Import project estimates

Best practices for project estimates

Subscription

Projects Module: Project Costing and Billing
User type

Business

Construction Manager

Project Manager (all)

Employee (view only)
Permissions
  • List: enables visibility to project estimates
  • View, add, edit, and delete: controls who can access or change project estimates
Previous step

Configure project estimates

  • Each estimate line in the import file must contain a value for either Quantity and Unit rate, or a value for Amount.
    If Quantity and Unit rate contain values, those values are used to calculate the Amount.
    If the estimate line contains values for Quantity, Unit rate, and Amount, the import process only uses the Amount from the file, without calculating the amount using the Quantity and Unit rate.
  • For each estimate line, indicate workflow types: original (default), revision, forecast, approved change, pending change, or other. Lines without workflow types default to original.
    • Use workflow types to filter the estimate entries to post to specific General Ledger (GL) budgets. All lines are additive, meaning a revision entry doesn't replace the original entry.
  • Values are case sensitive, so be sure to use the correct uppercase and lowercase letters.
  • You can import estimates multiple times; each import creates a new estimate and does not replace existing estimates. If you use automatic sequential estimate IDs and import estimates more than once, each import creates a new estimate.

Create project estimate CSV template

  1. Download the Project Estimate CSV template from the Company Setup Checklist page. To learn more, see Company Setup Checklist.
  2. Read the field descriptions in the CSV template for information on how to populate the CSV file with your project estimate information.
  3. If you plan to import the project estimate only, populate the CSV file with estimate information only.
    4. You can only import estimates into projects with an existing work breakdown structure (WBS).
    Tasks and their corresponding cost types (for Construction subscriptions only) must already exist in the project's WBS.
    If your Projects application is set up to generate sequential IDs, do not include project or estimate IDs in your import file.
  4. If you plan to import the full project WBS with the project estimate, populate the CSV file with the estimate and the project's full WBS. (Specific project information might be required.)
    1. The import file can include both standard and custom tasks for the project. But if you add custom tasks, you must include the task IDs and task names in the import file.
    2. If your Projects application is set up to generate sequential IDs and you include those IDs in the import file, the import process uses the IDs from the import file instead of the system-generated ID numbers.
  5. From the Project Estimates page:
    • To import the estimate only, select Import estimate only and find to your estimate CSV file.
    • To import the estimate and create a full project WBS, select Import estimate with WBS and find your estimate + WBS CSV file.

Download a template

Subscription

Company

Regional availability

All regions

User type

Business
Permissions

Company Setup Checklist: Run

Download a new blank template from the Company Setup Checklist whenever you import information into Sage Intacct. Using a downloaded template is important because:

  • Templates in the Company Setup Checklist are automatically customized based on your company configuration, including any dimensions and custom fields you created.
  • Templates can be updated by Intacct at any time, especially when a new version of Intacct is released. When templates are updated, an older template might not work upon import.
Some import pages include a link that lets you download a blank template directly (instead of getting the template from the Company Setup Checklist).

To download a template from the Company Setup Checklist:

  1. Go to Company > Setup > Configuration > Import data.

    The Company Setup Checklist opens. You’ll find a list of areas that you can import information into Intacct.

  2. Decide on a type of information to upload, and select the Template link associated with that information.

If you do not see the template that you want on the Company Setup Checklist, go to Download a CSV import template.

Some templates are not kept on the Company Setup Checklist.

Best practices

The following best practices will help you prepare your CSV file for upload.

Download a template from the Company setup checklist or an object list page.

  • Use the latest template, especially following a product release.
  • Use the correct template for the area in which you want to upload information. Different templates organize different types of information. Use a template specifically for the information that you need to upload.
  • Don’t change the titles in the header row. The header titles correlate to fields in Intacct. Incorrect header titles will cause an upload error. When you download a template from the Company setup checklist, the correct headers are in the template.
  • Read the header descriptions in the template. The header description is the cell under the header row that explains what type of information is accepted for each column. If you enter information in the wrong format, or with an incorrect accepted value, it will cause an error in your upload. The header descriptions in the template show you how the information should look. For example, the header in the GL Journal Entries template for JOURNAL shows that allows up to four characters, is required, and has no default values. The header in the Reporting Periods template shows that the STATUS only allows the values 1 or 2, which correlates to True and False, and is not a required field.
  • Enter required information. Some data is required, while other data is not. Read the description field to determine which information is required. Required information is necessary for your upload to succeed.

Save the file as a comma-separated value, or CSV, file. If saving from Excel, you could choose the comma-delimited file type.

The file will have the file extension .csv after you save it. Leave the file open until your import is successful. Excel can sometimes reformat the file if you close it before the import is successful.

The field definitions in the standard template explain what type of information is required for each field, and how to enter valid information. Read the field definitions in the template before making entries.

Handle errors

If you experience import errors, review the importing tips and common errors.

Import errors occur when you try to import information that doesn’t match the requirements of the template. Each template has a set of required information you must enter to import the file successfully, and formats to follow for certain kinds of information. Read the descriptions in the template to determine the most accurate way to enter your data.

If individual transactions are in error, the rows in the transaction that are in error are saved in a CSV file for you along with an error code for each row. Check your email for information about specific errors. See Find and fix CSV import errors for more information.

For more information about the CSV upload process, read Prepare your file for CSV import.

If you downloaded a template from the Company Setup Checklist or an object list page, your template contains the headers and dimensions that are specific to your company. The headers in a standard template might not contain some field definitions specific to your company.

If you relabeled any dimensions (see Customize terminology for more information), your dimension name does not appear in the CSV template, but the original Sage Intacct dimension name does.