by Sheila Zhang

Recently, I was asked to make some changes to the existing data after completing all master files and opening transactions for a new Intacct company. Since there is no way to go into a database directly to do a mass update, the API Test Tool could be the solution. However, you may not be familiar with how to prepare the XML file. You can use Excel to prepare the XML request for the API Test Tool. In my case, I needed to update the Vendor Price List.

Before starting the API Test Tool, you need to know your send ID and password. Once you login to Intacct, you will have your session ID in the address.

You can use the session ID to access your company in the API Test Tool.

Once you access the API Test Tool successfully, you can query all vendors. In my case, I only need to update the Vendor Price field. In my query, I extracted three fields “RECORDNO, VENDORID, PRICELIST” out of the vendor master files.

If you are not familiar with the syntax of the xml request, you can go to http://developer.intacct.com/wiki/functions-object. Look for object “Vendor”.

Go to Sample XML to find “Update_Vendor”. Copy the sentence in the rectangle to save as an XML file.

Next, copy the XML data to a text editor, such as notepad, and then save the file in xml format. Here is a trick: You need to duplicate the <update>…</update> section with in <content>…</content>once. So the field title can be shown in the Excel file.

Change the field “NAME” to the field name which needs to be updated. In my case, it is “PRICELIST”.

The field name can be found in Field Definitions under Vendor object.

After that, you can open the xml file in Excel.

Now, you can drag the fields from the XML Source on the right to worksheet. Then put in the price list value for the vendors who need to be updated.

Select the field “controlid” to the first column. The value is from API Test Tool.

Once you finish the Excel file, save the file as XML format.

Then open the file in text editor and copy the content into the left box in API Test Tool. Click POST XML, the vendor master file will be updated.

If you need assistance updating fields in Intacct, please contact us.