If you need to import quotes into Xero from a CRM, a quoting tool, or a spreadsheet, you'll quickly discover that Xero doesn't make this easy. Unlike invoices, there's no built-in CSV import for quotes. No file upload option at all.
This guide explains why that gap exists and walks through your actual options for getting quotes into Xero.
Why Xero doesn't have a quote import feature
Xero treats quotes as something you create inside Xero and send to customers. The product was designed around that workflow — build a quote in Xero, email it to your customer, and convert it to an invoice when they accept.
That works fine if Xero is where your quotes originate. But many businesses quote from somewhere else entirely. Sales teams build quotes in their CRM. Builders and tradespeople quote from job management software. Wholesalers produce quotes from their inventory system.
If your quotes start outside Xero, you're left bridging the gap manually. And that gap is where time gets wasted and errors creep in.
Method 1: Manual entry
The most common approach, and the one most people want to stop doing.
You open your source file — a PDF from your quoting tool, an Excel export from your CRM, a spreadsheet a colleague sent you. Then you open Xero, create a new quote, and type or copy-paste every field. Contact name, quote number, date, expiry date, line items, quantities, unit prices, tax codes. Save. Repeat for the next one.
Where this falls down:
A single quote with a few line items takes several minutes. Multiply that by 10 or 20 quotes a week and you've lost a meaningful chunk of someone's time. It's also the method most prone to mistakes — transposed numbers, wrong dates, missed line items. These seem minor until a customer queries an amount that doesn't match what they were quoted.
There's also a workflow bottleneck that's easy to overlook. A customer accepts a quote, and now someone has to recreate it in Xero before the invoice can go out. That delay between acceptance and invoicing is time you're not getting paid.
When manual entry is fine: If you create fewer than about 5 simple quotes per week and they have just a few line items each, manual entry is manageable. Beyond that, it's a workflow worth automating.
Method 2: Automated import with EntryRocket
EntryRocket takes a different approach. You export quotes from your CRM or quoting tool as a file — CSV, Excel, PDF, XML, whatever your system produces — and email it to a dedicated EntryRocket address. A custom reader, built specifically around your file format, maps every field and creates the quotes in Xero automatically.
How it works in practice:
- Your CRM or quoting tool exports a file (this might already be part of your workflow)
- You email that file to your dedicated EntryRocket address (or set up an email forwarding rule so it happens automatically)
- EntryRocket's custom reader extracts every field — quote number, date, expiry date, contact, line items, quantities, amounts, tax codes
- The quotes appear in Xero as drafts, ready to review, approve, send to the customer, or convert to invoices
- You get a confirmation email showing exactly what was imported
The whole process takes under a minute for most files, regardless of how many quotes are in them.
What makes this different from manual entry:
There's no technical knowledge required. EntryRocket's engineers build the custom reader around your specific file format and your Xero configuration. If your quoting tool exports files with unusual column names, non-standard layouts, or extra data you don't need in Xero — the reader handles all of that.
Business rules can be built in too. If you need markup percentages applied, line items split or merged, or any transformation before the data reaches Xero, that happens automatically as part of the import.
One of EntryRocket's customers, Chris Ashton from Konstruct in New Zealand, put it simply: "We email PDF quotes and they appear as quotes in Xero instantly."
When automated import makes sense: Any business that regularly creates quotes outside Xero and needs them there — whether for converting to invoices, for record-keeping, or for reporting. It's particularly useful when the volume is high enough that manual entry has become a time drain, or when accuracy matters enough that you can't afford copy-paste errors.
Which method should you use?
It comes down to volume, frequency, and how much the errors cost you.
If you're creating a handful of simple quotes per week, manual entry works. It costs nothing and the time investment is small.
If you're doing it regularly — weekly or daily — or your quotes have many line items, or the data comes from a system that exports files you then have to re-enter by hand, automation removes that entire step. The time saved pays for itself quickly, and the errors disappear completely.
For context, invoices do have a native CSV import in Xero, but quotes and purchase orders don't get that option. If you need to import either of those, your choices are manual entry or a tool that does it for you.