Transferring data between workbooks

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Transferring data between workbooks

Introduction
Since the March 2009 edition of VT Final Accounts, it has been possible to automatically transfer data between accounts workbooks. This may be necessary if:

You need to use a new workbook for the accounts for a subsequent year because of disclosure changes
An entity changes its status. For instance from sole trader to partnership, or sole trader to company, or from a small company to a large company
You chose the wrong template by mistake when clicking on the New Accounts Workbook button

It is possible to transfer data from any type of accounts workbook to any other type of accounts workbook.

Step by step
To transfer data:

Open or switch to the old workbook
Choose the Edit>Copy Accounts Data command from the VT Final Accounts menu
Open or switch to the new workbook
Choose the Edit>Paste Accounts Data command from the VT Final Accounts menu

After importing data, you should review your new workbook to ensure that the data is still correct and complete. Please note that row heights are not automatically adjusted when multi-line textual notes are imported.

Data that can be transferred
You can select any or all of the following categories of data in the Paste Accounts Data dialog:

Category	Comments
Company name, period ending dates and other settings in the Workbook Properties dialog
Current year trial balance	Only applies when importing into manual entry workbooks. In an extended TB, the closing trial balance is transferred but not individual adjustments
Comparative year trial balance	Only applies when importing into manual entry workbooks
General data and text. This includes the parts of the directors report that you enter yourself, the information on the Data sheet and textual notes such as Transactions with directors	Only applies if you are exporting from a workbook created in the July 2008 edition or later. Does not apply to custom notes and cells
Status (hidden or displayed) of accounting policies
Text of accounting policies	Only applies if you are exporting from a workbook created in the July 2008 edition or later. Does not apply to custom policies

Data that cannot be transferred
It is not possible to transfer any custom modifications to the workbook such as:

New financial rows
Renamed rows on the TB sheet
Custom notes and cells
Custom accounting policies

If new financial rows have been created in the old workbook, these should be recreated in the new workbook if still required before transferring the trial balances. Similarly, if you have renamed any rows on the TB sheet in the old workbook then you should do the same in the new workbook.

The TB Converter dialog
If you have custom rows with balances in the old workbook that do not match rows in the new workbook, the TB Converter dialog will be automatically shown when you click OK in the Paste Accounts Data dialog. In the converter dialog, you need to select the heading (row) in the new workbook to which each unrecognised heading in the old workbook belongs.

You normally only have to do this for custom rows as all standard headings are automatically mapped between all types of workbook.

Transferring the trial balance to a linked entry workbook
The trial balance in a linked entry workbook always has to be obtained from a VT Transaction+ or VT Cash Book file (or from the old VT Transaction). Hence it is not possible to import the trial balance using the Paste Accounts Data command.

If you are transferring from one linked entry workbook to another this is not a problem. You simply click on the Get Balances From VT File button in the new workbook and select the same VT Transaction+ or VT Cash Book file that the old workbook used. If you are not sure of the name of the file:

Open or switch to the old workbook
Choose the Associate Workbook With VT File command from the VT Bookkeeping menu. This displays a dialog that shows the name and location of the file that the workbook is currently linked to

If you are transferring from a manual entry workbook to linked entry workbook, you can generate a VT Transaction+ file from the data on the TB sheet in the old workbook by choosing the Convert Manual TB To VT Transaction+ File command from the VT Bookkeeping menu.

General data, textual notes and accounting policies
Starting with accounts workbooks created in the July 2008 edition, all cells that the user could enter data into (apart from the trial balance) were given names beginning with x (in the Define Name dialog in Excel). These names are used to identify the data to be copied from the old workbook and the location to paste it to in the new workbook. Hence the data cannot be copied from workbooks created in editions of VT Final Accounts before July 2008. Also this feature does not apply to text boxes. These were used in accounts workbooks before the July 2008 edition.

Similarly, data in a custom cell is not copied. You could manually give the cell a name beginning with x in both the old and the new workbooks, but it would probably be easier just to enter it again or copy and paste it on a one by one basis.