Import Vendors adds many vendors to My Vendors at once from a single CSV file. Each row in the file becomes a new vendor, and a row can also hold the vendor's primary contact. Use it when your vendor list already lives in a spreadsheet or a procurement system and adding each vendor by hand would take too long.

Import always creates new vendors. It never updates or merges with a vendor that already exists.

Before You Start

Permission

The Import Vendors button is shown only to users with the Vendor Import permission. By default, the tenant Admin and Standard User roles hold this permission on tenants whose licence includes vendor management. Other roles need the permission added by an administrator.

File Limits

The file must meet all of these limits:

• Saved as CSV UTF-8.
• Smaller than 1 MB.
• No more than 1,000 vendors (one vendor per row).

Preparing the File

Start from the template so the column headings match what the import expects.

1. Go to AI System Manager > My Vendors.
2. Select Import Vendors.
3. In the Import vendors dialog, select Download template.
4. Fill in one vendor per row under the headings. Leave the heading row as it is.
5. Save the file as CSV UTF-8.

The template contains these columns:

• name: The vendor's name. Required on every row.
• legalName: The vendor's registered legal name.
• primaryDomain: The vendor's main web domain.
• website: The vendor's website address.
• description: A short description of the vendor.
• contactFirstName: First name of the vendor's primary contact. A contact needs a first name.
• contactLastName: Last name of the primary contact.
• contactEmail: Email address of the primary contact.
• Custom field columns: One column for each active custom field in your organization, headed by the field's key. Any custom field your organization has made required must be filled in on every row.

The contact on a row becomes that vendor's primary contact.

Do not add, rename or remove column headings. A column the import does not recognise causes the whole file to be rejected.

Importing the File

1. Go to AI System Manager > My Vendors and select Import Vendors.
2. In the Import vendors dialog, drag the file onto the upload area, or select Upload file and choose the file. The file name appears below the upload area. To choose a different file, select the delete icon next to the file name and upload again.
3. Select Import. The button is available once a file is selected.
4. Wait for the import to finish. The dialog cannot be closed while an import runs.

The results appear in the same dialog when the import finishes. Total Vendors on My Vendors updates to include the new vendors.

Reading the Results

A summary line at the top of the results gives the totals, for example "1 created (0 with possible duplicates), 0 failed." Below it, a table lists every row in the file.

• Row: The row's position in the file. Row 1 is the first vendor row under the headings.
• Name: The vendor name from the row.
• Result: What happened to the row.
• Details: The reason for the result, where one applies.

Each row has one of these results:

• Created: The vendor was added to My Vendors.
• Created, possible duplicate: The vendor was added, and it looks like a vendor that already exists. A similar existing vendor never stops a row from being created.
• Failed: The vendor was not added. Details gives the reason.

Each row is handled on its own. Rows that were created stay created when other rows in the same file fail.

Handling Possible Duplicates

A row marked Created, possible duplicate is a new vendor record, separate from the vendor it resembles. Open both vendors on My Vendors and compare them. If they are the same vendor, keep the one you want and select Retire Vendor on the other.

When the Whole File Is Rejected

Some problems affect the file as a whole. When this happens, nothing is imported. Common causes are:

• A column heading the import does not recognise.
• No name column.
• A file of 1 MB or larger.
• A file with more than 1,000 vendors.

Correct the file and import it again. Because nothing was created, importing the corrected file does not create duplicates.

Fixing Failed Rows

Check the results before you import again. Every import creates new vendors, so importing the same file a second time creates a second copy of every vendor that was already created.

1. Note the rows marked Failed and the reason in Details for each.
2. Make a new file that holds only the failed rows, with the same column headings.
3. Correct each row using the reason shown.
4. Import the new file.