Timesheet import comparison
QuickBooks time entry vs CSV import vs IIF for timesheets
Choose between manual entry, an existing CSV import workflow, and a mapped TimeActivity IIF when timesheets need to reach QuickBooks Desktop.
Target outcome
A proportional import choice based on row volume, field mapping, destination support, review evidence, and recovery cost.
Work through the evidence
before the final claim.
- 01
Keep manual entry for a small, exceptional batch
A few rows with obvious names, jobs, service items, dates, and durations may be faster to enter and review manually than to configure a reusable conversion.
- 02
Use an existing importer when it already fits
If the approved destination workflow accepts the source columns, preserves the required TimeActivity meaning, surfaces rejected rows, and leaves a recoverable record, use it instead of adding another tool.
- 03
Use a mapped IIF for repeated Desktop workflows
A TimeActivity IIF is useful when recurring exports need explicit employee or vendor identity, customer:job and service-item mapping, duration conversion, billable state, blocked-row handling, and a file that can be reviewed before import.
- 04
Price the review burden, not only the conversion
Count source cleanup, mapping maintenance, blocked-row resolution, destination-name checks, import review, and recovery. A cheap conversion is not cheaper if it hides the rows that need human decisions.
Example input
A concrete first pass
A weekly 180-row contractor export uses decimal hours and three spellings for the same customer job, with four rows missing a service item.
Reviewable output
Manual entry: poor fit at this volume. Existing importer: suitable only if it exposes the ambiguous and incomplete rows. Mapped IIF: useful when it preserves 176 reviewable records and blocks four rows with explicit reasons.
The choice is driven by repeat volume and review evidence, not by the file extension alone.
Important boundaries
What this workflow does not prove
- An IIF file cannot prove that destination names or items exist or are appropriate.
- Use only an import method supported by the actual QuickBooks edition and controlled workflow.
- Do not buy a converter when manual entry or an existing importer already completes the job safely.
Bookkeepers & operators · $29 once
Use TimeIIF for the structured first pass.
Turn timesheet CSV data into a reviewable QuickBooks TimeActivity IIF, with mapping gaps surfaced before export.