Introduction to Importing Data
This document is designed to help you through the importing process when working with the P11D Organiser. Although the software is flexible and intuitive, it is best to spend some time to ensure that files are correctly prepared before starting the data loading/importing process.
Click here to jump to the section specific guides.
Import File Preparation
There are a number of things to consider when getting data ready for importing into the P11D Organiser:
File Type
The system can import data in numerous file types but we recommend either a Microsoft Excel XLSX spreadsheet or a CSV (comma separated values) file. Make sure you remove commas from addresses and make sure your financial values are presented simply e.g. 1850.14 (no commas or currency symbols)
Header row
The header row is used by the system to automatically select the correct import target field to match for import. It is an option to modify and use the exact naming convention so to remove the need to have to manually select the appropriate system target field. However, if you are extracting data from another system, you can elect to use your internal/standard naming convention for the data from that system and simply map it to the target fields with the P11D Organiser. The system will remember how you mapped it last time when you come to import again (and again) under the same import routine.
Square block of data
Try to remove all data above header row, below the last record and after the last column of data. This just helps the software interpret the data correctly during the importing process.
Consistent data
The final column of data should contain consistent data i.e. a value in every cell. This ensures that the software moves to the ‘next row’ at the correct time. As you are able to select just the data columns that are to be "matched", it is sometimes wise to simply paste a column of consistent text e.g. ‘xxx’ on the far right to provide a delimiter/import end.
Formatting
The format of some of the data to be imported is very important – the following tables clearly show what data and any data format requirements the software is expecting to import.
Key field
ALL data imported must contain a Key field - NI Number or Payroll Number for employees and Registration Number for cars – this is necessary to ensure that data can be married up correctly. Key fields are clearly highlighted in the table.
Column Order
The column order in the spreadsheet is not important, as the P11D Organiser will automatically map as many fields as it can, and will remember the settings made during the import process as a configuration file for future use.
Compulsory Fields
Certain fields must be included in order for the import routine to correctly allocate/calculate benefits particular to individual import routines. These Compulsory fields are also clearly highlighted in the tables.
Optional Data
The remainder of data that can be imported is categorised as "Optional" and is displayed in standard type.
Guide to the Fields Available for import
The links below will take you to guides that show exactly what fields are available for import in each section:
- Employees
- Section A - Import Fields Available
- Section B - Import Fields Available
- Section C - Import Fields Available
- Section D - There is currently no import function for this section
- Section E - Import Fields Available (Vehicles)
- Section E - Import Fields Available (Private Cars)
- Section E - Import Fields Available (Company Cars)
- Section F - Import Fields Available (Cars)
- Section F - Import Fields Available (Allocations)
- Section G - Import Fields Available (Vans)
- Section G - Import Fields Available (Allocations)
- Section H - Import Fields Available
- Section I - Import Fields Available
- Section J - There is currently no import function for this section
- Section K - Import Fields Available
- Section L - Import Fields Available
- Section M - Import Fields Available
- Section N - Import Fields Available
A step by step guide on how to import data is available here: Importing Data.
Import Wizard Colour Guide
The import routine shows import data with various colours to indicate what is happening - see the table below for more information:
Colour | Reason |
|---|---|
| White/clear | These records are being added to your system. If it is an employee import, they are new employees, if you are importing a benefit, is is an additional benefit. |
| Green | These records are updating existing information. If it is an employee, all the details in the spreadsheet will update the data in the system. If it is a benefit import, then the benefit already existing and the value are being updated. |
| Yellow | This will occur when importing benefits and indicates that the benefit description being imported has not been used before, so the benefit's treatment will need to be confirmed during the import. |
| Purple | This will occur during a benefit import when the employee identified by the key field (payroll number or NI Number) does not exist in the system. You could have an incorrect entry in your import file, possibly the employee upload has not been completed or it had an error. |
Templates
**Our recommendation is to use the extract files you create from your systems (or provided from your benefit provider) and use the manual mapping feature in the Import wizard - as the system remembers how you have mapped the data for next time which will save effort on your behalf in the long run. See mapping in the help article Importing Data
*If* you still wish to use a template - you can access the templates from the link below for each section. However, please ensure you remove ALL THE COLUMNS you are not using to import.
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