Mapping Reference and Period, and Reading Your Import

When you upload a general ledger export (from Yardi or a similar system) into URBI's history import wizard, the Map Columns step now recognizes two more columns your file already contains: Reference and Period. This article covers what each one does, how to read the new structure summary on that step, what the "Still need" message means, and what to do if you see a warning about the opening balance.

Mapping Reference

Your export may include a Reference column (sometimes a check number, transfer ID, or memo code). If it does:

1. On the Map Columns step, find the row for your Reference column.
2. Choose Reference from the mapping dropdown.

Once mapped, that value is saved directly onto the journal entry, so it shows up alongside the entry in your GL just like it did in your old system.

Mapping Period

Your export likely also includes a Period column (usually a year and month, like "2024-03"). This is different from the Date column, and it does a different job:

• The Date column is still what decides when the entry actually posts. That does not change.
• The Period column tells URBI which historical accounting period this entry reconciles into. If that period does not already exist in URBI, mapping this column lets URBI create it automatically as part of the import, so your older history lines up correctly for reconciliation even if the transaction date itself falls outside a period you've already set up.

Map it the same way: choose Period from the dropdown for that column.

Person and Description are now separate

If you've used the import wizard before, you may remember Person and Description sharing one confusing label. That's fixed. They are now two independent fields:

• Person identifies who the entry belongs to (a payer, vendor, or other party named in your export).
• Description carries the free-text memo or note from your file.

Map each one independently, there is no need to combine them, and no "title" field to worry about.

Reading the structure summary

Once you've mapped your columns, the Map Columns step shows a short summary of what URBI found in your file, for example:

41 GL accounts detected · 16 with activity · 25 nets to zero · Net Change subtotals dropped (avoid double-count) · pre-cutover rows rolled into Opening Balance

Here's what each part means:

• Accounts detected, the total number of GL accounts URBI found in your file.
• With activity, how many of those accounts actually have transaction lines to import.
• Nets to zero, accounts URBI found whose activity nets to zero over the file. They are not skipped: they still import and post like every other account.
• Net Change subtotals dropped, some ledger exports include a running subtotal row per account. URBI recognizes and excludes these automatically so your numbers aren't counted twice.
• Pre-cutover rows rolled into Opening Balance, any transactions dated before your chosen cutover date are combined into a single Opening Balance entry rather than imported line by line.

Use this summary to sanity-check that the shape of what you're about to import matches what you expect before you continue.

What "Still need" means

If the Continue button is disabled, the wizard now tells you exactly what's missing, for example:

Still need: Account, Amount

This means those specific fields haven't been mapped to a column yet. Go back through your column list and map each one named. The message updates as soon as you map the last field it's listed, no more guessing which field the wizard is waiting on.

The opening-balance closed-period warning

Near the end of the wizard, on the Review step, you may see a banner warning that your opening balance entry falls in a period that's already closed or locked. When this happens, the Commit button is disabled until you resolve it.

To fix it:

1. Go back to the Upload step.
2. Change your cutover date so it falls within a period that is still open.
3. Continue back through the wizard. The warning clears once your opening balance lands in an open period.

This check now runs up front, before you commit, so you'll never have your import abort partway through because of a closed-period conflict on the opening balance.

Good to know

• Nothing is written to your books until you click Commit. You can adjust your mapping and re-review as many times as you like before then.
• Reference and Period are both optional, if your file doesn't have one of these columns, or you'd rather not map it, the import still works exactly as before.
• These changes only affect the Map Columns and Review steps of the import wizard, everything else in the flow (Accounts, Vendors, Units) works the same as it always has.