Customer detail Data import

This guide covers importing and updating customer details in Netvisor using CSV files.

CONTENTS

• General
• Fields used in customer data import and update
• Customer data editing and update
• Preparing data
• Steps of data import

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.

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.

Here are the example files for import:

• Excel version
• CSV version

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:

1. Select the whole table
2. Click the mouse's second button
3. Select "Format cells"
4. 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

1. Open Company menu and select "Data import"
2. Select the correct data type "Customer data import" (see picture below, point 1) and press "Browse" (2)
3. Find the file containing the customer details you saved and press "Submit data" (3).
   
4. The next step is to link imported fields to corresponding fields in Netvisor customer details. By pressing "Choose" (see picture below, step 1) a dropdown menu will open. From the dropdown menu you can choose what information is imported in the selected column. In the picture below the selection has been made (2) and the column is marked as containing customer code.
5. 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 (3).
6. After all the fields have been selected, press "Update selected fields" (4). If you are updating customer information and the customer code matches with an existing customer code, after pressing "Update selected fields", the Operation column is updated to show "Edit". Before that the Operation column always shows "Insert" even if the customer code exists in Netvisor.
   
7. Green colour indicates that the imported information is correct (see picture below, step 1). Red indicates error and the row is not imported.
8. Summary (see picture below, step 2) shows that the file has two new customers and two edited customers. "Edits" means that there is already an existing customer card in the customer register with the same customer code. If there is a number in the "Error rows" section in the summary, these rows cannot be imported. The erroneous rows must be corrected in the CSV file and the import started from the beginning to get the data imported into Netvisor.
9. "Reference" link (3) will redirect to the existing customer details in Netvisor (open with right mouse button in a new window).
   
10. After selecting the fields, two different functions are shown:
    1. "Handle only above editable rows and selected fields" - This will handle only editable rows, new records are skipped in this process.
    2. "Continue to choose relation information" - This will import all new customers (Inserts) to Netvisor and also update existing ones (Edits).
11. "Handle only above editable rows and selected fields" 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:
    1. Customer group
    2. Payment term
    3. Country
    4. Invoice language
    5. E-invoice operator
    6. Price group
    7. Default term of delivery
    8. Default delivery method
    9. Default seller
12. 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, the import is done by pressing "Save data" button.

 Keywords: Customer details, Netvisor, CSV file, Excel, Import, Customer register, Customer code

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