How to import Xero, QuickBooks or spreadsheet data for a CT600

Last updated: 4 October 2026

Short version. SimpleCompanyTax can import Xero, QuickBooks or spreadsheet data into your CT600 and annual accounts filing. Upload a trial balance, profit and loss report or balance sheet as CSV or Excel, review the account mappings, then choose which figures to apply. Your existing figures change only when you apply the import.

Go to the import steps

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Supported reports and file formats

You can import one trial balance covering both financial statements, or import a profit and loss report and balance sheet separately into the same draft.

Xero: Trial balance, profit and loss or balance sheet
Use a CSV or Excel export. Follow the Xero export steps.
QuickBooks Online: Trial balance, profit and loss or balance sheet
Use an Excel export. Account numbers are optional. Follow the QuickBooks export steps.
Your spreadsheet or other software: Prepared account balances
Use CSV, TXT, XLS or XLSX, or paste spreadsheet rows. Follow the generic CSV and Excel import steps if the columns are not recognised.

Files can be up to 1 MB, with up to 2,000 rows and 200 columns per sheet. This is a file import, without a live connection to your accounting software.

Before you start

Use a report for the same accounting period shown at the top of Financial data. The importer accepts:

a trial balance with debit and credit columns
a profit and loss report with one or more amount columns
a balance sheet with one or more amount columns
a generic CSV, XLS or XLSX spreadsheet with account names and financial amounts

Keep account names, account codes and account types in the export where your accounting software provides them. They improve the suggested mappings. A suggestion is never treated as an accounting judgement. You remain in control of the destination, sign and figure used for each account.

Export from Xero or QuickBooks

Xero

In Xero, open the report for the required period.
Use the report's export control and choose Excel or CSV.
Leave the account code and account type columns in the export where they are available.

Xero recommends exporting a Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss for each year and a Trial Balance that includes past periods. See Xero's guide to exporting data and reports. Our Xero report export guide explains the dates and review steps for this filing.

QuickBooks Online

Open Reports, then Standard reports.
Search for and open Trial Balance, Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet.
Set the report period to the accounting period you are filing.
Choose Export or Export/Print, then Export to Excel.

QuickBooks also lets you export the three reports together from Settings, Export data. See QuickBooks' report export guide. Follow our QuickBooks report export guide for the filing workflow.

Import and review the figures

Using your own Excel file? You do not need Xero or QuickBooks. Follow how to prepare and import your own spreadsheet for example layouts, downloadable CSV examples that open in Excel, and the exact column settings. In the importer, choose My spreadsheet or other software under Exported from.

Open your filing and go to Financial data.
On Import from Xero, QuickBooks or a spreadsheet, select Import file. For a profit and loss report, you can also select Import profit and loss in the Profit & loss section header, beside its status pill. For a balance sheet, you can also select Import balance sheet in the Balance sheet section header, to the right of its status pill, then choose or drop your file in the importer.
Choose the file from your device, or drop it onto the import card. How to import your data is also available in the import window header and opens these steps in a new tab.
Check the detected source and period on the review screen. Select Change to inspect the report type, worksheet and columns. For a generic profit and loss report, also confirm whether expenses are shown as positive or negative amounts.
Review all account mappings. Recognised bank overdrafts and VAT recoverable balances are placed automatically and remain editable. Accounts needing confirmation are highlighted in amber. Select Confirm on those proposals, or Confirm all when they all agree with your accounts. Select a line to open the chooser. Read its description and examples, select an alternative, then select Assign to keep it amber for later confirmation, or Apply change to assign and confirm it now. Cancel leaves the original mapping in place. Undo reverses your latest mapping change. Choose Not used when a row should not populate the filing.
A retained earnings figure is selected when it reconciles to net assets. Open Retained earnings working to inspect it or choose another figure.
If existing figures differ, select Review changes and choose Keep current, Replace or Clear for the affected filing fields. A fresh draft goes straight to Use these figures.
Select Use these figures.

You can import a profit and loss report first and a balance sheet second. The second import leaves the first report's fields in place unless you explicitly replace or clear them. Re-importing a report also shows fields that existed in the previous import but are missing from the new file. Unchanged fields missing from the new file default to Clear. Fields you edited default to Keep current.

What the column settings mean

These settings describe your spreadsheet. They do not ask you to create account types or change your bookkeeping. Open the help icon beside any setting for its meaning and an example. The preview marks the columns being used.

Heading row: Heading row
The row containing column titles, not the company name or the first account. Choosing it tells us where the account rows begin.
Account name: Account name
Choose the column containing descriptions such as Sales or Bank fees. It may be called Account description. Do not choose the account number column.
Account code: Account code
The optional reference your accounting software gives each account. Choose Not included if your file has no codes.
Account type: Account type
An optional category supplied by your accounting software, such as Revenue, Expense or Bank. Choose the column containing those categories. You do not need to invent a type when your export has none.
Amount layout: Amount layout
Choose how the money columns are arranged. One amount column means each account has a single balance or total. Debit and credit columns means there are two separate columns labelled Debit and Credit.
Amount: Amount
Choose the total for the accounting period you are importing. If there are monthly columns and a YTD or Total column, choose the whole-period total that matches your filing. We use this column, not the sum of every column.
Debit: Debit
Choose the column labelled Debit or Dr in the exported trial balance. Use the labels in your file, not whether an amount looks like income or spending.
Credit: Credit
Choose the column labelled Credit or Cr in the exported trial balance. Debit and Credit must refer to different columns.
Exported from: Exported from
For a file you prepared in Excel, choose My spreadsheet or other software. Use the same option for a report from another accounting package. You do not need Xero or QuickBooks.
Report type: Report type
Trial balance lists ledger account balances. Profit and loss lists income and costs for a period. Balance sheet lists assets, liabilities and equity at a date. Choose the report named in your file.
Workbook sheet: Workbook sheet
An Excel workbook can contain several sheets. Choose the sheet containing the report you want to import.
How signs are shown: How signs are shown
Match the numbers in your export. Some profit and loss reports show both income and costs as positive numbers. Others show costs as negative. A signed trial balance may instead use positive for debit and negative for credit. Separate Debit and Credit columns do not need this setting.

Fictional example. A spreadsheet has Account number in column 1, Account description in column 2, monthly figures in columns 3 to 14 and YTD in column 15. Select column 2 as Account name, column 1 as Account code and column 15 as Amount if its dates cover the filing period. Leave Account type as Not included if the file has no category column.

Choosing a filing line

For the difference between detailed ledger accounts and filing headings, read how a trial balance maps to micro-entity accounts.

A filing line is the place an account contributes to your prepared figures. Select the current or proposed line to explore descriptions and examples. Search by a name such as bank or an example such as wages. Selecting a line in the chooser does not move the account. Assign saves your choice in the amber section for later confirmation. Apply change assigns and confirms it immediately. Cancel discards the choice. The Undo button reverses your latest mapping change until you leave Review or change the report.

Use Split between two lines for an account containing two categories. Choose both lines and enter amounts that add up to the account balance. Use Not used only when the account should contribute nothing to your imported figures. The chooser also works for selected groups of accounts.

Turnover: Profit and loss
Sales of goods and services, excluding VAT. Example: Product sales, consulting income.
Other trading income: Profit and loss
Income of the trade that is not a sale. Example: Trading grants recognised as income.
Cost of raw materials and consumables: Profit and loss
Materials, stock and consumables used in what you sold. Example: Raw materials, packaging.
Staff costs: Profit and loss
Employee pay and the employer’s payroll costs. Example: Salaries, employer National Insurance, pensions.
Depreciation and amounts written off assets: Profit and loss
The period’s depreciation, amortisation and asset write-down charges. Example: Equipment depreciation, software amortisation.
Other charges: Profit and loss
Running costs that do not belong on another expense line. Example: Rent, insurance, bank fees, professional fees.
Interest receivable and similar income: Profit and loss
Interest earned by the company. Example: Bank deposit interest.
Interest payable and similar charges: Profit and loss
Interest and similar finance charges paid or payable. Example: Loan interest, finance charges.
Dividends received: Profit and loss
Dividends the company receives from investments. Example: Dividends from another company.
Charitable donations: Profit and loss
Charitable donations shown separately from other running costs. Example: Donations recorded in your prepared accounts.
Other income not elsewhere included: Profit and loss
Income that belongs outside the other listed income categories. Example: Other non-trading receipts in your prepared working.
Profit on disposal of fixed assets: Profit and loss
The accounting profit on selling a tangible fixed asset. Example: Sale proceeds less the asset’s book value.
Net property income: Profit and loss
Property income after the related property costs. Example: Your prepared net rental profit or loss.
Property rental income: Profit and loss
Rental income before deducting property costs. Example: Rent earned from tenants.
Property materials and consumables: Profit and loss
Materials and consumables used by the property business. Example: Materials used in the letting activity.
Property staff costs: Profit and loss
Employee and payroll costs belonging to the property business. Example: Pay for employees in the letting business.
Property other charges: Profit and loss
Property running costs that do not belong on another property line. Example: Letting fees, insurance, repairs.
Property depreciation: Profit and loss
Depreciation and asset write-down charges of the property business. Example: Depreciation of property-business equipment.
Called up share capital not paid: Balance sheet
Share capital called up but still unpaid by shareholders. Example: An unpaid amount due on issued shares.
Intangible assets: Balance sheet
Non-physical fixed assets at their carrying value. Example: Purchased software, patents, goodwill.
Fixed assets (tangible): Balance sheet
Physical fixed assets at their carrying value. Example: Equipment and vehicles, less accumulated depreciation.
Investments: Balance sheet
Investments held as fixed assets. Example: Long-term shareholdings.
Current assets: Balance sheet
Short-term assets and amounts owed to the company. Example: Bank balances, stock, debtors, VAT recoverable.
Prepayments and accrued income: Balance sheet
Costs paid in advance and income earned but not yet received. Example: Prepaid insurance, accrued income.
Creditors due within one year: Balance sheet
Amounts the company owes that fall due within one year. Example: Suppliers, bank overdrafts, VAT payable.
Creditors due after more than one year: Balance sheet
Amounts the company owes that fall due after more than one year. Example: The long-term part of a loan.
Provisions for liabilities: Balance sheet
Liabilities with uncertain timing or amount in your prepared accounts. Example: A provision recorded in your accounts.
Accruals and deferred income: Balance sheet
Costs incurred but not yet paid and income received in advance. Example: Accrued fees, income relating to a later period.
Share capital: Balance sheet
The nominal value of shares issued by the company. Example: Issued ordinary share capital.
Retained earnings: Balance sheet
Accumulated profits or losses and reserves carried in the equity working. Example: Retained profits, brought-forward losses, reserves.

Long accounting periods

Import the prepared accounts figures once for the full accounting period. If the period is longer than 12 months, the existing allocation panels remain available for amounts that must be assigned between the two Corporation Tax returns. Allocate the amounts you prepared. The import does not change the period dates or silently divide event-based amounts such as qualifying charitable donations.

If any allocations are missing or no longer match the imported totals, the message after import lists every amount still needing allocating. Select Allocate beside an amount to open its controls. Choose how much belongs to each return using the dates shown. The list updates as you finish. A valid existing allocation stays unchanged. If an imported donation or dividends received amount becomes zero, its allocation is removed without clearing unrelated allocations.

Check the result

Fictional example. An export has Sales of £12,000 and Other charges of £3,000. Confirm those lines to fill Turnover with £12,000 and Other charges with £3,000. The profit before tax is £9,000. Each line is added in pence and rounded once to whole pounds. Inspect any rounding difference before continuing.

Before continuing, check that:

the imported period agrees with the period shown in the filing
the profit and loss total agrees with the source report
assets, liabilities and equity agree with the source balance sheet
accounts that needed a judgement use the destination you selected
negative balances and retained earnings have the intended sign
the Financial data summary agrees with your prepared accounts

The original CSV or Excel file is processed in your browser and is not uploaded or stored. The figures you apply and mapping choices are saved with the draft. Separately, private diagnostics record the parsed sheets, account names, codes, amounts, mapping changes and errors for up to 180 days to help us investigate problems. These financial details are not anonymised or sent to advertising providers. Keep the original export with your accounting records.

Common import questions

Do I need to connect my Xero or QuickBooks account?

No. Export the report from your accounting software and use Import file in Financial data. You do not connect your accounting account or share its password.

Will importing a balance sheet replace my profit and loss?

You can apply the profit and loss first and the balance sheet second. The second import keeps the first report's fields unless you explicitly choose to replace or clear them. Check the comparison before selecting Use these figures.

Does importing a trial balance complete my CT600?

The import fills the financial fields you approve. Complete the remaining filing questions and any tax adjustments or allocations that apply, then review the generated accounts and Corporation Tax computation before submitting.

Fix an import problem

My CSV or Excel file will not import

Use one of the supported file formats and stay within the size and sheet limits above. If the file cannot be read, export a fresh copy. For an unfamiliar layout, select Change, choose the report type and review Columns, which opens automatically. Use account descriptions as Account name and nominal numbers as Account code.

The imported total is too high or too low

Check the selected period and amount column. Choose the full-period total rather than one month or a comparative year. Do not add monthly figures and a YTD total together. Review headings and subtotals so a total is not included alongside its detail, then check the account mappings and signs.

A spreadsheet cell says it could not be read

Inspect the named cell in your spreadsheet. Export the calculated values if the formula cannot be read, then import the corrected report. An unreadable balance needs resolving before it can contribute to your figures.

Can I upload a bank statement or PDF instead?

This importer reads prepared account balances rather than a list of bank transactions. Export a trial balance, profit and loss or balance sheet as CSV or Excel. PDF reports are not supported by this importer.