Exporting data from MYOB Accounting Plus

You can take various information entered in MYOB Accounting Plus and use it in other software programs or in other MYOB software data files. This process is called exporting data.

You can export the following types of information from the MYOB system:

  • Accounts
  • Items
  • Cards
  • Journal entries
  • Sales and payments
  • Purchases and payments
  • Activities
  • Activity Slips

For detailed information about the description and character length of each field that can be exported, see Import and Export Fields Overview.
Export file options

When you export information from MYOB Accounting Plus you can export in a tab-delimited or comma-separated file format. These formats are described below:

  • Tab-delimited files contain fields that are separated by tab characters. For example, if a tab character appears between Brewster and 300 Roundhill Drive in a file of customer names, the file counts Brewster and 300 Roundhill Drive as two separate fields in a record. Tab-delimited files are often used by popular spreadsheet and worksheet programs.
  • Comma-separated files contain records that are separated by commas. For example, if a comma appears between Brewster and 300 Roundhill Drive in a file of customer names, the file counts Brewster and 300 Roundhill Drive as two separate fields in a record. Comma-separated files are often used by popular database programs.

If you’re exporting the data from Accounting Plus for use in another software program, use the format that is accepted by that program. (If you’re not sure which format is accepted, check the documentation that came with the software program.)

If you’re exporting data for use in another MYOB software data file, you can choose either one, since we accept either file format. (To make the process easy, comma-separated is automatically selected in Accounting Plus, just leave it as it is. Comma-separated is also automatically selected during the import process.)

These selections that may also appear in the Export File window, depending on the type of information you are exporting:

  • If you’re exporting accounts, select to export account balances from the current or previous fiscal year, then select the period whose ending balances you want to export.
  • If you’re exporting customer, vendor, employee or personal cards, you can restrict the people whose records you export by entering identifiers and postal codes.

— If you enter more than one identifier in the Identifier field, the people whose records you export will only be those who have been assigned all the identifiers you entered.

— If you enter a partial zip code in the Zip Code field, the people whose records you export will be those whose postal codes match the numbers you entered.

  • If you’re exporting journal entries, choose the journal you want to export from. You can also select a time period to restrict the journal entries to export.
  • If you’re exporting sales or purchases, you can restrict the transactions you export by the identifiers assigned to the customers and vendors you conducted the transactions with. You can also select a time period to restrict the sales and purchases to export. Additionally, you can choose the layout of sales or purchase orders (service, item, professional or miscellaneous) you want to export and the status of sales and purchases (invoice/bill, order or quote).
Exporting company information, accounts and journal entries to CaseWare

Accountants routinely ask their clients to provide their financial information in an electronic format that can be loaded into the accountants' software programs. This makes it easier for them to examine and analyze the clients' records.

If your accountant requests an electronic copy of your accounting records, you can use Accounting Plus to create a comma-separated text file that can be read by CaseWare, a client write-up software package that is popular among accountants.

The file will contain your company information, detail account information and journal entries.

Click below for a step-by-step procedure

Keyword: CaseWare

Creating personalized letters

Communication with your business contacts is essential to the success of your business. Personalized business letters and mailers show your business contacts that you really appreciate their business, which can generate more sales for your company.

The files you export from the Card File contain the information you enter in the Card File Entry window. They include the card’s name, addresses, phone and fax numbers, contact name, salutation and, if applicable, balance and overdue balance amounts.

Using MYOB OfficeLink, you can seamlessly export card information from Accounting Plus and import it into your word processing software to create personalized correspondence for the people you do business with. Even if you haven't installed OfficeLink, you can create a “mail-merge” file that can be used with your word processing program to create personalized letters. This process is more time-consuming, however. We recommend that you take advantage of OfficeLink’s capabilities if you can.

If you haven’t installed OfficeLink, but you’re using an OfficeLink-compatible word processing program and would like to begin using OfficeLink, you’ll need to reinstall your MYOB program. To learn how, see To reinstall MYOB Accounting Plus.

If you haven’t installed OfficeLink, you still can export card information from MYOB Accounting Plus and import it into your word processing software to create personalized correspondence for the people you do business with.

Two fields in the Card File Entry window, Contact Name and Salutation, can be helpful if you intend to create personalized letters using your word processing software.

If a card is indexed by a company name rather than an individual name, you can enter the name of a contact person in the Contact Name field. Then, when you import the card’s data, you can send letters to a specific person at that company.

Similarly, by using the Salutation field, you can enter the name that a contact person prefers to be called, instead of their formal name.

File formats for personalized letters

When you export data using Personalized Letters in Accounting Plus, you can save the file in any of five formats. You can also save files in these formats when you use the To Do List window to save a list of unpaid receivables to disk.

Tab-Delimited Text File When you save information in tab-delimited format, the individual pieces of information are separated by tab characters. For example, if the last name Brewster and the address 300 Roundhill Drive appears in a report of customer names, a tab character will appear between Brewster and 300 Roundhill Drive in the file.

Comma-Separated Text File When you save information in comma-separated format, the individual pieces of information are separated by commas. For example, if the last name Brewster and the address 300 Roundhill Drive appears in a report of customer names, a comma will appear between Brewster and 300 Roundhill Drive in the file. (Individual pieces of information that actual contain commas are surrounded by quotation marks.)

Text When you save information in text format, the individual pieces of information are separated by spaces so the appearance of the report is as similar as possible to a printed version of the report. (The amount of similarity between the file's appearance and the report's printed appearance depends upon the type of workstation and fonts you're using in the report.)

HTML Formatted Text File When you save information in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) format, the information can be viewed with World Wide Web browser software. The file's default three-digit extension will be .HTM.

PDF (Portable Document Format) When you save information in a PDF file format, the information can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application distributed by Adobe Systems -- www.adobe.com.

Click for a step-by-step procedure

To export data for use in personalized letters

Creating personalized letters using exported data

You can create personalized letters using data exported from Accounting Plus. To import your Accounting Plus data into your word processing program, you’ll need to refer to the documentation that accompanied your word processing software.

Idea: Try searching for “mail-merge”
The process of importing data into a word processing program’s document is often referred to as “mail-merging” a document. If you’re having trouble finding help, check for that term in your word processing program’s documentation.

If you want to use the model business letters you installed with Accounting Plus, you’ll find those documents in the Letters folder inside the folder where Accounting Plus resides on your hard disk. These documents are available in a few different formats so you can edit them using your word processing software to suit the needs of your business.

Your Data File Overview