Selecting General Ledger Accounts for Item Imports

Different item types have different accounting requirements and considerations. If you are setting up your account for the first time, you should review this topic and consider creating General Ledger (GL) accounts before you import items.

In regard to their General Ledger (GL) impact, item types fall into two categories:

Some item types have no accounting component.
Some item types can optionally be created as posting items that require an account, or as non-posting items that do not.

For items in the second category, note that if you choose to make them non-posting, they cannot be used on transactions and have no direct impact on your General Ledger. However, you might choose to make items non-posting if they are to be used as parent items, or as components of kits and assemblies.

The following table summarizes the primary accounting considerations for each item type that can be imported. Note that, for those item types that can be associated with one or more accounts, the list of valid account types you can choose from varies depending on whether the Expand Account Lists option has been enabled. If enabled (at Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences), Expand Account Lists let you choose from a greater number of account types than would otherwise be available. Except where noted, the table below assumes that you do not have this preference enabled. Note also that this table summarizes only the minimal accounting components that exist. Some items have additional optional accounting choices. For full details, see the help topic for the relevant item.

Map your account fields with some care. If you map to an account that is not considered valid for the item type, the import fails with an “invalid account reference key” error. Of course, if you already have your accounts set up, you can double-check which accounts are valid by referring to the various Account lists on the forms where you manually create items.

Item Type/Subtype	Accounting Component?	Valid Account Types to Choose when Adding	Valid Account Changes when Updating
Assembly/Bill of Materials	Yes, but you can make the item non-posting by mapping the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), Asset, and Income account fields to values of “null” (all lowercase) in your CSV file, or creating default values of null on the mapping page.	Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), Asset, and Income
Description	No	—
Discount	Yes, but you can avoid entering an account by mapping the Non-Posting field to Yes. You can do this either by mapping to a Non-Posting column in your CSV file or creating a default value on the mapping page.	Expense or Income	You can update only to the same type of account selected when the record was created. For example, if you chose an expense account originally, the update can be only to another expense account. With Expand Account Lists enabled, the Account field can be updated to a different account type other than the one chosen when the item record was created.
Inventory	Yes, but you can make the item non-posting by mapping the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), Asset, and Income account fields to values of “null” (all lowercase) in your CSV file, or creating default values of null on the mapping page.	Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), Asset, and Income
Item Group	No	—
Kit/Package	Yes, but you can make the item non-posting by mapping the Income account field to a value of “null” (all lowercase) in your CSV file, or creating a default value of null on the mapping page.	Income
Markup	Yes, but you can avoid entering an account by mapping the Non-Posting field to Yes. You can do this either by mapping to a Non-Posting column in your CSV file or creating a default value on the mapping page.	Expense or Income	You can update only to the same type of account selected when the record was created. For example, if you chose an income account originally, the update can be only to another income account. With Expand Account Lists enabled, the Account field can be updated to a different account type other than the one chosen when the item record was created.
Non-inventory, Other Charge, and Service for Purchase	Yes, but you can make the item non-posting by mapping the Expense account field to a value of “null” (all lowercase) in your CSV file, or creating a default value of null on the mapping page.	Expense
Non-inventory, Other Charge, and Service for Resale	Yes, but you can make the item non-posting by mapping the Income and Expense account fields to values of “null” (all lowercase) in your CSV file, or creating default values of null on the mapping page.	Income and Expense
Non-inventory, Other Charge, and Service for Sale	Yes, but you can make the item non-posting by mapping the Income account field to a value of “null” (all lowercase) in your CSV file, or creating a default value of null on the mapping page.	Income
Payment	Yes. You can select an account by including an Account mapping and by setting Group With Undeposited Funds to Yes. If you fail to do the latter, your account mapping is ignored.	Bank or Other Current Asset
Subtotal	No	—

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