AccountsPortal Help Documentation


Importing Contacts

Importing a CSV (comma delimited) file is an efficient and time-saving option when creating Customers and Suppliers. The import tool simplifies the exercise of moving your customers and suppliers across from your previous accounting system. To assist with this process, you should download the template file provided. The template contains field headings which correspond to the fields maintained when manually creating contacts.

Navigate to the Contacts tab and click on the Import button.

Step 1: Download the template file

Click on the link to download the template file. It is advisable to open the file using a spreadsheet program like Excel. This will automatically recognise the commas in the CSV file and split the fields into columns. Enter or copy and paste your input data into the relevant fields.

The following rules and tips should be considered:

  • Save the file as CSV (comma delimited) with a .csv file extension as only CSV files are permitted for upload.
  • Field names and field order cannot be changed or deleted.
  • Name is the only required field.
  • Maximimum lines per upload file is 250.
  • Duplicates and existing customers/suppliers will not be imported (based on name field).
  • Commas within a field require the contents of the field to be Text delimited with quotation marks eg "xxx, xxx".
  • Multiple address lines can be entered in the cell as per above (Ctrl+Enter or Alt+Enter inside the cell depending on spreadsheet program).
  • EU VAT Country field is only needed if you are registered for VAT in the United Kingdom and sell to Customers in the EU. The entry here is needed when running the EC Sales List report. Use the appropriate 2 character Code from the table below:

 

CodeCountry
AT Austria
BE Belgium
BG Bulgaria
CY Cyprus
CZ Czech Republic
DE Germany
DK Denmark
EE Estonia
FI Finland
FR France
EL Greece
HU Hungary
IT Italy
LV Latvia
LT Lithuania
LU Luxembourg
MT Malta
NL Netherlands
PL Poland
PT Portugal
IE Ireland
RO Romania
SK Slovakia
SI Slovenia
ES Spain
SE Sweden

 

The above file viewed in a text editor such as Notepad would appear as follows:

Step 2: Import the file

Click on the Browse button and select the saved CSV file. Click the Import button. You will be notified if there are any errors, which you will have to rectify before proceeding. The import has not yet taken place and can be cancelled in order to amend the file.

Step 3: Complete the import

Click the Complete import button to import the Customers and/or Suppliers. A message will be displayed if the process has successfully completed.