Pastel export (on-premise)
Not every control room runs a cloud ledger. For those still on desktop Sage Pastel Partner or Pastel Xpress, CleverOps produces import-ready CSV files you bring into Pastel by hand — the on-premise counterpart to the live accounting sync connectors.
You export three files here — customers, inventory items and invoices — and import each into its matching Pastel screen via File → Import/Export.
Everything lives under Billing → Config → Import / Export → Sage Pastel. You need the Manage billing permission to export.
Pastel's tax types and ledger accounts are specific to your Pastel company's setup. The defaults on this screen are common South African values, but a tax type or sales account that does not exist in your company will make Pastel reject the import. Check them before your first export.
Settings
Four settings shape the invoice and inventory files. They are remembered per control room in your browser.
- Standard VAT tax type — the Pastel tax type code for 15% VAT lines (commonly
01). - Zero-rated / no-VAT tax type — used for zero-rated invoice lines (commonly
03). - Sales ledger (GL) account — invoice lines post to this GL account as a ledger line (commonly
1000). - Financial year starts — the first month of your Pastel financial year, used to work out each invoice's period number.
The three exports
Export and import them in this order — customers and items first, so the invoices link up to accounts and stock that already exist.
Customers
Every customer for the control room, as a Pastel customer masterfile. The Pastel account code is taken from the customer's original Pastel code if it has one, otherwise its account number, otherwise a generated code — trimmed to Pastel's six-character limit. Name, postal address, telephone, contact, VAT reference, email and registration number are all carried across.
Inventory items
Every active catalog item, as a Pastel inventory file, keyed on the item code (SKU). The selling price is exported VAT-exclusive (derived from the inclusive catalog price), along with the last cost price. Items are exported as non-physical (no stock control) by default.
Invoices
Issued invoices in a date range you choose, as Pastel customer documents. Drafts and voided invoices are excluded. Each invoice becomes a Pastel Header record followed by one Detail line per invoice line; every line posts to the sales GL account with the tax type matched to the line's VAT. Because Pastel assigns its own document number on import, the CleverOps invoice number is written into the document's message line so you can reconcile the two.
How Pastel reads the files
Pastel matches columns by position, not by heading, so each file must be imported against its matching Pastel layout. The files are plain CSV, with text fields quoted and no heading row — exactly the shape Pastel's own export produces. In Pastel: File → Import/Export, pick the matching option (Customers, Inventory, or Customer documents), and select the downloaded file.
The Pastel export is a hand-off, not a live sync — it does not read anything back from Pastel, and it does not track what you have already imported. If you want an automatic two-way link, use one of the cloud accounting sync connectors instead.