Buildxact import and export: get data in and out fast

TL;DR

Buildxact, founded in Melbourne in 2011, is the most-used estimating and job management platform for Australian residential builders. Getting data in correctly (supplier price lists, estimate templates, contacts) removes the biggest time sink on every tender: retyping numbers you already have somewhere else. Exporting estimate and job cost data to Excel lets you slice by category, check markup, and feed your accountant or Xero integration without double-handling. The Xero two-way sync is the highest-leverage integration: purchase orders and customer invoices push from Buildxact to Xero automatically, and payment confirmations flow back. A clean import on day one saves roughly an hour per estimate once the cost library is populated.

When you do this

There are four natural import points in a builder’s Buildxact setup:

Initial setup: loading your full cost library and supplier price catalogs once, so every future estimate draws on real prices, not manual typing.
Supplier price update: when a supplier sends a new price file (typically quarterly or after a price rise), import it to update the catalog rather than editing line by line.
Template estimates: importing a pre-built estimate structure (from a spreadsheet you already use, or a template from a consultant) as the starting point for a new tender.
Contacts bulk-load: migrating your subcontractor and supplier list from an existing accounting system or spreadsheet when you first set up Buildxact.

Export runs on the other side:

After completing an estimate, to share a cost breakdown with your accountant or business adviser in Excel.
When closing out a job, to compare estimated vs. actual costs outside Buildxact.
For irregular audit or review purposes where a pivot table in Excel is easier than running reports inside the system.

Who’s involved

Builder / estimator: does the import and export work.
Supplier: may provide a pre-formatted price file. Buildxact accepts files from most major suppliers in the standard format.
Accountant / bookkeeper: receives exported data or manages the Xero side of the integration.

Steps

1. Import a supplier price catalog

A price catalog (called an Item Catalog in Buildxact) is a list of materials, labour rates, or other cost items you can pull into any estimate. Importing from a spreadsheet is faster than entering items one by one.

Supported file types: .csv, .tsv, .xls, .xlsx, .xml (verified 2026-05-11, Buildxact Help: How do I import price/item catalogs from Excel?).

Before you import:

Download Buildxact’s import template from within the system (Catalogs > Item Catalogs > Create New > Import from Excel > Download Template). Use it as your reference for column layout.
Row 1 must contain headings. No formulas, no images, no merged cells.
Supplier codes must be unique (no duplicates in the supplier code column).
Unit costs must be entered ex-GST.
Description field: maximum 250 characters. Category and sub-category fields: maximum 100 characters each.

Import steps:

Navigate to Catalogs > Item Catalogs.
Click Create New, name the catalog, and assign the relevant supplier contact.
Tick Import from Excel and click Create & Import.
Drag and drop or browse to your file.
Verify category mapping on the next screen, then confirm the import.

Buildxact validates the file before completing the import and will flag formatting problems before any data lands.

2. Import an estimate from Excel

If you already have an estimate built in a spreadsheet (your own template, a quantity surveyor’s output, or a format you’ve used for years), you can load it into Buildxact rather than rebuilding it from scratch.

Supported file types: .csv, .xls, .xlsx (verified 2026-05-11, Buildxact Help: Can I upload/import estimates to Buildxact from Excel?).

As a new estimate:

Go to Estimates > Create New.
Scroll to the bottom and select Import from Excel.
Upload your file, step through the category validation screen, and click Import.

Adding to an existing estimate:

Open the estimate.
On the Estimate Costings tab, click Add > Import items from Excel.
Follow the same upload and validation steps.

Note: once imported, Buildxact does not automatically link the estimate to an existing job. If you need it on a live job, open the job and associate the estimate manually after import.

3. Import contacts (suppliers and subcontractors) from Excel

Useful when migrating from another system or loading a bulk contact list at initial setup.

File format: .xlsx, using Buildxact’s Contact Loading Spreadsheet Template (download from within the contacts screen). Row 1 must be headings. No formulas, no images. Close the file before uploading.

Go to Contacts.
Click the import option (or Create New and select the bulk upload path).
Upload the template-formatted .xlsx file.
Buildxact validates and imports the list.

4. Export estimate or job cost data to Excel

Buildxact exports estimate and job costing data to Excel from two locations: the Estimate Costings screen and the Job Costings screen. Both produce a clean Excel file with no formatting lock-in (verified 2026-05-11, Buildxact Help: Estimate/Job Data Export).

After export you can filter by:

Type: isolate labour, materials, subcontractors, or other line item categories.
Category: view top-level categories only, collapsing individual line items.
Markup: identify items where markup has been applied or is missing.

The exported file lands in your browser’s downloads folder. It does not appear on-screen in Buildxact.

Other data you can export to Excel: leads, estimates list, jobs list, contacts, and clients screens all have an Excel export option, useful for bulk review or pipeline reporting outside the system.

5. Xero two-way sync

The Xero integration removes the need to enter purchase orders and invoices in both Buildxact and Xero. Setup requires multi-factor authentication (MFA) to be active on your Xero account (verified 2026-05-11, Buildxact Help: Buildxact and Xero).

What syncs:

Direction	Buildxact item	Xero item
Buildxact to Xero	Received purchase order	Bill (accounts payable)
Buildxact to Xero	Invoiced job invoice	Sale (accounts receivable)
Xero to Buildxact	Bills (approved, awaiting payment, or paid)	Imported bills feature
Xero to Buildxact	Payment recorded against invoice	Receipt / invoice marked as paid

Limitations to know before you set it up:

Bills imported from Xero must be dated within the last 30 days. Older bills do not appear.
Contacts must be correctly classified as Supplier or Contractor in Buildxact before syncing.
Archived contacts in Xero will block the sync. Restore or recreate them.
Buildxact calculates to 4 decimal places; Xero rounds to 2. Small rounding differences can appear on high-value line items.
Xero tracking categories (for job-level P&L reports in Xero) must be created in Xero first, then linked in Buildxact.

Setup steps (brief):

In Buildxact, go to Settings > Integrations and select Xero.
Authenticate using your Xero credentials.
Map your Buildxact cost categories to Xero accounts and configure tracking categories.
Set your preferred sync direction for purchases and invoices.

Once connected, approved purchases and invoices sync with one click.

Documents needed

Supplier price file (.csv, .xls, or .xlsx) structured to Buildxact’s template
Estimate spreadsheet, if importing an existing template
Contact list spreadsheet, using Buildxact’s contact template
Xero login with MFA enabled (for the Xero integration)
Xero tracking categories already set up in Xero (for job-level reporting)

Common holds

Import file fails validation: most failures are formatting issues. Common causes: formulas left in cells, merged cells, duplicate supplier codes, or a column that exceeds the character limit. Open the Buildxact template alongside your file and compare the structure column by column before retrying.

Category mapping errors on estimate import: Buildxact matches categories in the import file to categories it already knows. If your spreadsheet uses category names Buildxact does not recognise, the validation step will pause and ask you to map them manually. Set up your categories in Buildxact first and make sure your import file uses matching names.

Xero sync missing old bills: the 30-day lookback limit means bills older than 30 days in Xero will not appear in Buildxact’s imported bills. For a setup migration where you want historical bills, process them outside the automated sync (mark them manually in Buildxact as received purchase orders).

Archived Xero contact blocking sync: if a supplier or subcontractor in Buildxact maps to an archived contact in Xero, the sync will fail for that contact. Check Xero for archived contacts matching the name and restore or merge them.

Rounding differences between Buildxact and Xero: Buildxact calculates to 4 decimal places; Xero to 2. On a line item like $10.1234 x 100 units, Buildxact will total $1,012.34 while Xero may round to $1,012.34 or $1,012.30 depending on rounding rules. These are small, but they can trigger reconciliation queries in Xero. Your bookkeeper should be aware of the behaviour.

Pricing context

As of May 2026, Buildxact AU plans are priced as follows, ex-GST (verified 2026-05-11, Buildxact AU Pricing):

Plan	Monthly	Annual (per month)	Annual total
Foundation	$199	$169	$2,030
Pro	$399	$339	$4,070
Master	$599	$509	$6,110

All import/export functions described in this article are available across plans. AI add-ons (Blu: Estimate Generator, Blu: Takeoff Assistant, Blu: Estimate Reviewer) are optional extras at $99 to $149/month ex-GST each.

A 14-day free trial is available.

References

Buildxact Help: How do I import price/item catalogs from Excel? (verified 2026-05-11)
Buildxact Help: Can I upload/import estimates to Buildxact from Excel? (verified 2026-05-11)
Buildxact Help: Estimate/Job Data Export (verified 2026-05-11)
Buildxact Help: Buildxact and Xero (verified 2026-05-11)
Buildxact AU Pricing (verified 2026-05-11)
Buildxact About: company history and founding (verified 2026-05-11)
Buildxact AU Features (verified 2026-05-11)
Australian Taxation Office