Getting Started with Bulk Imports

This article will walk you through the basics of bulk importing and testing import failures. ServiceTrade offers the capability to bulk import:

• Compaines
• Locations
• Contacts
• Assets
• One-time Services
• Recurring Services
• Items and Prices
• Invoice Updates
• Invoice Payments
• Tax Group Postal Codes

 To learn more about each import type, click the links above.

The Basics of Bulk Importing

To bulk import data into ServiceTrade, you must first download an import template. You will then fill out the import template with the relevant information in the correct column fields. Once done, you will import the file into ServiceTrade. If there are failures, it will produce a list you can correct and re-import. 

Note: It is essential to test your bulk Imports. All of our customers should have a Demo ServiceTrade Account. You can use your Demo Account to test the import first to avoid duplication or creating errors in your Production Account. It is not possible to delete in bulk in ServiceTrade.
If you need to know what your Demo Account credentials are, please reach out to Customer Support.

Step 1: Downloading an Import Template

1. On the Nav Bar, click Customers.
2. Then click Bulk Import.
3. Then click the desired Import Type tab.
4. There will be a link to download the CSV Import Template.
   • Assets and Tax Group Postal Codes Import Templates have additional steps found in their specific articles.

Step 2: Filling out the Import Template

1. You can use any spreadsheet software to open and edit your import template. However, we recommend you use Google Sheets.
   • Important Note: ServiceTrade uses 64-bit integers that can be 16-digits or greater for entity IDs. Microsoft Excel automatically converts large integers to scientific notation (example: 1.2345E+19). We do not recommend you use Microsoft Excel, nor do we support their software. Google Sheets is free software that works well with large integers.
2. Manually fill out the Import Template cell by cell using the specific Import Type Article linked above. 
   • Read the articles in this section to fully understand which fields are required and what each field means in our import templates.
   • If you have exported information from another system, that information should be copied and pasted into your import template to the correct columns.
   • Most non-ASCII special characters are not supported and will fail to import. Here are some common examples: ©, ®, ¼ (any fraction in that format), °, ™.
3. Once complete, save your spreadsheet as CSV File.

Step 3: Importing your File

1. On the Nav Bar, click Customers.
2. Then click Bulk Import.
3. Then click the desired Import Type tab.
4. Click Choose File.
5. Find and select your Import File.
6. Click Open to begin the Import.

You will be directed to an Imports List. Once the import is complete, you will be emailed, and ServiceTrade will show you how many rows of data you Succeeded / Failed to import.

If all of your data was imported successfully, great job! If rows fail, you need to download a failures CSV file and correct the failures. See the section below:

Fixing Import Failures

1. Click the Download Failures link under the Actions column.
2. Open the failures file in Excel (or similar spreadsheet software.)
   • The failures file is in the same format as your import template, except that we only show failed rows. We add a column on the far right explaining the failure reason.
3. Resolve each row's reason for failure.
4. Import the now corrected failures file.  
   • You may leave the failure reason column in place. It won't hurt anything and will be ignored by the importer.
5. Repeat Steps 1-4 above until you have no more failures.

FAQs

I did an export from another system, and it is not importing into ServiceTrade.

Your export is likely not in a usable format. You must move your data into one of our import templates by following the steps in Filling out the Import Template section.

What Activities (also known as permissions) do I need to bulk import?

See this article for all available Role Activities and Descriptions.

The Activities depends on the type of import being performed:

• Locations:  Edit Location Info for Other Companies
• Assets: Edit Assets One-time
• Services and Recurring Services: Manage Jobs
• Items and Prices: Admin Item List
• Invoice Updates: Manage Invoices
• Tax Group Postal Codes: Admin Account
  

Can I use the bulk import tools to update data?

The bulk import Item and Prices, Invoice Updates, Invoice Payments, and Tax Groups tool allows for bulk updates.

All other tools only create new data.  They do not update. If interested in bulk updating data, please open a ticket by emailing Support.

Why would I want to update Invoices?

If you manually export ServiceTrade Invoices and then recreate them in an external accounting system, you may wish to later bulk update them as "processed" or another status to indicate that action was taken.

How do I check the progress of a bulk import?

Click on Customers -> Bulk Imports.  This will take you to the import history. In-progress imports will show on this page, with a progress bar.

I am trying to import to different locations with the same name, but keep getting import errors?

If you are importing entities like assets, contacts, services, etc. to a location using the location_name column, but there are other locations with the same name you will receive the following error: "Ambiguous location, multiple results for [location_name]"

You can solve this using the following steps:

1. On your import template, in whatever spreadsheet software you use, create a new column
2. Name the cell at the top of the new column location_id
   • Note: For the contacts import, you can follow similar steps for duplicate company names, using company_id.
3. Go to the location page of the location you want to import entities to.
4. Look to the URL address, and copy the numbers at the end of the URL. Those number are the location's ID number.
   
5. Past the URL into the relevant row in the location_id column.
6. If there is a name in the location_name field, delete it. The import tool will look to location_name before location_id. So if the location_name is still present when attempting to import, you will receive the failure again.
   • Example: In the example below, both of these distinct locations have the same name, so we followed the steps above.
     
7. Follow the normal steps of importing of Importing your File.

How to Download a Locations Export and Find Location IDs

The image below will show you how to download a Location CSV Export File.

The Location IDs column header is "ID"

My bulk import is stuck.

You may check the status of any bulk import on the bulk import tool index page.

If you were to see no progress for more than a few minutes, corrupt data may be the cause.

There are no end-user troubleshooting steps for any bulk import that seems to be stalled. Open a support ticket, and we will work to resolve it for you.