This topic is part of Tips for Exporting Data from Your Old Point of Sale System
If your existing data is in another point of sale system, see if you can export to CSV, ODS (Open Office Calc), or XLSX. These are listed in our order of preference, but all of these and some other formats will work as well.
Use caution with exported files, especially if they contain UPC codes. Excel and many other programs treat values that look like number AS numbers and they will strip off leading (left hand) zeros. You must ensure UPC code columns are formatted as TEXT to protect leading zeros.
If direct export to above formats is not possible, consider installing a “Generic Text Only” Windows printer and then printing various reports to file. Keep in mind that reports that do not include titles and other formatting list each item on a single row are much easier to work with.
For example, this…
036655073038, Snowman Hot Cocoa,8.99
Is better than this…
Item 036655073038
Description Snowman Hot Cocoa
Price 8.99
For purposes of this document we use Yes/No for binary choices. If your system exports data using True/False or 1/0 or other designators that is acceptable.
If you cannot create a report via above means for some types of data, consider typing it into Open Office Calc, or Excel. If you do so you must ensure UPC code columns are formatted as TEXT to protect leading zeros.
The examples given in the following sections are designed to get you started. Some Acme fields are not shown below and some that are shown below are optional. If your output contains other fields or you have other concerns just let us know.
