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Receive Ingram orders into Square with invoices or iPage exports

October 27, 2026

Import the Ingram or IPS invoice PDF as each shipment arrives, so Square gets exactly what shipped at the cost you paid, even when backorders trickle in over weeks. Or use the Ingram iPage order export if you'd rather check the box against the original order.

On this page Show
  1. Two ways to receive Ingram books into Square
  2. Recommended: import the Ingram invoice when each shipment arrives
  3. How to import an Ingram invoice
  4. Ingram Publisher Services (IPS) invoices
  5. Option: import the Ingram iPage order export
  6. Wrapping it up

Two ways to receive Ingram books into Square

book by book can import two different files from Ingram:

  • The Ingram invoice PDF. Each invoice covers one shipment. This is the one we recommend for receiving books.
  • The Ingram iPage order export (CSV or Excel). This is the order as you placed it, before anything ships.

Pick one of them for receiving stock. Don't process both for the same books: each import becomes its own order, and nothing links an invoice to an iPage order you imported earlier. If you update Square from both, every book gets counted twice.

An Ingram invoice lists what actually shipped in that box, so it already matches what's in front of you.

  • Quantities are what shipped. Lines that shipped 0 copies are left out, so backordered books don't show up until they actually ship.
  • Costs are what you paid. The unit cost comes from the invoice after your discount.
  • Backorders are just more invoices. If half an order is backordered and arrives over the next few weeks, each later shipment comes with its own invoice. Import it when that box arrives. You never have to go back and fix an older order.

This matters most for large orders. If you import the original order when the first box arrives and most of the titles are still backordered, you'd have to remove most of the books before updating Square, then track the rest yourself.

How to import an Ingram invoice

  1. Open Import Order and drag the invoice PDF onto the page, or click Choose File. Use the PDF from Ingram, not a scan or photo of the paper invoice.
  2. book by book detects that it's an Ingram invoice and shows a preview of the books. Click Import Books.
  3. The new order is named after the invoice number and PO, starting with something like "Ingram Invoice 12345678 (PO 4471)". Several shipments from the same PO each get their own name, so they're easy to tell apart.
  4. Check the order against the box, then click Update Square.

Invoices cut titles short and don't list authors, so book by book looks up each ISBN and fills in the full title, author and other details for you.

Pro tip: import each invoice as its own file, one shipment at a time. That keeps each order matched to one box.

Ingram Publisher Services (IPS) invoices

IPS invoices use the same layout as Ingram invoices, so they import the same way on the Import Order page. The order is named after the IPS invoice number and PO, and the books are listed with Ingram Publisher Services as the vendor.

Option: import the Ingram iPage order export

Some stores prefer to import the order before anything ships, so they can get items ready ahead of time or check each delivery against the original order. If that's you, download the order from Ingram iPage: go to Orders, then Order Status, and click ipage Order History. Find the purchase order you need and click its Confirmation link to download it, then import that file on the Import Order page.

Keep in mind that this file is what you ordered, not what shipped. Use it this way:

  1. Name the order with the Ingram PO number so you can find it later.
  2. Don't update Square yet. Leave the order in book by book until the books arrive.
  3. When the shipment arrives, search your orders for the PO number. If you only have your phone, scan the barcode on one of the books to find orders containing it.
  4. Remove missing books or lower their quantities so the order matches the box.
  5. Click Update Square once the order matches.

After you update Square, the order is locked and can't be edited. If the rest of a backordered order shows up later, it has to go into a new order. Importing that shipment's invoice is the easiest way to do it. Just don't also import invoices for books you already received from the iPage order.

Wrapping it up

For most stores, the simplest Ingram workflow is to import the invoice PDF each time a shipment arrives, check it against the box, and update Square. Backorders are just more invoices. If you'd rather work from the original iPage order, that works too, but use one or the other for receiving, never both.