Data Import Guide

Overview

sales-i is powered by your sales data, most commonly this sales data comes from your ERP.

Your sales data is imported into sales-i via a series of standardized .txt files. These files are uploaded, on a configurable cadence, via a secure FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Files should be updated regularly before the scheduled upload to ensure your data in sales-i is up to date. This guide covers how to correctly format your import files and data.

Import File Requirements

All import files must meet the following requirements:

Files must be .txt files
Files must be encoded in ANSI or UTF-8
If foreign characters (umlauts, accents, etc.) are used in your data, your files must be encoded in ANSI
Files must use the exact column headers and column order specified in the provided import file templates
- Additional columns added to template files will not be imported
Files cannot be delimited with commas or quotation marks and must be delimited with either pipe "|" or tab "/t" delimiters
The data used in each column must abide by the specified data type and max character length requirements
- There are three accepted data types, some have specific formatting rules:
  - Numerical: Numerical data can only contain numbers and decimals. Numeric data must not exceed 18 digits before the decimal and two digits after the decimal. Currency indicators (i.e. “$” or “€”) or thousands separators (i.e. “,”) are not accepted
  - Character: All characters are accepted. The number of characters allowed varies by field type
  - Date: Dates must be in one of the following formats: DD/MM/YYYY, DD-MM-YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY, MM-DD-YYYY
Data cannot include Carriage Return Line Feeds (CRLFs). CRLFs are often generated by line breaks in description fields in your data

Import File Templates

You must create four mandatory import files using the provided templates. Each file contains data on a specific area of your sales data:

Customers
Products
Product Groups
Sales

Optionally, you can also create a Contacts import file using the provided template.

Working with the Template Files

When working with the import file templates, keep the following in mind:

The columns of each template file must remain unchanged, and no new columns can be added. Any additional columns added to the file template will not be imported.

Each template contains example rows of data for you to reference. Please delete any example rows before adding your own data.
Template files are .xlxs. You will need to convert the file to .txt before import.

The name of each file must be prefixed with your client ID number. This number is provided by your customer success manager.

Additional Analysis Fields

The Customer, Products, and Sales files include a set of customizable analysis fields allowing you to import additional sales data of your choosing into sales-i. Each analysis field you use must have values in both the “Analysis Field X Code" and “Analysis Field X Name".

Customers File

The Customers file contains data on your customers/accounts.

Customers import file template

The Customers .txt file must be named: yourclientID_Customers
The Customer file has two unique analysis fields titled “Sales Rep” and “Industry” these fields are used for the sales rep assigned to the account and the account’s industry respectively

Your customer data must include data for every row in all mandatory* columns and all data meet the data type and length requirements for each column:

Column Header	Data Type	Max Character Length
Account Number*	Character	61
Company Name*	Character	100
Address Line 1	Character	80
Address Line 2	Character	80
Address Line 3	Character	80
Address Line 4	Character	80
City/Town	Character	40
County/State/Region	Character	40
Zip/Postal Code	Character	12
Country	Character	40
Company Phone	Character	40
Mobile Phone	Character	40
Fax	Character	40
Email	Character	255
Parent Account Number* (if your data has a two-tier customer hierarchy)	Character	61
Sales Rep Analysis Field Code	Character	100
Sales Rep Analysis Field Name	Character	255
Industry Analysis Field Code	Character	100
Industry Analysis Field Name	Character	255
Analysis Field X Code	Character	100
Analysis Field X Name	Character	255

Products File

The Products file contains data on your products.

Products import file template

The Products .txt file must be named: yourclientID_Products

Your product data must include data for every row in all mandatory* columns and all data meet the data type and length requirements for each column:

Column Header	Data Type	Max Character Length
Product Code*	Character	60
Product Name*	Character	100
Group Level 1 Code*	Character	32
Group Level 2 Code	Character	32
Group Level 3 Code	Character	32
Group Level 4 Code	Character	32
Group Level 5 Code	Character	32
Analysis Field X Code	Character	100
Analysis Field X Name	Character	255

Product Groups File

The Products Groups file contains data on your product groups.

Product Groups import file template

The Product Groups .txt file must be named: yourclientID_Product_Groups
Product group codes in the file must match the product group codes in the Product import file
All product group columns in the Product import file must be included in the file
sales-i can support up to five product group hierarchy levels; if you have less than five product groups leave the remaining product group columns blank

Your product group data must include data for every row in all mandatory* columns and all data meet the data type and length requirements for each column:

Column Header	Data Type	Max Character Length
Group Level 1 Code*	Character	32
Group Level 2 Code	Character	32
Group Level 3 Code	Character	32
Group Level 4 Code	Character	32
Group Level 5 Code	Character	32
Product Group Name*	Character	100

Sales File

The Sales file contains data on your sales.

Sales import file template

The Sales .txt file must be named: yourclientID_Sales
The initial Sales import file must include 25 months of data
The Sales file has a unique analysis field titled “Invoice Number” this field is used for the ID number of the invoice
After the initial import file is uploaded, the ongoing Sales import file should contain data from the 1st of the previous month up to the current date

Your sale data must include values in all mandatory* columns and meet the data type and length requirements for each column:

Column Header	Data Type	Max Character Length
Account Number*	Character	61
Product Code*	Character	60
Quantity*	Numerical	18 (2)
Total Line Cost*	Numerical	18 (2)
Total Line Value*	Numerical	18 (2)
Invoice Date*	Date	20
Invoice Number*	Character	50
Account Period	Numerical	2
Accounting Year	Numerical	4
Analysis Field X Code	Character	100
Analysis Field X Name	Character	255

Contacts File

The Contacts file contains data on your contacts.

Contacts import file template

This file is optional
The Contacts .txt file must be named: yourclientID_Contacts

Your contact data must abide by the following column specific data type and character length requirements:

Column Header	Data Type	Max Character Length
Account Number	Character	61
Contact ID	Character	50
Title	Character	6
First Name	Character	40
Last Name/Surname	Character	40
Full Name	Character	80
Preferred Name	Character	80
Job Title	Character	100
Company Phone	Character	40
Mobile Phone	Character	40
Email	Character	225
Address Line 1	Character	80
Address Line 2	Character	80
Address Line 3	Character	80
Address Line 4	Character	80
City/Town	Character	40
County/State/Region	Character	40
Zip/Postal Code	Character	12
Country	Character	40