This guide covers importing and updating customer details in Netvisor using CSV files.
General
Customer details can be imported into Netvisor from Excel tables or other systems. There might also be a need to update an existing customer register based on an Excel table. For these situations, the Data import function is used.
The Data import function enables importing customer details from another system into Netvisor in CSV (Comma delimited / List separator) format. CSV file format is a commonly used transfer format when transferring data between different software. You can create a CSV file for example with a spreadsheet program by choosing CSV (Comma delimited / List separator) as the file format. Please note that if the file name contains special characters, it may cause an error in data import. Customer details import cannot update the customer code of existing customers. If the customer code needs to be updated, customers should be imported as new customers or you should use the Customer listing Update customer codes function (Sales > Customer listing > Customer listing functions > Update customer codes).
Customer data import is available for all companies without additional costs, and the user must have editing authorization for "Basic information management" and "Basic information import" in Accounting function specific rights. You can find the Data import function in Netvisor in the Company menu view: Company menu > Data import and export > Data import
The mandatory fields in the material are
Customer code (recommended)
Name
Address
Postcode
Postal address
Business id (recommended)
Fields used in customer data import and update
Compulsory fields must be present in the imported Excel file for the import to be successful.
Imported data | Description | Example |
Customer code | Recommended. When updating customer info, this field is used in allocating information to existing customers. | 100 |
Name | Compulsory, max 250 characters | Example Customer Oy |
Address | Compulsory, max 80 characters | Testing street 1 |
Postcode | Compulsory, max 50 characters | 00100 |
Postal address | Compulsory, max 80 characters | Helsinki |
Active | If the customer is passive, give value 0. If the customer is active, give value 1. If the information is not given, the default is active. | 1 |
Discount percentage | Given as a number | 5 |
Customer group | Max 50 characters, customer group must be created in Netvisor | Company |
Price group | Price group must be created in Netvisor | VIP |
Internet | Max 80 characters | |
Invoice language | ||
Comment | Netvisor customer register comment field. Max 2500 characters | |
Country | Finland | |
Payment term | Payment term must be created in Netvisor | 14 days net |
Name extension | Max 250 characters | |
Default seller | ||
Default term of delivery | ||
Default delivery method | ||
Additional address line | Max 80 characters | |
Phone | Max 80 characters | |
Max 200 characters | ||
E-mail invoice address | Max 500 characters. This field only accepts email addresses. | |
Balance limit | ||
Fax | Max 80 characters | |
Place of business (Place of business) | Max 250 characters | Helsinki office |
If place of business is imported, it will be set as default place of business on the customer card (Customer card > Edit additional information) | |||
Delivery country (Place of business country) | Finland | ||
Delivery address (Place of business address) | Max 80 characters | Example address 1 | |
Delivery postcode (Place of business postcode) | Max 50 characters | 53100 | |
Delivery postal address (Place of business postal address) | Max 80 characters | Lappeenranta | |
E-invoice operator | If the e-invoice operator is given, the e-invoice address must be given. | Check the operator data in the Code column of this help article https://support.netvisor.fi/fi/articles/766844-verkkolaskuoperaattorit | |
E-invoice address | If the e-invoice address is given, the e-invoice operator must be given. | 003712345678 | |
Business id | 1234567-8 | ||
Contact person | Only one contact person can be imported | ||
Contact person phone | Max 80 characters | ||
Contact person e-mail | Max 200 characters | ||
Standard reference | 123 | ||
Private customer | If it is a private customer, give value 1. For company customers give value 0. If the information is not given, the default is company customer. |
Here are the example files for import:
Cost objects cannot be imported with customer data import, but cost objects can be updated for customers in mass via customer listing functions in "Edit customer details".
Customer data editing and update
You can also update and edit existing customer details using CSV import. To successfully edit customers, they must have a customer code. Customer details import cannot update the customer code of existing customers. If the customer code needs to be updated or added, customers should be imported as new customers or you should use the Customer listing Update customer codes function (Sales > Customer listing > Customer listing functions > Update customer codes).
The mandatory fields for updating customer details are:
Customer code
Name
Address
Postcode
Postal address
In addition to mandatory fields, include the information you want to edit or add to the customer card. Other information on the customer card remains unchanged.
Preparing data
In the CSV file the data of one customer needs to be given on one row, each field separated in their own column. If you title the columns in the Excel file according to the list above, the columns will automatically match the fields used in Netvisor customer card when importing data. Remove the empty columns from the file, so if a column is not used, remove it completely
Format the table in Excel as text before import to avoid problems with numbers. Handling numbers starting with zeros can cause Excel to drop leading zeros (for example: 00130 Helsinki -> 130 Helsinki) if the table is handled with default settings.
Do the following:
Select the whole table
Click the mouse's second button
Select "Format cells"
Select category "Text" (see picture below)
If you are using MAC, the format should be "Windows- comma separated (.csv)" or "Windows Comma Separated (.csv)" to get special characters correctly. Newer MACs may not have these formats and in these cases the import should be done on a Windows workstation.
On a Windows workstation, the material should be saved in Comma delimited / List separator format. If the material is in UTF-8 format, it breaks the encoding and disrupts special characters.
Steps of data import
Open Company menu and select "Data import"
Select the correct data type "Customer data import" (see picture below, point 1) and press "Browse" (2)
Find the file containing the customer details you saved and press "Submit data" (3).
In the next step, you can edit the imported data. At the bottom of the page there is a button "Open for editing" or, if there are erroneous rows in the material, you can edit incorrect rows via "Open erroneous rows for editing". If data that does not match the description has been imported with the material, a notification "The import contains validation errors. Open for editing to correct the errors" is shown at the top of the page on a red background.
In the editing mode, you can see if the imported file has column headlines as the first row. By selecting "First row contains column headlines (not imported)", these headlines are not imported to Netvisor. You can also select and delete the entire row in the editing mode. In the editing mode you define correct column headlines for the imported customer data.
If there are erroneous fields in the material, you can edit them by searching for the fields with red background and clicking the pen icon. After correction, the field will turn green and the edits can be saved via the Save button in the lower left corner. All fields of the material can be edited in the editing mode.
If the material contains a customer code that already exists in the customer register, the operation is shown as "Edit". For a new customer, the operation is shown as "Insert".
In the lower right corner of the page, the number of erroneous fields is shown in red, the number of customers to be edited in blue and the number of new customers to be added on a grey background. By clicking the red error icon, you are taken directly to the erroneous field.
In the import, you can choose to import only edits by pressing "Import only edits" – this function handles only editable rows, new records are skipped in this process. "Continue to choose relation information" – this function imports all new customers (Inserts) into the register and updates existing ones (Edits).
"Import only edits" button updates existing customer data to the customer register. After pressing "Continue to choose relation information" button, the selection of relation information continues. The linked items are:
Customer group
Payment term
Country
Invoice language
E-invoice operator
Price group
Default term of delivery
Default delivery method
Default seller
The fields on the CSV file will be updated to existing records automatically. If automatic allocating was not done or the field has been empty in the CSV file, you can choose the record (for example customer group, payment term) manually from the dropdown menu. After the selections have been made, press either "Confirm all suggestions" or "Reject all suggestions".
After this, the customer data is imported by pressing the "Import data" button.
Keywords: Customer details, Netvisor, CSV file, Excel, Import, Customer register, Customer code
*This article has been translated using an AI-based translation tool. The contents or wording of these instructions may differ from those in other instructions or in the software.
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