SAGE INTACCT TIP
15 Tips for Performing Successful Data Imports in Sage Intacct
- Permissions
The user importing data must have permission to the Company Setup Checklist to download a template. This is not needed for the actual import. In addition, they must also have permissions to the applicable object they will be importing.
- Download a New Template
Always download a new template to avoid corrupt files or missing new fields that may have been included in the template after a quarterly release, or after the creation of a custom field on the document or record. Templates are automatically customized based on your company's configurations, including dimensions and custom fields you've created. However, if you have renamed any dimensions, keep in mind that the dimension on the template will retain the original system name.
- Download the Correct Template
Make sure you download the correct template for the action you are wanting to accomplish and confirm it's for the corresponding module you are working in.
- Column Headers
Do not change any titles in the header row or remove any required field. The column header must contain the field name exactly as it appears the original template.
- Completing Dimension Fields
Be sure the dimension used is the dimension ID, not including the dimension name in the ID field. For example: CUSTOMER_ID would be C1234, not C1234--Sally Field. Including the dimension ID AND the dimension name in dimension ID columns will cause your import to fail, producing an error message.
- Required Fields
Be sure all required fields are populated. An easy shortcut to do this is: CTRL+F and search for all "Required: yes," then highlight all cells that appear in the "Find All" list. This ensures that you don't miss any fields, causing you to encounter an import error later on.
- Importing Record Updates
If there is no asterisk (*) next to the name of the template in the Company Setup Checklist, this record must be updated manually. When updating records via import, fields that are not required in the template, but you do not want to update, should either be completed in the template or the columns removed from the template. Leaving these fields blank in the import template will wipe out any information contained within these fields on the record because the blanks are considered by the system as the desired value.For example, if I'm updating a customer record and I only want to update their zip code, I will include the Customer ID, Customer Name, Customer Contact, and the Zip Code columns. If I were to also include the customer's City and State columns, but put no data into those columns on the template, the import will overwrite the City and State fields on the Customer's record with blanks, thus removing the existing City and State data, as the system believes you wanted to update these fields to remove the current selections.
- Journal Entry Imports
Check that the debit and credit columns balance on your journal entry import template and have no extra decimal amounts that would put the totals out of balance. This is one of the most common errors received when importing entries: the debit and credit do not balance. Most often, the values have been copied over from another system or another source and there are "hanging decimals" that you don't see, which throw the file out of balance. To be sure the columns tie out, sum them up and format the sum cell with 10+ decimal places to be sure there are no hanging extra decimals such as 1234.000000001 preventing the columns from balancing.
- Line Numbers
When entering Line Numbers, start with 1 for the first line of a transaction and increment by one for each subsequent line. For example, if an expense report should have 3 lines, each row within the import file should go in order for the LINE_NO field: 1, 2, 3. If the next row should be a new expense report, start back with 1 for the LINE_NO field.
- Row Count
For best results, we recommend a 5,000 row maximum on the import file. Anything greater than 5,000 rows will run a higher risk of timing out or not processing.
- Formatting
After the template has been completed, format all cells as Text, removing any commas in the amount fields within the file, and change all date fields to "Short Date" format.
- Saving the File
Check for special characters, such as: !@#$%^&* or double dashes/spaces, and remove any prior to saving. Once you are ready, save the file as .CSV format.
- Importing the Data
Imports can be done from the Company Setup Checklist or from the record/transaction list view page. Be sure you are importing into the proper location or page within Sage Intacct. For example, be sure you are not importing your AP Bills file into the Vendor list screen, as that would result in an "Invalid Contact Record" error message as the system screen cannot read the file you are importing into that particular list. Enter your email address into the import pop-up window, when selecting your CSV file. This ensures you'll receive any potential error messages via email.
- Error Messages
Errors will produce an email, sent to the email address you entered at the time of import. When receiving an error message email regarding an import that didn't process, read the error message from the bottom up. The details of the error will identify the reason the file upload failed to complete. Read all errors thoroughly. There may be multiple errors in one email and thus multiple errors in the import file which need to be corrected prior to re-importing.
Review the error message email, and the attached error file you receive thoroughly. These will indicate where the error resides within the file, and what to fix. For example, if you are importing a vendor record and receive an error stating "Invalid Contact Record" error, you know to review the vendor contact record(s) within the file. If you are importing AP Bills and receive an error stating "Your transaction date is within a period that has been closed," you can elect to modify the transaction date or open the books for that period.
- Logging a Case with JMT Consulting Support
When you log a case with Support regarding importing issues, we will ask you to provide the import file you are using and a screen shot of the error message email you received, including the details of the error. Providing this information upfront at the time of case creation, via the Attachments option on the case, will speed up our initial review process and avoid the back-and-forth of asking for these items.
