How to Reverse an Import

If you imported the wrong file, mapped something incorrectly, or need to redo an import, you can reverse it. Reversing voids every journal entry and invoice the import posted, keeps the originals in your history for audit purposes, and then reopens the import: it goes back to Resolving with your uploaded file, your column mapping and your account decisions kept. You fix the problem and commit again. You do not upload the file or redo your decisions.

What reversing does

• Voided. Entries and invoices this import posted are voided. The original entries stay in history (they are not deleted), so your audit trail is preserved.
• Switched off. Accounts that only this import created are switched off, so they stop appearing in your chart while the import is reopened. They come back when you commit again. An account is left alone if it was renamed or renumbered, is used by anything else (other journal entries, billing accounts, charges, vendors, taxes, bank mappings), or was already switched off by someone.
• Kept. Your file, your imported rows, your account decisions, your beginning balances and your mappings are all kept.
• Next. The import returns to review so you can fix it and commit again.
• Any fiscal periods that the import closed or locked are re-opened automatically so the reversal can be applied. If the import closed off a previous fiscal year for you, reversing also undoes that year-end close: the closing entry is voided and every period it closed is re-opened, so the year is left exactly as it was before the import.
• Months the property had already closed before the import began stay closed. URBI reopens them only long enough to apply the reversal, then closes them again before finishing, and this holds even when the reversal has to run more than once because an earlier attempt stopped partway.
• Vendors and unit billing accounts that the import created are not removed.

How to reverse a committed import

1. Go to the Accounting page, click Accounting Settings, and open the Import History tab.
2. Find the batch you want to undo in the Import Batches list. Reverse and reopen is available on a Committed batch and on a Failed batch.
3. Open the row's actions menu and click Reverse and reopen.

4. The Reverse this import and reopen it? dialog opens. It names the batch and shows the four lines above (Voided, Switched off, Kept, Next). While it checks whether the import can be reversed it shows Checking whether this import can be reversed..., and the button waits for the answer.
5. Type a reason for reversal. This is required, must be at least 10 characters, and can be up to 1000. The counter reads, for example, 83/1000 characters, 10 minimum. If you go over, it tells you how many to remove. The reason is recorded in the audit log and shown on the batch.
6. Click Reverse and reopen. The button stays unavailable until the reason is long enough.

*The reverse dialog says what is voided, what is switched off, and what is kept.*

7. The reversal runs in the background. The batch status shows Committing, with the row labelled Reversing while it works, then moves to Resolving when it finishes. If the background run stops before finishing, the dialog tells you The reversal did not finish and invites you to press Reverse and reopen again, and the row keeps the Reversing label and offers Retry reversal, which continues without repeating what already completed. If the run is in fact still going, Retry reversal tells you so and changes nothing. If Retry reversal is refused because an entry the reversal is keeping was un-matched from its bank line, the message names that entry. Match it to its bank line again, then use Retry reversal. Entries the reversal already voided stay voided, and nothing else changes. A reversal that stopped before URBI began saving which bank-matched entries it keeps cannot be finished with Retry reversal; contact URBI support to finish it. Discard is not offered on a batch a reversal is holding, because part of it may already be on your ledger.

When it finishes, the dialog shows Import reversed and a short summary. Click Open review to return to the import, or Close to go back to the list. The row now shows Resolving with Resume and Discard.

When URBI refuses before doing anything

Some situations make a reversal unsafe. URBI checks them first and shows a red banner in the dialog. Every one of these ends with Nothing was changed. No entries were voided. and the Reverse and reopen button stays unavailable.

• Months closed after the import. These months were closed after the import: March 2026, April 2026. Reopen them, then reverse. Reopen those months in your accounting periods, then try again.
• Invoices paid after the import. These invoices were paid after the import: INV-1042. Reverse or refund the payments first. This also appears if a payment lands on one of the invoices just as you press the button: URBI releases the import unchanged and names the invoices.
• An invoice written off after the import. This invoice was written off after the import: INV-1042. A written-off invoice can't be reversed. Undo the write-off first, then reverse.

*A refusal names the months or invoices to deal with first.*

Entries in a bank reconciliation are kept

If some imported entries are already matched in a bank reconciliation, reversing does not void them. They stay posted, so the reconciliation is not disturbed, and the result summary lists each one with the reason, for example 3 entries were kept because they are matched in a bank reconciliation; they will be skipped when you commit again so nothing is booked twice. When you commit the import again, URBI skips any staged entry that is already on your books. If nothing was kept, the summary is a single line: Reversed. The import is back in review.

Fix it and commit again

After the reversal the import is a normal Resolving import. Select Resume to land on the first step that needs work, correct the code, account or mapping that caused the problem, and commit as usual. Accounts the reversal switched off are switched back on for you when you commit. If you changed the code or name of one of those new accounts while fixing the import, URBI does not switch the old account back on and creates the account under your new code instead.

Reopen an older reversed import

Imports that were reversed before reversals began returning imports to review show Reversed with a Reopen for editing action instead. Click it, read Reopen this import for editing?, and confirm. The import goes back to Resolving with your file, rows and account decisions kept, and nothing is posted until you commit again. If you click it twice, or someone else already reopened it, the row simply shows Resolving.

URBI refuses to reopen in two cases, and says why in the dialog:

• Entries are still posted. This import can't be reopened while 3 of its entries are still posted: JE-1042, JE-1057 and JE-1118. Void them in the General Ledger, then reopen. The entries are named so you can find them.
• A newer import exists. If another import was committed after this one, the dialog names it and asks you to reverse the newer import first, then reopen this one.

*Reopening an older reversed import keeps everything and posts nothing.*

The reversal report

Every time an import is reversed, URBI saves a frozen copy of its reconciliation report as it stood at that moment (the trial balance, then the GL accounts). The copy never changes, even after you fix the import and commit it again.

On the import's row, a Reversal report link opens the saved PDF in a new tab. If the import was reversed more than once, the link becomes a Reversal reports menu with one entry per reversal, newest first, such as Reversed Oct 1, 2026, by Jane Doe. A batch that was never reversed shows nothing here. If the list cannot load you see Couldn't load reversal reports with Try again. Opening reports needs the permission to post journal entries; without the General Ledger view permission you see You can't view reversal reports. Ask an administrator for General Ledger view access.

Discarding a reversed import

If you decide not to continue with a reopened import, select Discard on its row. The saved reversal reports do not disappear with it: they move to a collapsed section at the bottom of Import History called Discarded imports with reversal reports, which lists the file name, date range, who discarded it and when, and opens each report. Accounts the reversal switched off stay switched off. See Managing Import History for how discarding works.

Reversing a failed import

A failed import does not always mean nothing was posted. An import can fail partway through, after some entries have already reached your ledger.

Open the batch and read what it tells you. It says plainly whether anything reached the ledger:

• Nothing was posted. The import is fully undone already. Retry it, or discard the batch if you no longer need it.
• Some of it is already on the ledger. Your general ledger has changed, so the batch cannot be discarded. Either retry the import to finish what is left, or use Reverse and reopen to take everything that posted back off the ledger.

A failed batch uses the same Reverse this import and reopen it? dialog as a committed one. Its first line reads Whatever this import managed to post before it stopped is voided. The failure email you receive says the same thing, so you do not have to open URBI to find out which situation you are in.

If an attempt to reverse the import itself stops partway, having already voided the invoice for an imported opening balance, retrying the import raises that invoice again so the payer ends up billed exactly once. The earlier voided invoice is not deleted; it stays in your history alongside the new one.

After reversing

Reversing a batch has no effect on the Start an import button. It stays available regardless of the state of any earlier import (committed, reversed, or otherwise), gated only by the permission to post journal entries. You can fix and recommit the reopened import, or discard it and start a fresh one.