How to Import Your Accounting History

This guide walks through a full import from start to finish. The import runs as a step-by-step wizard. On Premium it has 7 steps; on Core it has 5 (the Units and Vendors steps are skipped, because a trial balance has no per-unit or per-vendor detail).

Before you begin, export your general ledger from your current accounting system as a CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file.

Step 1: Open Import History and start an import

1. Go to the Accounting page and click Accounting Settings.
2. Open the Import History tab.
3. Click Start an import (on Core this button reads Import trial balance).

Note: if this property already has a committed import that has not been reversed, the button is disabled with the message "Reverse the existing import first to redo it." You must reverse the old import before starting a new one.

Step 2: Upload your file and set the cutover date

4. Drag your CSV or Excel file onto the upload area, or click browse files to choose it.

5. URBI runs AI column detection (this takes a second or two) and shows a summary: the detected layout, date range, and total rows. Review it and click Looks good, or click Adjust to change anything.

6. Set the Cutover Date. Everything dated before this date is folded into a single opening-balance entry; everything on or after it is imported as individual journal entries, line by line.

   Two shortcuts sit next to the date, so you rarely need to type one:

   • Current FY start brings in this fiscal year in detail. This is the default.
   • Previous FY start goes back one more year, so last year arrives line by line as well.

   You can pick any date between the start of your previous fiscal year and today. Dates outside that range are refused, and the screen tells you the earliest date you are allowed to choose. One previous year is the limit: anything older than that belongs in the opening balance.

   What the cutover row looks like:

If your fiscal year settings are not saved yet, the shortcuts do not appear. Set your fiscal year start month in Accounting Details first. 7. Choose the Import Mode: Hybrid (opening balance plus detailed current-year entries) or Trial Balance Only (totals only). On Core, only Trial Balance is available.

8. Click Continue to Map Columns.

Step 3: Map columns

9. URBI pre-matches each column in your file to a URBI field and shows a confidence badge (exact, fuzzy, or ignored). Review each row.
10. To change a mapping, use the dropdown next to that column. The progress chip at the top right (for example, "8 of 9 mapped") shows how much is mapped.
11. Click Continue once you are happy with the mapping.

Step 4: Resolve GL accounts

12. URBI lists every distinct account code from your file and matches it to your URBI chart of accounts. For any account with no confident match, URBI now proposes what to do (create a new account, recode an existing one, or map it to one that already exists) instead of leaving it blank, so you are confirming or adjusting a proposal rather than starting from scratch. High-confidence matches are applied automatically (shown in green) and locked. AI-suggested matches (shown in blue) can be edited.
13. Any account still marked Needs resolution must be handled before continuing. Click Resolve on that row, then either:
    • Add as new account (the code, name, and a suggested account type are pre-filled from the proposal; you can still change the type), or
    • Map to existing and search your chart of accounts for the right one.
14. Click Continue once every account is resolved.

Step 5: Resolve units and income (Premium / Hybrid only)

15. URBI matches the payer names from your income records to a unit and, where possible, to the specific community member who paid. If a unit has more than one current occupant, confirm which one is the primary payer (single-occupant units are set as primary automatically).
16. For a payer URBI has no record of, a former payer who never had an account or a name carried over from before the property was onboarded, choose Attach to unit. URBI creates a separate account in that payer's own name and puts the balance there, so the money stays under the person who actually owes it and is never billed to whoever lives in the unit today. The account stays with the unit even if it changes hands.
17. If the amount does not belong to any single unit, choose General income instead. If the line is a bank memo, a reversal, or a system label rather than a payer, choose Mark as plain. If it belongs with vendor work, choose Move to Vendors.

What the choice looks like:

On Core, this step and the Vendors step are skipped automatically.

Step 6: Resolve vendors (Premium / Hybrid only)

18. URBI matches the payee names from your expense records to existing vendors, including vendors already on file for service tickets, and proposes creating a new accounting vendor when nothing matches.
19. For any vendor that needs a decision, choose Map to existing (accounting vendors and service-ticket vendors are listed separately) or confirm the proposed new vendor.
20. Click Continue to move on to review.

Step 7: Review and balance

21. The review screen summarizes what will be posted: the number of journal entries, the single opening-balance entry, the fiscal years that will be locked, and how many unit billing accounts will be set.
22. Click Preview opening-balance entry to see the conversion entry. What is the Opening Balance Equity? It is the single balancing line URBI adds so that all of your prior-year history nets cleanly into one entry without you having to re-key every old transaction.
23. If any entries are held, you must clear them before you can commit. There are two kinds:
    • Unbalanced (debits do not equal credits): click Fix to edit the lines inline until they balance, or Exclude to leave the entry out.
    • Closed-period conflict (the entry falls in a period that is already locked): click Acknowledge & exclude. URBI never re-opens a closed period during an import. To post such an entry, re-open that period manually first, then re-run the import.

If URBI finds anything still unresolved when you click Commit Import (an account, vendor, or unit match that was skipped), it takes you back to the relevant Resolve step instead of failing. Resolve or exclude the flagged item, then continue forward through review again.

24. Once nothing is held, the Commit Import button becomes active. Click it.

Step 8: Commit and watch progress

25. URBI posts the entries in the background. The progress screen shows a live counter (for example, "Posted 748 / 1,205"), a failed counter, and a percentage. You can safely navigate away; the import keeps running.
26. When it finishes, URBI emails a completion report to the property admin and shows a success summary: entries posted, opening balance set, fiscal years locked, and unit balances updated.

27. Click View import batch to see the posted entries, or Go to Journal Entries to view your live ledger.