How to Import a Trial Balance into Lacerte
Use the Lacerte Trial Balance Utility: Tools, then Import/Export Data, then Lacerte Trial Balance Utility. Inside it, File, Import, From Excel. Account Name is the only required column. Then assign each account to a screen and input field on the Tax Line Assignment tab, and the amounts post into the return.
- Open the utility
- Import the Excel file
- Assign the accounts
- Check the mapping before posting
- Post and reconcile
- Tools
- Import/Export Data
- Lacerte Trial Balance Utility
- File
- Import
- From Excel
| Trial balance account | Lacerte screen and field | Lands on |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Screen 29 (1120S) or 24 (1065), Assets | Schedule L line 1 |
| Accounts receivable | Screen 29 or 24, Assets | Schedule L line 2a |
| Inventory | Screen 29 or 24, Inventories, beginning and ending | Schedule L line 3 and Form 1125-A |
| Accumulated depreciation | Calculated from screen 16, Depreciation | Schedule L line 10b |
| Accounts payable | Screen 29 or 24, Liabilities and Equity | Schedule L line 16 |
| Officer compensation | Screen 2, Officer Information | Form 1120S page 1 line 7 |
| Shareholder distributions | Screen 32, Schedule M-2 | Schedule K line 16d |
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Try it freeHow to Import a Trial Balance into Lacerte on a trial balance
| Acct # | Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 | Cash (the account this page is about) | 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 | 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 |
What the utility does, and what it does not
The Trial Balance Utility takes an Excel file and posts the amounts into Lacerte input screens. What it does not do is decide where anything goes. Every account on the trial balance has to be pointed at a specific screen and a specific input field, by you, the first time you see that client.
So the honest description is that it replaces typing, not thinking. For a 300 account trial balance, the typing was never the slow part.
The mapping carries forward, which is the real payoff
Assignments are retained from year to year. That is what makes the utility worth setting up: the second year of a client is genuinely fast, because last year's mapping is already there and only new accounts need attention.
It also sets the trap. A client who reorganized their chart of accounts, renamed accounts, or switched bookkeeping systems arrives with accounts that no longer match the stored mapping, and the ones that do not match are silently left out rather than flagged.
First year clients get no benefit at all. There is nothing to carry forward, so every account is mapped from scratch.
Order matters more than the import
Enter income and cost of goods sold first, then deductions, then Schedule K items, then the balance sheet. Schedule L depends on the net income the return computes, so a balance sheet entered first has to be revisited.
Two Lacerte behaviors are worth knowing before you start:
- Amounts may not appear on Schedule L until the ending year amounts are entered and the requirements for completing the balance sheet are met, so an empty Schedule L mid import is not necessarily an error
- Depreciation belongs in screen 16 rather than as a deduction figure from the trial balance, because the program computes it from the asset entries
Do not import twice
Re-importing over an existing trial balance can double the entries. If an import went wrong, delete the trial balance in the utility and import again rather than importing on top of it.
The check that catches it: compare gross receipts and total deductions in the return against the trial balance. Figures at exactly twice the expected amount mean a second import landed on the first.
Tax return treatment
| Form | Line |
|---|---|
| Form 1120S | Page 1, Schedule K, and Schedule L from screens 29, 30 and 32 |
| Form 1065 | Page 1, Schedule K, and Schedule L from screens 24 and 25 |
| Form 1120 | Page 1 and Schedule L from screen 37 |
Common questions
Where is the Trial Balance Utility in Lacerte?
Tools, then Import/Export Data, then Lacerte Trial Balance Utility. It also opens from the Trial Balance tab inside a return. The Excel import itself is File, Import, From Excel once the utility is open.
What columns does the Excel file need?
Account Name is the only column the import wizard requires. In practice you also want the account number and the ending balance, with the Balance column pointed at the ending balance so the figures post to the right year.
Does the account mapping carry forward to next year?
Yes. Tax line assignments are retained from year to year, which is what makes the second year of a client fast. A client who renamed or restructured their chart of accounts breaks the stored mapping, and unmatched accounts are left out without a warning.
Why did my entries double after importing?
Because the import ran twice over the same trial balance. Delete the trial balance in the utility and import again rather than re-importing on top of it. Figures at exactly twice the expected amount are the giveaway.
Related answers
Go deeper
This page is the short answer. These articles work through the same ground in detail.
Last reviewed October 17, 2026.