How to export contacts in MYOB

Check your access. Exporting needs a role that lets you import or export data. Out of the box, the roles that give it are Administrator and the role set up for your accountant or bookkeeper, so if the Import/Export Assistant option is greyed out on the File menu, your role is the reason.

Work out which contacts you need. Each export covers one type of data, so a customer list and a supplier list are two separate exports. Within one card type you can narrow the file down by the identifiers assigned to the cards, by postcode, or by both.

Think about where the file is going. If it's headed for another AccountRight company file, some fields have to be included so the import can match records, and MYOB marks them in the export window.

1. Go to the File menu and choose Import/Export Assistant.
2. Select Export data, then click Next.
3. In the Export list, choose the type of card you want, such as customer or supplier cards.
4. To export only some contacts, enter one or more identifiers in the Identifier field, a full or partial postcode in the Postcode field, or both. Click Next.
5. Pick tabs or commas to separate the data, and say whether the first row should carry the field headers. Click Next.
6. In the Available fields column, click a field you want and then click Add, which moves it across to Fields to export. Do this for each field, or click Add All to take every field.
7. To take a field back out, select it under Fields to export and click Remove. To change the order, select a field and use the up or down buttons.
8. Click Export. In the Save As window, give the file a name and a location, then click Save.
9. When the export has finished, click Close.

You end up with a text file of the cards you chose, saved where you told the Save As window to put it. With tabs chosen, each field is split from the next by a tab character, a format spreadsheet programs commonly use. With commas, fields are split by commas, a format often used by database programs. Both open in Excel.

The filters decide who's in the file. Entering several identifiers exports only the cards that carry every one of them, not cards with just one. A partial postcode brings in every card whose postcode matches the digits you typed.

To move the contacts into another AccountRight company file, open that file and import the exported file there. Do the same for each type of card you exported.

Can't open the Import/Export Assistant? It's greyed out unless your role allows importing or exporting data, which by default means the Administrator role or the role for your accountant or bookkeeper.

Fewer contacts than expected? Look again at the Identifier field, because a card has to carry all the identifiers entered, and at the Postcode field, which matches the sequence of digits you typed.

These steps are for AccountRight on the desktop, which is the version MYOB's card export help covers. If your company file is online, the people you've invited to it can see your data without you exporting it.