Expense Import

Import expenses into Projector in bulk using csv, qfx, qif, ofx, and qbo formats. This feature is commonly used to import credit card statements. The import feature is supported by expense reports, soft cost documents, and vendor invoices.

Permissions and Settings

Imports are limited to 2000 cost cards at a time.

Different permissions are required depending on what kind of expenses you are trying to import.

Expense Reports

To upload cost cards to an expense report you must have one of the following:

Be a resource
Have the cost center permission Maintain Expenses

Expense report imports do not allow you to specify the incurred currency on import. You can manually set the incurred currency after import.

Soft Costs

To upload cost cards to soft cost document:

Have the cost center permission Maintain Soft Costs

Vendor Invoices

To upload cost cards to a vendor invoice:

Have the cost center permission Maintain Vendor Invoices

Supported File Formats

Projector supports the following formats

Format	Name	Description
CSV	Comma separated values	One of the most universal formats, a csv file is a simple text file where each value is separated by a comma and each row is a new set of data. Your csv files can have a header row. Projector will detect and exclude this row. All popular spreadsheet programs like Excel and LibreOffice Calc support csv import and export.
QIF	Quicken Interchange Format	A widely supported, free to use file format.
QFX	Quicken Web Connect	A successor to QIF
OFX	Open Financial Exchange	A freely licensed file format for financial information
QBO	QuickBooks Online	A QuickBooks online bank statement file that contains your electronic statement from your online account.

Expense Report Fields

The below table contains all the fields that you can map into an expense report cost card. Please notice that there are no fields for importing currency and FX rates. These need to be specified manually after the import process is complete.

Field	Description	Expected Format
Total Due	The incurred expense amount	Do not include currency symbols. We support multiple number formats. When you import your file you will need to specify which one your files uses. Negative numbers will result in negative cost cards. #,###.00 (comma for thousand, period for decimals) #.###,00 (period for thousand, comma for decimals) # ###,00 (space for thousand, comma for decimals)
Date	The incurred date of the expense	We support multiple date formats: mm/dd/yyyy mm-dd-yyyy dd/mm/yyyy dd-mm-yyyy yyyy/mm/dd yyyy-mm-dd mm/dd/yyyy ddd (ddd is the day of week in english. Like Sun, Mon, Tue)
Description	Specify text up to 1000 characters long. Anything longer will be truncated.	String
Project	This can contain either a project code or a project name. If it contains a code then Projector will find and match the cost card to the project. If it contains a name, then Projector will not match match to a project of the same name, even if the names are exactly the same. Rather, it will use that name as a quick search so that you can pick a project with the correct code. Why not choose it for you? Two projects can have the same name, we are trying to avoid that confusion.	String
Expense Type	Should exactly match the expense type name as seen in the Expense Type Editor	String
Location	The location must be available for expense entry. If no locations are available for entry then this field will not be shown. Should exactly match the location name as seen in the Location Editor.	String
Non-chargeable	Should the client be charged for this expense? Only available if enabled via system settings.	True if 'Yes', 'null', or blank False if the entry is anything else
Paid By	If your expense was paid by a company credit card then specify which one here. Should exactly match the vendor name as seen in the Vendor Editor	String
Units	If this is a unit based expense, then enter the number of units	Float using up to 4 decimal places
UDF	Your installation may have special fields defined by your administrator. Here we call it UDF for User Defined Field, but the name you see will probably differ. For instance, you might see Vendor and you would be expected to enter American Airlines or McDonalds.	The expected format depends on the type of UDF. Date - you will be asked to specify the date format Integer - A number between 2,147,483,647 and -2,147,483,649 Resource - should match the resource's display name Text - any text up to 255 characters. Longer text will be truncated. Text List - your options must match the text list options exactly Yes/No - 'Yes', blank and 'null' are treated as true. Anything else is false.
Handy Info	Notes for yourself about this expense. Used only during import to help you figure out how to map fields properly. Then discarded.	String

Vendor Invoice and Soft Cost Fields

The below table contains all the fields that you can map into a soft cost or vendor invoice cost card.

Field	Description	Expected Format
Incurred Date	Date the expense was incurred	We support multiple date formats: mm/dd/yyyy mm-dd-yyyy dd/mm/yyyy dd-mm-yyyy yyyy/mm/dd yyyy-mm-dd mm/dd/yyyy ddd (ddd is the day of week in english. Like Sun, Mon, Tue)
Expense Type	Should exactly match the expense type name as seen in the Expense Type Editor	String
Project	This can contain either a project code or a project name. If it contains a code then Projector will find and match the cost card to the project. If it contains a name, then Projector will not match match to a project of the same name, even if the names are exactly the same. Rather, it will use that name as a quick search so that you can pick a project with the correct code. Why not choose it for you? Two projects can have the same name, we are trying to avoid that confusion.	String
Description	Specify text up to 1000 characters long. Anything longer will be truncated.	String
Resource	The resource's display name as seen in the Resource Editor.	String
Location	The location must be available for expense entry. If no locations are available for entry then this field will not be shown. Should exactly match the location name as seen in the Location Editor.	String
Incurred Currency	The three letter currency code as shown in the Currencies and FX Rates Editor	String
Incurred VAT Amount	The amount of VAT incurred on this expense.	#,###.00 (comma for thousand, period for decimals) #.###,00 (period for thousand, comma for decimals) # ###,00 (space for thousand, comma for decimals)
Incurred Total Amount	The total amount incurred, including taxes, in the "incurred currency." Typically the amount shown on a receipt.	#,###.00 (comma for thousand, period for decimals) #.###,00 (period for thousand, comma for decimals) # ###,00 (space for thousand, comma for decimals)
Disbursed Total Amount	The total amount to be disbursed in the "disbursing currency" (based on the vendor's currency). Typically the amount that the company expects to reimburse the payment processor for. This may be a resource or a credit card.	#,###.00 (comma for thousand, period for decimals) #.###,00 (period for thousand, comma for decimals) # ###,00 (space for thousand, comma for decimals)
Override Client Amount	The amount the client should be charged.	#,###.00 (comma for thousand, period for decimals) #.###,00 (period for thousand, comma for decimals) # ###,00 (space for thousand, comma for decimals)
Units	If this is a unit based expense, then enter the number of units	Float using up to 4 decimal places

In Practice

Follow these steps to execute your import.

Start Import

For vendor invoices and soft costs, edit any document or create a new one. Then click + | Import Cost Cards.

For expense reports, open any existing expense report. At the bottom of the screen click at the bottom of the screen.

Choose Import File

Drag and drop a file into the import wizard or browse to one on your system. See the file types section above to see types we support. Once the file has finished uploading the wizard automatically moves to step two.

Map Fields

This is where you specify how the information in the uploaded file maps into Projector. On the left is a list of fields that you can import data into. All fields are optional.

Projector does its best to automatically map your file to the available fields. Manually fix any mismapped fields or specify mappings as needed. To do this, use the dropdown list next to a field. For example, Incurred Date in Projector maps to Bill Date on my credit card statement. We even show a little bit of preview data from your file so that you can ensure everything is correct.

Saved Mappings

If you frequently upload a file in the same format, then you can optionally save your import settings for reuse later on. At the bottom of the form, simply type in a unique name so that you can identify it later. The next time you import cost cards, you'll have a nice dropdown at the top of the page where you can specify the mapping definition you want to use.

Review Expenses

Once you have completed your mapping, move onto step 3 - Review. Here you make corrections, determine which of the expenses you wish to import, and delete expenses that you are not interested in.

To begin, click an expense in the left hand column. You can multi-select by holding the ctrl key and clicking individual expenses or by holding the shift key to select a range of expenses.

If a cost card is appears with a green border on the left and a green check icon, then it is ready for import.

If a cost card appears with a red border on the left and a red circle with an exclamation point, then the item must be edited in order to be ready for import.

Images below show the two different states.

Information about the card or cards is shown in the right hand pane.

Make changes as you deem necessary. Anything highlighted in red requires attention before it can be imported. For example, if the imported expense type could not be found in Projector, you will need to pick a valid one from the dropdown list. If you have selected multiple cards at once, then all of them will change.

Any expenses that were not processed are saved for later and will appear the next time you open the import expense dialogue. If you are done with them, then use the Delete link to remove them from the sheet. All cards that appear with the green border and are valid will be imported. You must select and delete any cost cards you do not want to import.

After you click Import, you will see your new cost cards added to the expense document, where you can then approve them.