Account Import

IntelliSales CRM provides a powerful multi-sheet import wizard purpose-built for onboarding entire customer datasets at once. Unlike the standard single-module import, the Account Import handles accounts, contacts, and subscriptions in a single operation from one Excel workbook.

Navigate to Accounts and click the Import button to launch the wizard.

When to Use Account Import

Use this wizard when you need to:

• Migrate from another CRM or ERP system
• Onboard a partner's customer list
• Bulk-load historical account data with associated contacts and subscriptions
• Import data from a spreadsheet that contains multiple related sheets

tip

For importing leads only, use the dedicated Lead Import wizard. The Account Import is designed for richer, multi-entity datasets.

Supported Format

Format	Extension	Max Size
Excel Workbook	.xlsx	50 MB

The wizard expects an Excel file with one or more sheets. Each sheet can contain accounts, contacts, or subscriptions. The system auto-detects sheet types based on column headers.

The 6-Step Wizard

Step 1: Upload

1. Click Choose File or drag and drop your .xlsx file.
2. The system reads all sheets and displays them with auto-detected types.
3. Optionally, download a template file with pre-configured column headers by clicking Download Template.
4. Click Next to proceed.

note

The template file includes three sheets (Accounts, Contacts, Subscriptions) with all supported column headers. Use it as a starting point and delete columns you do not need.

Step 2: Map Accounts

Map columns from your accounts sheet to CRM account fields:

File Column	CRM Field	Notes
Company Name	Account Name	Required
Website	Website
Industry	Industry	Must match configured industries
Type	Account Type	Customer, Prospect, Partner, Other
Classification	Classification	B2B or B2C
Phone	Phone	Supports comma-separated multiple numbers
Email	Email	Supports comma-separated multiple addresses
Address	Billing Address

Key features:

• Auto-mapping — columns are matched automatically by header name
• Save/Load mapping template — save your column mapping for reuse with future imports from the same source
• Default Account Type — set a default B2B or B2C classification for all imported accounts when the file does not include a classification column
• Owner resolution — assign an owner by mapping an "Owner Email" or "Owner Name" column; the system matches against existing CRM users

warning

If "Owner Email" or "Owner Name" does not match an existing user, the account is assigned to the user performing the import.

Step 3: Map Contacts

Map columns from your contacts sheet to CRM contact fields:

• First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Mobile, Job Title, Department
• Account link — a column (typically "Company" or "Account Name") that links each contact to an account from Step 2

Phone normalization:

The system automatically normalizes phone numbers to E.164 format (e.g., +14155551234). It handles:

• Local formats like (415) 555-1234
• International formats like +1 415 555 1234
• Comma-separated multiple numbers (each number is stored separately)

Email handling:

Comma-separated email addresses (e.g., john@acme.com, john.doe@gmail.com) are split and stored as separate email entries.

Step 4: Map Subscriptions

Map columns from your subscriptions sheet to CRM subscription fields:

File Column	CRM Field	Notes
Account Name	Account Link	Links to imported or existing account
Product Name	Product	Matched against product catalog
Status	Status	Active, Trial, Expired, Cancelled
Billing Frequency	Billing Frequency	Monthly, Quarterly, Annually
Quantity	Quantity
Unit Price	Unit Price
Start Date	Start Date
End Date	End Date
Auto-Renew	Auto-Renew	Yes/No or True/False

Product auto-creation:

If a product name in the file does not match any existing product in your catalog, the system automatically creates a new product with that name. This saves time when importing from systems with different product names.

note

Auto-created products are created with default settings. Review and update them in the Products module after import.

Step 5: Settings

Configure import behavior before execution:

• Duplicate Detection — choose how to handle accounts that already exist in the CRM:
  • Skip — do not import duplicate accounts
  • Update — merge imported data into the existing account
  • Import as New — create a new account regardless of duplicates
• Duplicate Match Field — match on Account Name, Website, or Email
• Default Account Type — set B2B or B2C for accounts that do not specify a classification
• Default Owner — assign a default owner when no owner mapping is provided

Step 6: Progress

1. Click Start Import to begin processing.
2. A real-time progress bar shows the status:
   • Accounts imported (e.g., "142 of 150 accounts")
   • Contacts imported
   • Subscriptions imported
   • Errors encountered
3. When complete, a summary displays:
   • Total records processed per entity type
   • Successfully imported count
   • Skipped (duplicates) count
   • Failed count with downloadable error report

Multi-Sheet Auto-Detection

The wizard intelligently detects what type of data each sheet contains by analyzing column headers:

Detected Columns	Sheet Type
Account Name, Website, Industry	Accounts
First Name, Last Name, Email	Contacts
Product, Billing Frequency, MRR	Subscriptions

You can override the auto-detection by manually selecting the sheet type from a dropdown.

tip

If your file has a single sheet with mixed data (accounts and contacts in the same sheet), the wizard can handle it — but the best results come from separating entities into distinct sheets.

Mapping Templates

Save time on recurring imports by saving and loading mapping templates:

1. After configuring mappings in Steps 2-4, click Save Mapping Template.
2. Give the template a name (e.g., "Salesforce Export", "Partner Onboarding").
3. On future imports, click Load Template at the top of any mapping step.
4. The saved column-to-field mappings are applied automatically.

Templates store mappings for all three entity types (accounts, contacts, subscriptions) in a single template.

Error Handling

If records fail to import:

1. The progress screen shows the error count per entity type.
2. Click Download Failed Records to get an Excel file with only the failed rows.
3. Each row includes an error column explaining the failure reason.
4. Fix the issues and re-import the corrected file.

Common error reasons:

• Missing required fields (Account Name, Contact Email)
• Invalid date formats
• Phone numbers that cannot be parsed
• Product names that could not be resolved (if auto-creation is disabled)

Best Practices

1. Use the template — download and populate the provided template for cleanest results.
2. Clean data first — remove empty rows, fix inconsistent formatting, and deduplicate before uploading.
3. Start small — test with 10-20 rows per sheet before importing thousands.
4. Set a default classification — if your file does not include B2B/B2C, set the default in Step 5 so all accounts are properly classified.
5. Verify products — after import, check the Products module for any auto-created products and update their details.
6. Review the error report — always download and review the failed records file, even if only a few records failed.

Related Pages

• Managing Accounts — creating and editing accounts manually
• Subscriptions & Renewals — managing imported subscriptions
• Import & Export (Admin) — general import/export administration
• Batch Jobs — monitoring import job progress