SOLUTIONS · FINANCE · ERP MIGRATION

QuickBooks to NetSuite: map your history to the new chart of accounts and segments, line by line

A QuickBooks to NetSuite migration is a chance to fix the chart of accounts. Years of workaround accounts like "Marketing - West" and "Software - Engineering" become one NetSuite account with a department, class or location beside it. That's the right design, and it leaves a job nobody budgets for: every historical line, vendor and item you bring across has to be mapped from the old account to the new account and its segments. When one old account splits into several new combinations, a lookup table can't do it, and someone ends up reading memos in a spreadsheet. StayCharted learns the mapping from a sample your team maps by hand, maps the rest with a confidence on every line, and flags lines below your review cutoff for a person.

Learned from your own mapping. Map a few hundred lines by hand; the model maps the rest the same way.
Account and segments together. The account, department, class and location come back as one answer, always a combination your team actually used.
Unsure lines to a person. A confidence on every line, and a report on lines it never saw before you trust it.

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By StayCharted · October 30, 2026

When a lookup table is enough, and when it isn't

Old QuickBooks account	New NetSuite coding	How to map it
Rent	6100 Rent	A lookup table. One old account, one new one
Marketing - West	6400 Marketing + Region: West	A lookup table. The old name says it all
Software subscriptions	6420 Software + the department that uses it	Needs the vendor and the memo. StayCharted
Contract labor	6500 Contractors or 5100 COGS labor + department + project class	Needs the vendor, the memo and the amount. StayCharted
Ask My Accountant, Uncategorized Expense	Any account and segment	Needs everything on the line. StayCharted, with most of it reviewed by a person

Use the lookup table for the first kind and StayCharted for the rest. The two finish in the same spreadsheet.

What it maps

Historical transaction lines you bring across in detail: the account plus department, class, location and custom segments, from the line's memo, vendor or customer, old account and amount.
Vendors: the default expense account and department on each vendor record.
Items: the item's income and expense accounts and its class, from the item name and description.
Customers: a customer category or segment, from the name, industry or past sales.

The same model keeps working after go-live, coding new bills to the new segments. See Code NetSuite bills to departments and classes →.

Train separate models for transaction lines, vendors, items and customers when they have different inputs and answer columns. A transaction-line model can also code new bills if the inputs and target combinations remain the same.

How it works

Export from QuickBooks the lines you're bringing across, with the old account, memo, vendor or customer, and amount.
Map a sample by hand, a few hundred lines across the accounts that split. On Essentials or Business, let StayCharted group the unmapped lines first and suggest where to start.
Train and read the report. StayCharted tests the model on lines it never saw and shows how often it maps each new combination correctly, and which ones it confuses.
Fill the rest. Every line comes back with the new account and segments, a confidence and a review flag. On Essentials and Business, lines below your cutoff go to the Review Queue, and the controller decides them.
Import into NetSuite with your usual CSV imports. Add corrections from the first load to your training examples, retrain and publish before filling the next load.

For NetSuite partners

A repeatable step on every QuickBooks migration, and a per-combination accuracy report to show the client before cutover.
Faster trial loads. After a change to the chart, correct the sample, retrain, and fill again, instead of re-reading every line.
A partner discount through our reseller program, or a referral if the client buys directly.
The client keeps the model for coding new bills after go-live.

Partner program →

What StayCharted doesn't do

It maps lines. It doesn't design your chart of accounts, connect to QuickBooks or NetSuite, post journals, or decide accounting treatment. Your controller and your implementation partner decide what's right; StayCharted applies their decisions consistently to the rest of the data.

Common questions

Does it connect to QuickBooks or NetSuite?

No. It works on the CSV files you already export and import, so nothing needs installing and no one gives it access to your ledger.

How many lines do we need to map by hand?

A few hundred to start, with at least about 20 for each new combination you want it to suggest. Combinations that look alike need more. The report shows which ones.

Can it map the account and the department and class at the same time?

Yes. Choose them all as answer columns. The model learns them as one answer, so it never suggests a combination your team hasn't used.

What about lines nobody can explain, like Ask My Accountant?

Missing context can cause wrong answers, even at high confidence. Have your controller review unexplained lines rather than relying only on the cutoff. The model helps most where your team's own past decisions are consistent.

Should we bring across full history?

That's a decision for your controller and partner. Many migrations bring summary journals for prior years and keep full detail in a QuickBooks archive. StayCharted helps with whatever detail you do bring across.

Is our financial data safe?

Your data is kept in a database schema of your own, encrypted at rest and in transit, hosted on AWS in the United States, and used only for your models. [Security and your data →](/security)

Which plans?

Essentials and Business include the Review Queue and grouping unlabelled rows. For a large migration, talk to us about a one-off allowance.