Adding Existing Grants and Budgets

GrantLink supports three distinct setup paths:

1. Create one grant manually.
2. Auto-fill one grant from PDF award documents.
3. Create one linked grant at a time from synced QuickBooks customers/jobs, projects, classes, or locations.

GrantLink does not bulk-create grants from a CSV or spreadsheet. Budget data is managed within each grant after creation.

Important: QuickBooks entity import creates a GrantLink record linked to an existing QuickBooks tracking entity. It does not import an award document, funder decision, approved budget, cash receipt, or every QuickBooks transaction as a grant expense.

Before You Start

Confirm that:

• You have a non-viewer role and are in the correct organization.
• You have the award name, donor-restriction type, lifecycle status, period, amount, funder, reporting terms, and approved budget.
• For QuickBooks import, an active QuickBooks connection exists, Settings > QuickBooks mapping identifies a supported grant entity family, and a current sync has loaded the entities.
• Each entity you intend to import represents one grant. Parent customers used only as context and restriction-parent classes should not become grants.
• Your plan has capacity for each imported grant. QuickBooks import creates grants one at a time as Active.

Ways to Add Existing Grants

Method 1: Enter One Grant Manually

Manual entry is useful when you already have the approved details:

1. Open Grants > Add Grant.
2. Enter the required name, donor-restriction type, status, and period; then add known award, funder, indirect-cost, and reporting terms.
3. Select Save & continue to linking.
4. Select Add QuickBooks link and choose the primary record or Class records, then select Link · [selected count]. Alternatively, select Skip for now for an app-only grant.
5. Verify the new grant before adding the next one.

Method 2: Auto-Fill from Grant Documents

From Grants > Add Grant, drop or browse for up to five PDF award letters, RFPs, or agreements. Each PDF can be up to 20 MB, with a 25 MB combined limit. GrantLink reads the documents and applies extracted details to fields you have not edited.

Review every extracted field against the source documents before creating the grant. The uploaded files are attached to the resulting grant. After creation, complete the same QuickBooks linking step used for manual entry.

Method 3: Import from QuickBooks

Open Todos and select Import grants when GrantLink reports eligible entities, or go to /grants/import-from-qbo.

1. Confirm the page heading is Import from QuickBooks.
2. If more than one entity type is allowed, choose Classes, Customers, Locations, or Projects.
3. Use search and, if needed, Include inactive. Importing an inactive entity does not reactivate it in QuickBooks.
4. Select a candidate row. Already linked entities are excluded; project/customer mirror records are deduplicated across their tabs.
5. In the preview, review:
   • Expense count, Total amount, and transaction Date range
   • top vendors, accounts, and classes when available
   • any warning that transactions fall outside the draft grant period
6. Select Create linked grant.

The importer creates one grant with these defaults:

• Name from the QuickBooks entity
• Type With Donor Restrictions – Time/Purpose
• Status Active
• Funding source Private
• Period from the earliest through latest matched expense when activity exists; otherwise from available project dates or a recognizable customer-name range; otherwise a one-year period beginning today

GrantLink then opens Allocations and starts backfilling matched QuickBooks expenses within the selected period. If no matched expenses exist, the grant can still be created and future tagged expenses can be picked up by sync.

Immediately open Details and correct the imported defaults against the award. QuickBooks does not supply the approved award amount, funder, reporting cadence, restriction analysis, or budget.

QuickBooks Import Edge Cases

• Import Not Available: Complete Settings > QuickBooks mapping. App-only tracking cannot use QuickBooks import.
• Projects not synced: Run a full sync from Settings > QuickBooks Sync and confirm projects exist in the connected company.
• All entities have been imported: Eligible records are already linked or excluded. Search results can also be empty because of the current entity-type or inactive filter.
• Mapping lock notice: The first import can lock the organization's QuickBooks mapping configuration. Verify the model before importing.
• Duplicate entity: One active grant cannot own the same QuickBooks entity, including customer/project mirror identities.
• Transactions outside draft period: Correct the grant period after creation and review allocation eligibility; do not assume out-of-period costs were backfilled.

Add the Approved Budget

Open each imported grant's Budget tab and add budget lines manually, map synced QuickBooks expense accounts, or use the available GrantLink AI budget workflow. There is no general bulk budget-spreadsheet import button in the current grant setup flow. See Setting Up Grant Budgets.

Importing Historical Transactions

Adding an expense link or importing a QuickBooks entity schedules backfill for matching synced activity inside the grant's eligible period. Use the full-sync controls in Settings > QuickBooks Sync if the needed history is not present, then review Allocations.

Backfill is a GrantLink reporting assignment. It does not correct source dates, accounts, vendors, classes, customers, projects, locations, or amounts in QuickBooks. Correct source-controlled errors in QuickBooks and sync again.

Verifying Your Setup

After adding each grant, verify everything is correct:

1. Details: correct type, status, period, award, funder, reporting terms, and QuickBooks links.
2. Budget: reconcile category and line totals to the approved budget.
3. Allocations: verify matched transactions, dates, amounts, and Uncategorized items.
4. Income: confirm expected synced receipts or record valid non-QuickBooks receipts separately.
5. Activity: confirm creation, link, and subsequent correction history.

Tips for a Smooth Migration

1. Start with one representative entity and reconcile it end to end.
2. Save the organization mapping before importing; the first import may make it harder to change.
3. Keep a migration crosswalk from old grant identifiers to GrantLink and QuickBooks records.
4. Do not treat imported QuickBooks spending as proof of grant allowability.
5. Keep Settings > Permissions on Read-only reporting. Selected and full modes remain visible, but all QuickBooks company-data writers are currently blocked globally and those settings do not make writeback operational.