND function in Excel, or overwrite the accounts with these values to 0 to help clear the error.
  • Invalid account types
  • Missing required columns
  • Duplicate date columns
  • Incorrect date formatting

Updating Your CSV Company

When you need to add new monthly data to an existing CSV company:

  1. Open the workspace in Reach Reporting
  2. Click the arrow to drop down the CSV company
  3. Select “Download CSV” to download the previously uploaded CSV file, or use the original imported file that you have stored on your computer
  4. Add the new month column(s) to the file
  5. Save and upload the updated file using the “Update CSV” option

The new month's data will be added to your existing company without affecting your reports, dashboards, or other configurations.

After Upload

Once your CSV Trial Balance is successfully uploaded:

  • All three main financial statements (Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement) will be automatically created
  • You can access all Reach Reporting templates and features
  • You can create consolidations with other CSV companies
  • Tip: You can use the Account Parent ID column to create parent accounts with the same names in each CSV file to map and consolidate the accounts

Note: CSV companies do not auto-sync like integrated companies. You must manually upload updated files when your data changes.

Important Limitations

Best Practices

  1. Keep a Master File: Maintain a master CSV file that you update monthly and keep properly formatted
  2. Validate Before Upload: Always check that your trial balance balances (debits = credits) before uploading
  3. Test with a Small Dataset: If this is your first upload, try a test company with a few months of data first
  4. Document Your Account Types: Keep a reference of which account type you've assigned to each account for consistency
  5. Use the Template: Always start with the Reach Reporting template to ensure proper formatting
  6. Check Parent/Sub Relationships: Verify your parent account hierarchy displays correctly after upload

Troubleshooting

Problem: The trial balance will not upload
Solution: Ensure you are following the template format and that each column balances to zero. Use your spreadsheet's SUM function to verify.

Problem: Accounts appear in the wrong category
Solution: Check that your Account Type entries exactly match one of the accepted values (not case-sensitive).

Problem: Financial statements look incorrect
Solution: Verify you're using cumulative balances (year-to-date for P&L, ending balances for Balance Sheet), not monthly changes.

Problem: Cash Flow Statement is missing data
Solution: Make sure you've included at least two periods (months) of Balance Sheet data, as Cash Flow is calculated from changes between periods.

 

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