CSV import > Chart of Accounts > Invalid account reference key xxxx for subsidiary xxxx

perform a CSV Import of Chart of Accounts but is receiving an error message: Invalid account reference key xxxx for subsidiary xxxx

The reason why the CSV Import is failing is because the Account doesn’t have an External ID. User may verify this by creating a Saved Search using the following steps:

1. Navigate to Lists > Accounting > Accounts > Search
2. Clicked Create Saved Search
3. Change Search Name to “Account External ID Saved Search“
4. In Criteria tab, add External ID is –None-
5. In Results tab, add External ID
6. Click Save & Run

User needs to verify that the External ID for the Account is indeed Blank.
User may proceed with the CSV Import to update the Account External ID by following these steps:

1. Navigate to CSV Import > Import/Export > Import CSV Records
2. Verify the following:
   • Import Type = Accounting
   • Record Type = Chart of Accounts
3. Select the file 
4. Click Next
5. Select Update
6. Under Field Mapping, use the mapping below:
   • Internal ID < > Account : Internal ID
   • External ID < > Account : External ID
     Note: Make sure that the Internal ID is mapped first before the External ID in order to make sure that the Import Assistance would call first the Internal ID of the record.
7. Rename the Map Name to Update External ID

In order to update the other account’s External ID as well, user may do the following:

1. Create a Saved Search that will show the Accounts you updated
2. Export the Saved Search results by clicking in the Excel icon
3. Open and edit the file. Modify the file by doing the following:
   1. Fill in the values for External ID since this would be blank. I assume External ID would be the same as your Account Number
   2. Remove all columns but retain only Internal ID and External ID columns
   3. Save the file as CSV (Comma Delimited) file
4. When file is saved, go to Import Process
5. Navigate to Setup > Import/Export > Saved CSV Imports
6. Locate and click “Update External ID“. This is the import we saved when we updated Account
7. Select file saved from Step 3
8. User may then proceed to click Next. Please make sure that in Step 4 Field Mapping, Internal ID is mapped first before External ID
9. Run the Import