Exporting and Importing tax returns

This support note applies to:

AO Tax (AU)
AE Tax (AU)

Article ID: 34623

In MYOB Accountants Enterprise (AE) and Accountants Office (AO) Tax, there may be times when you need to export or import returns, such as for backup purposes or to send or receive returns from different offices, or to MYOB Support.

The export and import return functionality can be performed via the Tax Homepage > Tax - Client Search.

In order to perform the following steps for export/import you need to have MYOB AE/AO installed (these steps do not apply for System Release or Contacts only).

To export a tax return

Open MYOB AE/AO and click the Tax button. The Tax Homepage: Tax - Client Search tab appears.
Highlight the required return then click Export in the Tasks panel. The Export Returns window opens.
Ensure that all options on the left-hand side are selected except for the Include client details option. The export options are selected.

If you are to email your exported returns to MYOB Support ensure that you have selected the "Send as email attachment" checkbox. Once MYOB Tax has completed the export process it will attach the necessary files to an email and you can then send the email to clientsupport@myob.com.au
Select Batch on the right-hand side. Batch is selected.

If you wish to export all tax returns, select Range by Primary sequence. Select Batch to select each return to export.

The Current path shows the location to which the export files are exported. MYOB recommends not changing this location, as it is the default required for importing tax returns.
Click OK. The Export batch window opens.
Highlight each return for export and click Select. The selected returns appear with a green tick next to them.
Click OK. The Export Returns window opens.

If you have previously exported returns, the message "Do you wish to Overwrite or Append?" appears. If you have not re-imported a previously exported return we suggest re-importing the return first, otherwise you can select to overwrite.
Click the required option. The Tax Homepage returns and a padlock appears next to the returns which indicate they have been exported. For more details to unlock tax return, refer to Unlocking a tax return

In exporting all the selected tax returns, this creates a file called EXPORT in the chosen export directory. If you chose to email this file as an attachment, it will automatically be attached to an email message window.

To import a tax return

Open MYOB AE/AO and click the Tax button. The Tax Homepage: Tax - Client Search tab appears.

If you are re-importing a tax return received from MYOB Support ensure that you have saved all of the attached files in the pathfile you used at Step 4 within To export a tax return above. This is where MYOB will search for the file to import back into your database.
Highlight the return then click Import in the Tasks panel. The Import Tax Data window opens.

When importing tax returns back into the system, ensure that you do not include the EXPORT.CDS file. This file can be removed from your export location. Only import the EXPORT file.
The question appears "Print a list of the Return(s) imported?" click Yes. The Print window opens.
Click Preview. A print preview of all the imported tax returns appear.
Click Close. The Tax Homepage returns and the EXPORT file is imported.