How to Import a Trial Balance into Drake Tax
Open the business return, go to Import, Trial Balance Import, and click Create New. Drake opens an Excel template. Fill in the debit and credit cells, confirm the worksheet balances, save and close Excel, then return to Import, Trial Balance Import and browse to the file. Macros must be enabled and the worksheet must balance before it will import.
- Check the prerequisites
- Enable macros in Excel
- Create the template
- Fill in the amounts
- Balance it, then close Excel
- Import and finish the rest by hand
- Open the return
- Import
- Trial Balance Import
- Create New
| Trial balance account | Drake Tax screen and field | Lands on |
|---|---|---|
| Gross receipts | Template income section | Page 1 line 1a |
| Inventory | Template, with the Schedule A detail worksheet | Form 1125-A and Schedule L line 3 |
| Officer compensation | Template, then verify against screen K1E | Form 1120-S page 1 line 7 |
| Balance sheet accounts | Template balance sheet section, posts to screen L | Schedule L |
| Accounts marked "does not import" | Screen SCH2, after the import | Schedule L other lines |
| Depreciation | Screen 4562, not the template | Form 4562 |
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Try it freeHow to Import a Trial Balance into Drake Tax on a trial balance
| Acct # | Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 | Cash | 42,800.00 | |
| 1200 | Accounts receivable | 68,500.00 | |
| 1300 | Inventory | 55,000.00 | |
| 1500 | Equipment | 145,000.00 | |
| 1510 | Accumulated depreciation | 47,500.00 | |
| 2000 | Accounts payable | 28,400.00 | |
| 2100 | Accrued expenses | 9,200.00 | |
| 2400 | Notes payable | 92,000.00 | |
| 2450 | Due to shareholder | 15,000.00 | |
| 3000 | Common stock | 10,000.00 | |
| 3900 | Retained earnings | 86,300.00 | |
| 3950 | Shareholder distributions | 52,000.00 | |
| 4000 | Gross receipts (the account this page is about) | 612,000.00 | |
| 5000 | Cost of goods sold | 318,000.00 | |
| 6000 | Salaries and wages | 88,000.00 | |
| 6050 | Officer compensation | 72,000.00 | |
| 6300 | Depreciation expense | 21,500.00 | |
| 6900 | Other operating expenses | 37,600.00 | |
| Total | 900,400.00 | 900,400.00 |
Turn autobalance off before you start
Do this first, before any import. Left on, autobalance forces Schedule L to tie by plugging the difference into retained earnings, which makes a broken balance sheet look correct.
Importing into a return with autobalance on means any mapping error you make is absorbed silently. The import looks successful and the balance sheet looks fine.
What the template is and is not
Drake's template is a structured Excel workbook that matches the return. It is not a mapping tool: there is no account level assignment, no stored mapping from last year, and no place to tell Drake that an account called "Auto" is a vehicle expense.
So the work is transcription. The client's chart of accounts has to be read, understood and summarized into the template's lines by whoever is doing the return. That is the step the tooling does not touch, and it is most of the time spent.
Three rules that cause failures when broken:
- Macros must be enabled, or the detail worksheet buttons do nothing
- The layout must not be changed, or the import comes back corrupt
- The workbook must be closed in Excel before importing
The worksheet has to balance first
Drake will not import an out of balance worksheet. That is a useful constraint: it forces the trial balance to tie before anything reaches the return, which is where it should tie anyway.
If the client's trial balance does not balance, no import is going to fix it, and the conversation belongs with the client rather than with the software.
After the import
Not everything imports. Schedule L items flagged as not importing have to be entered on screen SCH2, and depreciation belongs on screen 4562 rather than in the template, since Drake computes the deduction from the asset detail.
Then force the schedules to print and check the balance sheet actually ties, with autobalance still off.
Tax return treatment
| Form | Line |
|---|---|
| Form 1120S | Page 1, Schedule K and Schedule L, from the template and screen L |
| Form 1065 | Page 1, Schedule K and Schedule L |
| Form 1120 | Page 1 and Schedule L |
Common questions
Where is trial balance import in Drake Tax?
Inside an open business return, on the Import menu: Import, Trial Balance Import. Create New generates the Excel template, and the same menu item imports the completed file.
Why will my trial balance not import into Drake?
Three usual causes: the worksheet does not balance, macros are not enabled, or the file is still open in Excel. A template whose layout has been changed also produces a corrupt import, and the Microsoft Store version of Excel is not supported.
Do I need to turn off autobalance before importing?
Yes. With autobalance on, Drake plugs any difference into retained earnings, so a mapping error during the import is hidden rather than reported. Turn it off on the PRNT screen or globally in Setup before you start.
What does not import from the template?
Schedule L items marked as not importing have to be entered on screen SCH2 after the import. Depreciation should come from screen 4562 rather than the template, because Drake computes the deduction from the asset detail.
Related answers
Go deeper
This page is the short answer. These articles work through the same ground in detail.
Last reviewed October 17, 2026.