This guide covers how you can bulk import prepayments via a CSV into Briefcase in order to take advantage of automated prepayment schedules and track all prepayments in one place.

We recommend bulk importing existing prepayments when you connect a client for the first time. Any new prepayments will be automatically detected when the invoice is uploaded, so you should only have to do this once per client.

How it works

In order to bulk import prepayments into Briefcase, you need to use a CSV file formatted in the correct way.

Formatting the CSV

The CSV must contain the following headers:

• description: description of the expense being prepaid (required)

• prepaidAmount: total prepaid amount of the expense

• frequency: either RECURRING or ONE_OFF

  • use RECURRING if the prepayment is amortised over several months (eg. an annual contract)

  • use ONE_OFF if the prepayment is amortised in one go (eg. a flight ticket)

• startDate: date that the expense was paid in the format YYYY-MM-DD

• endDate: date that the prepayment becomes fully amortised in the format YYYY-MM-DD

• releaseFromDate: date in which Briefcase takes over posting amortisation in the format YYYY-MM-DD. This must be between the startDate and endDate.

  • This is only necessary when uploading a prepayment that has been partially amortised. For example, if you had an annual contract from 1st Jan - 31st Dec that had already been amortised up to 31st May, adding a releaseFromDate of 1st June would mean that Briefcase would only start posting amortisation from June onwards. This field links to the openingBalance (see below).

• openingBalance: the current balance of the prepayment in the prepayments account. This cannot exceed the prepaidAmount.

  • Again, this is only necessary when uploading a prepayment that has been partially amortised. releaseFromDate is required if opening balance is present.

• supplierName: name of the supplier of this prepaid expense

• prepaymentAccountCode: code for the prepayments account in your chart of accounts

• expenseAccountCode: code for the expense account of this prepayment in your chart of accounts

You can download a template of the CSV by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Prepayments Inbox from the sidebar

2. Click the dropdown next to the Add prepayment button and then click Bulk import

3. This will open a modal, from here you can click Download template to download a CSV with the correct formatted columns

Uploading the CSV

Once you have created the CSV of your existing prepayments, it's time to upload it.

1. Drag and drop or click to upload the CSV in the modal

2. We will validate your CSV and surface any errors we find. Once your CSV is valid, you will see a preview of the prepayments that will be imported:

   

3. Select/unselect the rows you wish to be processed and click Import x rows

4. In the background, we will start to process each row and create a prepayment in review

5. You will then be able to review and publish the prepayment schedule as normal

Reviewing & publishing the prepayment

Any prepayments uploaded via the CSV will appear in the Awaiting Review section on the Prepayments Inbox page:

Click into any of the prepayments to see the prepayment details page:

From here, you can click Publish to start posting the prepayment schedule.

If the prepayment has an opening balance and release from date, you will see a tracked periods section in the schedule. This section estimates the balance of the prepayment in the already-posted periods of the amortisation schedule.

This data is used in the tracker and working papers to reconcile the prepayments account in these periods.

We recommend double-checking the prepaid balance row for each of these tracked periods. If a balance is wrong, you can update it so that the correct balance is reflected for reconciliation purposes.