How to import your beginning inventory

If you're new to Direct Sidekick and have an existing inventory, we've made it easy to import it into your new accounting program (Direct Sidekick!).

To import your beginning inventory, you'll need a CSV file that includes your item numbers (SKUs), the product name, the quantity on hand, and your average cost.

Once you have that, go to the beginning inventory importer under Settings -> Finance -> Beginning Inventory Import.

You'll see this page below:

Choose the date that you would like the import to use for your beginning inventory. Many times, a date near the end of the prior year works great (12/31/YYYY for example). This will then become this year's beginning inventory in your COGS Report (Cost of Goods Sold).

Next, click the Choose File button and navigate to your CSV file on your computer. Click on the file to start the import.

Now, map the field names (the names in the top row (header) of the CSV file) in your file to our field names. For example, in the image below, the CSV file had the name item_num. All you need to do is click on the dropdown and select item_no. Do this for all of the required fields.

After that, click the Import Data button on the bottom right of the page.

That's all!

You'll receive an email as soon as the import is complete. This may take a few minutes depending on the size of the file.

This will add the items to the product list as well. It will not include the Cost and Retail price fields. You can update those fields manually or by using the product list importer.

You'll now be able to view your beginning inventory in your purchase list by clicking on the purchase order number link titled "PO-beginning-YYYY-12-31" (for example).