Import customers or vehicles from a spreadsheet

Introduction

The Data importer reads an Excel file and creates many records in one go. It opens as a small window headed Excel import New: at the top a list of round option buttons called Import data type, where you pick what the file contains, below that a box for your file, and an Import button at the bottom right.

Every kind of record has a fixed layout: a fixed sheet name and fixed column headings. RentVisie support gives you an empty example file (the template) for each kind.

You will use this when:

• you are moving to RentVisie and have your customer list in Excel from your old system
• you bought twenty vans and have their number plates and odometer readings in a list
• your add-ons, insurance options and kilometre packages are in a price sheet and you want them in the app before you set prices

Terms used on this screen

Every way to bring records in

Use the Data importer for more than a handful of records of one kind.

How to use

Configuration

The importer itself has no settings. What you need is set up before you import:

1. Get the template. Ask RentVisie support for the template for the kind of record you want to load. Keep the sheet name and the column headings exactly as they are. Only the columns listed on the next page are read; other columns are ignored.
2. Set up what the file refers to. A vehicle file names a vehicle class; a booking file names a class and locations. Create those first, see Set up your vehicle classes and Set up your pickup and return locations.
3. Load makes and models if you want the make and model boxes on a vehicle to offer a full list. From the main menu open Admin, then Assets, then click the Make and Models tile. On the screen headed Models, click Import list. The app fetches RentVisie's central list of makes and models and adds every one you do not have yet. It shows Updated! when it is done. You may see that message twice; that is normal.

Before you start: the Data importer tile and the Make and Models screen are only for a company administrator. Other staff do not see the Product design item in the Admin menu at all. The ExcelImporter and JSONImporter items some people see at the bottom of the menu are for RentVisie support; leave them alone. Always try a file of two or three rows first, and check the result, before you load the full list.

Using the Data importer

From the main menu open Admin, then Product design. On the tile page headed Product design, click the Data importer tile (a cloud with an upward arrow). The window headed Excel import New opens.

1. Under Import data type, pick what your file contains. Skim this table once; you will come back to it for each file:

   Pick	Sheet name in the template	What happens
   Customers	RentvisieCustomers	New customers are created. A customer whose email address you already have is overwritten with the row
   Vehicles	Rental Vehicles (3)	One new vehicle per row. Dutch number plates are looked up in the Dutch vehicle registry for make, model, doors, seats and fuel
   Assets	AssetImport	One new vehicle per row, with every detail taken from the file instead of the registry. Every vehicle is placed at your company's first location
   Asset groups	Sheet1	One new vehicle class per row
   Optional options, Insurance options, Mileage package options	Sheet1	One new add-on, insurance option or kilometre package per row, all with a price of €0
   Maintenance logs	Sheet 1	One garage history entry per row, linked to the vehicle by its number plate
   Scheduled maintenance services	Sheet1	One service plan per row, for a vehicle you already have
   Bookings	Bookings	One booking per row, with its customer. Prepare this file together with RentVisie support

2. Replace all appears only when you pick Customers or Assets. Leave it on No. On Yes, a red warning appears and the import first deletes every customer, or every vehicle, your company has, and only then reads the file. See the first Q&A entry before you ever set it to Yes.

3. Add your Excel file in the file box below the option buttons.

4. Click Import. A large file can take minutes. When done, the window closes on its own, with no summary.

5. Open the list for what you imported and check a few records.

How to undo it. There is no undo and no "delete this import". Wrong records have to be removed or corrected one by one, which is why the test file of two or three rows matters. Records deleted by Replace all cannot be brought back at all.

Key details

What each file needs in its columns. Skim this once, then check your file against it:

Worked example. A customer file of three rows. Row 1 has the email address j.bakker@example.nl, which they already have: that record is overwritten, including an empty IBAN cell, which wipes Mr Bakker's stored bank account number. Row 2 is new: a customer is created with PaymentTerms _14, so 14 days to pay, and an empty CreditLimit, so a limit of €20,000. Row 3 is new but has UpdateOnly set to TRUE: it is skipped.

What the import does not do. It does not check for vehicles you already have. It does not set prices: add-ons, insurance and kilometre packages arrive at €0, and a booking is priced from your default price list, not from any amount in the file. A booking marked as invoiced is locked for invoicing, but no invoice is made.

What to do next

Set prices for anything you loaded at €0, see Set up add-ons and decide what they cost, Set up the insurance a customer can choose and Sell extra kilometres to a customer. Then check each imported customer's payment terms, see Set a customer's payment and invoicing terms.

Q&A

Why are all our customers, or all our vehicles, gone after an import? Replace all was set to Yes. It deletes every customer or every vehicle of your company before it reads the file, and that cannot be undone. Each customer takes their fines, payment requests, sent emails, electronic invoices, identity scans and direct-debit mandates along; each vehicle its costs, maintenance history, fines, transports and photos. Bookings, invoices and payments stay, without their customer or vehicle. If the import stops on an error nothing is deleted, but an incomplete file that reads without errors leaves the deletion in place. Import your complete list again with Replace all on No, then re-link the bookings that lost their customer or vehicle. Ask RentVisie support whether anything can be restored.

Where are the CustomerUpdate, ReservationsV3 and TSD options? They have been removed. To change existing customers, use Customers with the UpdateOnly column set to TRUE. For moving data out of an older system, ask RentVisie support.

Why did customers that were fine before the import lose their phone number or bank account? When a row's email address matches an existing customer, the whole record is replaced by the row, and an empty cell replaces what was there. Put the current values in every cell, or use UpdateOnly only on files that are complete. Correct the damaged records by hand, see Create a customer record.

Why are all my imported customers archived? The IsActive column was empty or not TRUE. Fill it in and import the file again: the customers are recognised by email address and made active.

Why do I now have every vehicle twice? The vehicle file was imported twice. The importer does not look for existing number plates. Delete the extra vehicles one by one, see Add a vehicle to your fleet.

Why did an imported vehicle get no make, model or fuel type? With Vehicles, those come from the Dutch vehicle registry. A foreign plate, a typing error, or a plate you already had in the app gets nothing from the registry. Fill in the details on the vehicle, or use Assets, where the file supplies them.

Why is there a new branch or location I never created? A Branch or Current Location cell that did not exactly match an existing name created a new one. Move the vehicles to the right location and remove the extra one, see Set up your pickup and return locations.

Why are some rows of my service plan file missing? A plan is only created when the number plate matches a vehicle you have and that vehicle already has at least one odometer reading. Other rows are skipped without warning. See Set up and follow a vehicle's service schedule to add them by hand.

Why are some rows of my booking file missing, and why are there empty bookings? A booking row is skipped when its return date is before its pickup date, or when its vehicle class number does not match a class you have. A skipped row can still leave an empty booking with no customer and no dates behind. Ask RentVisie support to check the file with you before you import bookings, and to remove any empty bookings afterwards.

Why does the app show an error and nothing was imported? One cell could not be read: a date in the wrong form, text in a number column, a Repeat cell not written as Every 365 Days / Every 30000 km, or a sheet name or heading that differs from the template. Nothing from that file is saved. Fix the cell and import again, or send the file to RentVisie support.

Can I import payments, prices or damage records? No. The importer has no option for them. Payments: Split one bank transfer over several invoices. Prices: Set up a price list.

I am not a company administrator. How do I get a list loaded? Send the filled-in template to your company administrator, or to RentVisie support. They import it for you.

Related pages:

• Merge duplicate customer records — when an import created a second record for a customer with a different email address
• Record the maintenance work done on a vehicle — where imported garage history shows up