Exporting the accounting file (FEC)

By the end of this guide, you will know how to generate the FEC (Fichier des Écritures Comptables, Accounting Entries File), that is, the export of all the posted entries of a fiscal year, then check it and open it in Excel. The FEC is a .txt text file encoded in UTF-8, with columns separated by a vertical bar |.

What is the FEC used for?

Use case	Detail
Tax authority audit (DGI/ANIF)	Tax authorities in OHADA countries may request the FEC during a desk audit or an on-site accounting review
Statutory auditor (CAC) review	The auditor imports the FEC into their audit software to perform verification work without direct access to your system
Submission to an external accountant	If you change accounting firms or your accountant needs to review data remotely, the FEC is the universal exchange format
Legal archiving	SYSCOHADA regulation article 24 requires accounting records to be retained for 10 years: the FEC is the digital reference medium
Advanced internal analysis	Import into Excel or Power BI for accounting data analysis not natively available

Caution

The FEC includes all posted entries for the selected fiscal year. Make sure all your documents are posted before exporting the definitive FEC. Documents in DRAFT status are not included.

Reading the 18 FEC columns

#	Column	Description	Example
1	JournalCode	Journal code	VT
2	JournalLib	Journal label	Sales journal
3	EcritureNum	Sequential entry number (non-reusable)	VT-2026-000042
4	EcritureDate	Entry date in YYYYMMDD format	20260214
5	CompteNum	SYSCOHADA account number	411001
6	CompteLib	Account label	SARL ABC
7	CompAuxNum	Subsidiary account (currently empty)
8	CompAuxLib	Subsidiary account label (currently empty)
9	PieceRef	Source document reference	FC-26-AA00042
10	PieceDate	Document date in YYYYMMDD format	20260214
11	EcritureLib	Entry description	Invoice office supplies
12	Debit	Debited amount (0.00 if credit)	1180000.00
13	Credit	Credited amount (0.00 if debit)	0.00
14	EcritureLet	Matching code (blank if unmatched)	AA
15	DateLet	Matching date in YYYYMMDD format	20260301
16	ValidDate	Entry posting date	20260215
17	Montantdevise	Amount in foreign currency	0.00
18	Idevise	ISO currency code	XAF

Amounts use a dot as the decimal separator.

Exporting the FEC step by step

Closed or reopened fiscal year

The FEC is generated for a closed or reopened fiscal year. For an open fiscal year, use the general ledger or the trial balance.

1. Open Documents → Exports and click New export.

   

   The Exports page: the new FEC export and the history of downloadable exports.

2. In Export type, choose Accounting Entries File (FEC).

3. In Fiscal year, choose the fiscal year to export. The FEC always covers the whole fiscal year.

4. Click Run export. The export is prepared in the background.

5. When it is ready, download the file from the same page. It is named FEC_<identifier>_<fiscal year code>_<date>.txt. It stays available for 7 days in the export centre: save it to your archive.

Verifying FEC consistency

Before sending the FEC to a third party, check:

Check	How to check
Total debit = total credit	Sum the Debit and Credit columns in Excel: they are equal
Totals identical to the trial balance	Compare these totals with the fiscal year’s trial balance
Consistent dates	EcritureDate falls within the fiscal year’s dates

Opening the FEC in Excel

The FEC is a text file encoded in UTF-8, with the vertical bar | as the separator. To open it correctly in Excel:

1. Open Excel → Data → From Text/CSV.

2. Select your .txt file.

3. Choose Custom as the delimiter and type |.

4. Set the encoding to UTF-8.

5. For the Debit and Credit columns, set the dot as the decimal separator (Advanced option) then format them as Number.

6. For date columns (EcritureDate, PieceDate, DateLet, ValidDate), they are in YYYYMMDD format: you can reformat them with the formula =DATE(LEFT(A2,4),MID(A2,5,2),RIGHT(A2,2)).

When to export the FEC

Moment	Use
After closing	Legal archiving of the closed fiscal year
On request	Tax audit, statutory audit, change of accounting firm

Caution

Mandatory 10-year retention: SYSCOHADA regulation article 24 requires accounting records and supporting documents to be retained for 10 years from the fiscal year closing date. The archived FEC constitutes the legal digital proof of your accounting. Store it in a secure, backed-up location.

Fixing common errors

Problem	Likely cause	Solution
The FEC export fails	The fiscal year is neither closed nor reopened	Close the fiscal year, or use the general ledger for an open fiscal year
All data in a single column	Delimiter not set at import	Import again with the vertical bar as the delimiter
Unreadable characters (ÀÉÈ…)	Wrong encoding selected	Select UTF-8 at import
Amounts read as text	Your Excel uses a comma as decimal separator	Set the dot as the decimal separator at import
Missing entries	Some documents were still drafts	Only posted entries appear in the FEC

See also

• Export centre →
• Viewing the trial balance →
• Posting and reversing a document →