Admin > General settings > Import data

All import processes available for this environment are shown in this overview. Each line represents an import process. Multiple import processes can be defined for different administrations or master data. This table is managed by your VendorLink consultant.

Choosing an import process

Click the appropiate import process to begin your data import.

Step 1 - Current data

After you have selected an import process, you will enter the first step of the data import process. This step consists of two tabs; New data upload and Data Upload Backlog. In the backlog you can see a detailed history of all upload attempts.

Under 'New Data Upload' you can see the current number of records, and a minimum and maximum date that relate to the current Spend data in your VendorLink environment.

Click on 'Next' to continue with the data import.

Step 2 - Uploading your data

In this step you upload the file containing all your data. This file must be an .xlsx, .csv or .txt file. We appreciate it when this file is packed in a .zip file, but this is not necessary.

You will also see a template here, which you can use as a basis for your own data. In most cases, templates are custom made for each customer / environment. 

For standardized import processes you can view the file requirements for each import process below.

• Admin - Users Import: Import new users accounts
• Contracts - Insert Contract Authorization Labels: Import contract-authorization label links in the Contracts module
• Vendors - Insert Category Supplier: Import vendor-categorie links in the Vendors module
• Admin - Insert Category Supplier Spend: Import vendor-categorie links in the Spend module
• Contracts - Bulk Archive Contracts: Bulk archive contracts in the Contracts module
• Vendors - Bulk Archive Vendors:Bulk archive vendors in the Vendors module
• Admin - Categories Import: Import commodities into Admin
• Vendors - Import Vendors: Import vendors into the Vendors module
• Contracts - Import Contracts: Import contracts into the Contracts module
• Spend - Spend Data Import: Import spend data into the Spend module
• Contracts - Import Contract Custom Field Values: Import contract custom field values into the Contracts module
• Vendors - Import Vendor Custom Field Values: Import Vendors custom field values into the Vendors module
• Contracts - Import Contract Managers: Import contract-contract manager connections in the Contracts module
• Admin - Import Spend - Cost Type Category connections: Import cost type category links in the Spend module
• Admin - Import Spend - Vendor/Cost Type/Category connections: Import cost type/supplier/category connections in the Spend module
• Contracts - Import Contract Products: Import contract products in the Contracts module
• Contracts - Import Contract Categories: Import contract category links in the Contracts module
• Vendors - Import Vendor Contacts: Import vendor contacts in the Vendors module
• Contracts - Bulk Archive Contract Products: Bulk archive contract products
• Vendors - Import Vendor Managers: Import vendor - vendor manager connections in the Vendors module
• Contracts - Import Contract Financial Data: Import data into the 'Financial' tab of your contracts.
• Contracts - Import Contract Locations: Import contract - locations links to your contracts in the Contracts module.
• Contracts - Import Contract Financial Custom Field Values: Import custom field values for financial rules in the 'Financial' tab of your contracts.

1. Click on the 'Upload' button, and select the .xlsx, .csv, .txt or .zip file that contains the data you want to upload. After the upload, the name of the file will be shown immediately right above the 'Upload' button.
   
   All data in de uploaded file will be imported into the VendorLink instance.
2. Click 'Next'.

Step 3 - Time frame of your new data

1. Enter a start date in the 'Start date' field. This is the very first date of the data that will be removed prior to uploading your new data.
   
   
2. Enter a end date in the 'Start date' field. This is the very last date of the data that will be removed prior to uploading your new data.
   
   

Step 4 - Properties of your data import file

1. For 'Delimiter', indicate which separator is used in the uploaded data file. A separator is only applicable for .csv and .txt files.
   
   
2. For 'Date format', enter the date format used in the uploaded data file. Examples of date formats are:
   
   31-12-2019 (DD/MM/YYYY)
   12-31-2019 (MM/DD/YYYY)
   
   
3. Finally, indicate which decimal point is used in the data. Do you use a point? Then simply enter a '.' in, without the quotes.
   If you use a comma, enter a ','.

Step 5 - Linking columns

VendorLink has now read the uploaded data file, and it is time to link the columns from the database to columns in VendorLink.

1. On the right, all import columns of VendorLink are shown. On the left you can select the corresponding column from your own data file. It may be that not every column applies. Link all columns from the database, to columns in VendorLink.
   
   
2. Check all columns to make sure they are correctly linked.
   
   
3. Click 'Next'.

Step 6 - Start import

You have arrived in the last step of the import process. Click on 'Start import' to start the import. VendorLink will now load and process all data.

It may happen that the data import fails. Check all settings again, and take a look between the common problems when uploading Spend data.

If your issue still persists, feel free to contact VendorLink Support by submitting a support ticket.