Exporting Data
It is possible to export lists of customers, products and suppliers from BestInvoicing. Documents such as invoices and delivery notes can also be easily exported to various file formats. Below we briefly explain the different formats, as they are mentioned in the export steps.
Available Formats
CSV File
A CSV (Comma Separated Values) file is a special file type that you can create or edit in spreadsheet software like Excel. You can simply 'Save as ... .csv' to turn it into a csv file. The values in a csv file can be separated by comma (,) or semicolon (;).
UBL File
UBL (Universal Business Language) is the standard format for electronic invoicing. It contains your document data in an XML file, which can be quickly processed by a computer. An accounting program can quickly read the file and process the information (from your invoice, for example). Click to learn more about the use of UBL files.
PDF File
The portable document format or PDF is a de facto standard for the exchange of electronic documents and forms that must be reproducible in their original form. PDF is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images and formatting of any source document, regardless of the program or platform used to create it. One advantage of a PDF file is that - unlike a Word document, for example - it will look the same on any printer.
ZIP Folder
A zip file or zipped file is lossless compressed file that houses one or more computer files. You create, as it were, a zipped folder that contains your files (e.g. invoices). When you "unzip" this zip file again, your original files will come back out of the zipped folder in their true size.
Customers / Suppliers
It is easy to export your entered customers or suppliers from BestInvoicing. The procedure for customers and suppliers is similar; in this section we will only talk about 'customers', but the steps also apply to 'suppliers'.
To export, go to the blue 'Actions' button at the top right of the customer overview. There you select 'Export to CSV (Excel)'.
The export will now be generated. You can download it afterwards and open it in a spreadsheet program. In the exported file, you can use filters to (de)select certain customers.
Products
The process for exporting products is similar to that of customers. To start the export, you need to go to the complete product list. In the overview of the product groups, click the blue button 'Full product list'.
To export, go to the blue 'Actions' button at the top right of the full product list. There you select 'Export to CSV (Excel)'.
The export will now be generated. You can download it afterwards and open it in a spreadsheet program. In the exported file, you can use filters to (de)select certain products.
Documents
The export procedure for documents is the same, regardless of whether you want to export an order form or your receipts. Exporting is possible for:
Invoices
Order Confirmations
Delivery Notes
Credit Notes
Proposals
Cash Register Tickets
Payment Requests
The example below refers to 'invoices'. However, the procedure applies to all other document types in BestInvoicing.
From the overview screen (in this example: of created invoices) you can use the blue 'Action' button to directly generate exports of your invoices. There are five options.
Attention: if you do not select certain documents (e.g. tick the boxes to the left of the invoice number), the exports will be made based of all documents (e.g. all quotations, all invoices, ...). If you only want to export a certain selection, indicate a selection in advance by clicking the yellow 'Filters' button.
To CSV (Excel / Spreadsheet)
To export, go to the blue 'Actions' button at the top right of the document overview.
Select the option 'Export to CSV (Excel)'. The export will now be generated.
You can download this file and open it in a spreadsheet program.
To CSV With Line Data
Same as abovementioned method. The result is a csv file that instead of showing e.g. the entire amount of an invoice or delivery note, will list each product or service line separately with its own price, VAT amount, and other information. Such export of e.g. 3 invoices with each ten lines will not result in an export document with 3 lines (default) but 30 lines (each line item listed separately).
To export, go to the blue 'Actions' button at the top right of the document overview.
Select the option 'Export to CSV with line data'. The export will now be generated.
You can download this file and open it in a spreadsheet program.
To 1 PDF Including All Documents
To export, go to the blue 'Actions' button at the top right of the document overview.
Select the option 'Export to one (1) PDF including all documents'.
One PDF document is now generated, comprehending all individual documents (e.g. invoices) - one after the other.
To ZIP Folder Including All Documents
To export, go to the blue 'Actions' button at the top right of the document overview.
Select the option 'Export to ZIP folder including all documents'.
When you unzip the folder, it will contain all selected documents (e.g. proposals) as separate PDF files.
As UBL Files for Accounting Packages
This option is only available for document types invoices and credit notes!
In order to export, navigate to the top right corner in your overview of invoices, purchases or credit notes and click the blue button 'Actions'.
Select the option 'Export for accounting packages in UBL'.
This export will result in a zipped folder.
When you unzip the folder, it will contain all selected invoices as separate UBL files in xml format. These can be imported and processed by accounting software packages.
If you've selected your documents and want to export them as UBL files, a pop up message will appear: "Do you want to mark xx documents as processed by accounting?"
If you click 'Yes', BestInvoicing will remember that you've already exported these documents to be delivered to your accountant.
If next time you're going to filter your documents based on processing status, you may select only those documents that haven't been 'processed by accounting' yet. This way, you'll avoid sending invoices to your accountant that have already been processed in their system.
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