Steps (8)

1Install
2Open the sidebar
3Pick a direction and scan
4Read a finding
5Fix it Pro
6Undo, or keep the changes
7The exported report Pro
8Entering a licence key

How to clean a QuickBooks export and check an upload in Google Sheets™

A step-by-step run through the add-on, from install to a fixed sheet. Scanning, every explanation, the ambiguity report, the space fix and Undo are free and unlimited. The other fixes, saved settings and the exportable report are paid, and each is marked Pro where it appears.

What the problem is

A QuickBooks export arrives as text: dates Sheets cannot sort, amounts that refuse to sum, bracketed negatives, stray spaces. And a sheet built for upload fails in QuickBooks' import — for a zero in the wrong place, a weekday in a date, or a heading it does not recognise.

This add-on knows the file is a QuickBooks file. It checks the sheet against QuickBooks' import conventions and explains every finding in plain English — what is wrong, and why it matters to the import. It edits the spreadsheet only and never connects to QuickBooks.

Profiles

Bank uploads: the 3-column form (Date, Description, Amount) and the 4-column form (Date, Description, Credit, Debit).
Customers and suppliers: the contacts file (Full Name, Company Name and the rest).
Journal entries: Journal No., Journal Date, Account Name, Description, Name, Debits, Credits.
Report exports: a transaction report, cleaned for use in Sheets.
Invoices, chart of accounts and products and services imports have help text only, for now.

Before you start

Google Sheets™ in a desktop browser. The add-on does not run in the Google Sheets™ mobile apps.
The add-on installed — see Step 1.
A spreadsheet with at least one sheet of QuickBooks data on it. Import tip: bring a QuickBooks CSV in with File › Import › Upload and untick “Convert text to numbers, dates and formulas”. Left ticked, Sheets parses dates using the spreadsheet's locale — a US-locale sheet silently turns a UK 06/03/2026 into 3 June — and turns text amounts into numbers before the scan can see what was there.
Nothing leaves Google. The rules run in the sidebar, in your browser, against the Sheets API. The add-on's only network traffic is to the licence server, and only ever a licence key, an anonymous install id and which host this is. The privacy notice says so in full.

Step 1 — Install

Install it from Google Workspace™ Marketplace, or Extensions › Add-ons › Get add-ons and search for “Import Cleaner for QuickBooks™”.

Step 2 — Open the sidebar

In the spreadsheet, open Extensions › Import Cleaner for QuickBooks™ › Open. A sidebar opens on the right.

Step 3 — Pick a direction and scan

Press Clean a QuickBooks export or Check before uploading. The same columns travel both ways, so the direction is asked rather than guessed. The sidebar also says which kind of QuickBooks file it thinks this is — change it there if it guessed wrong.

A sheet with nothing wrong says so, rather than showing an empty list.

Step 4 — Read a finding

Every finding names its rule code, what it found, and why it matters to a QuickBooks import.

Blocker — the data is wrong, or the import will fail.
Degrader — works now, will bite later.
Advisory — worth knowing.

Cleaning an export (QE)

`QE-01`	Report title lines above the headers, and basis or date-stamp lines below
`QE-02`	Total, Subtotal and balance rows mixed in with the data
`QE-03`	Account name only on a group heading row
`QE-04`	Stray spaces, including non-breaking ones
`QE-05`	Dates stored as text, with the ambiguity report
`QE-06`	Amounts stored as text, and bracketed negatives
`QE-07`	Blank spacer columns between real ones
`QE-08`	Debit and Credit columns to one signed amount

Checking before an upload (QI)

`QI-01`	Zeros in Amount, Credit or Debit, which QuickBooks wants blank
`QI-02`	Credit and Debit headings that include the word “Amount”
`QI-03`	A day of the week attached to a date
`QI-04`	Dates that are not in one readable format, or that read two ways
`QI-05`	Files over the row and size limits
`QI-06`	Amount used with Credit or Debit, one-sided Credit and Debit, missing columns
`QI-07`	Currency symbols, separators and special characters in amounts and descriptions
`QI-08`	Customers and suppliers: names with a colon or quote, duplicates, headings, tab name, blanks
`QI-09`	Journals: balance per journal, blank cells, a Name missing on Creditors or Debtors lines
`QI-12`	Line breaks inside cells, and a semicolon-separated file that landed in one column
`QI-15`	Spaces in blank cells and around values

Three further notes are help text rather than findings: the invoices, chart of accounts and products and services imports have no checks yet, and an account that does not exist in your QuickBooks company cannot be seen from a sheet.

Step 5 — Fix it Pro

Each fix shows a preview of the exact cell changes before anything is applied. The preview is built from the same plan the button executes, never from a second description of it.

One-click fixes are safe unattended. The space fix (QE-04, QI-15) is free.
Guided fixes — dates, weekdays, combining Debit and Credit — ask you to confirm before the write, with the ambiguity report open above the button for dates.

The remaining findings are explained but not applied. A value the parser cannot read is never rewritten, and a guess never overwrites its source — a combined signed amount is written into a new column, leaving Debit and Credit alone.

Step 6 — Undo, or keep the changes

Every fix first saves a hidden copy of the sheet before it changes anything. Undo in the sidebar restores that copy — free in every tier, always. Keep changes deletes the hidden copies once you are happy with the result.

Step 7 — The exported report Pro

Export report writes the full finding list to its own tab in the spreadsheet, so it travels with the file and stays readable without the add-on open.

Step 8 — Entering a licence key

Expand Enter a licence key at the bottom of the sidebar, paste the key from the end of checkout, and press Activate. One key has 3 activations and takes effect immediately. Buy a key on the Prices page.

Limits

Desktop browser only. The add-on does not run in the Google Sheets™ mobile apps.
Sheet size. Sheets up to 2,000,000 cells are supported. Larger sheets are declined with a message naming the size.
Undo after a shape-changing fix restores row heights and hidden rows for the first 5,000 rows.
QuickBooks' rules change. The checks follow QuickBooks' published UK help pages as at the build date. Several behaviours could not yet be confirmed against a real QuickBooks company, so those rules explain and warn but never rewrite your cells.

FAQ

Does my data leave Google? No. The rules run in the sidebar, in your browser, against the Sheets API. The only network call this add-on makes is to the licence server, for a licence key, an anonymous install id and which host this is.

How should I import a QuickBooks CSV into Sheets? File › Import › Upload, with “Convert text to numbers, dates and formulas” unticked.

Does it work on a .xlsx file opened in Office editing mode? No — convert the file to a Google Sheet™ first (File › Save as Google Sheets™). The add-on reads the Sheets API, which a file kept in Office editing mode does not expose.

Is this affiliated with QuickBooks? No. It is an independent add-on by AppGarden. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Intuit Inc. QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc.

Also for Excel™: Import Cleaner for QuickBooks™ for Excel. The same licence key works in Google Sheets and Excel.

Support

Email support@appgarden.co.uk, and say which finding looked wrong. A spreadsheet that produced a wrong finding — or missed a real one — is the most useful thing you can send. Only send one you are content to share, and read the privacy notice first.