Import staff

The staff import feature is available for WorkflowMax Premium only.

Use these instructions to import generic CSV or TXT data for a list of staff Staff are members of your organisation who perform work for your clients. Staff are usually set up as users in WorkflowMax so that they can login to enter time sheets, produce reports or invoices or perform other job-related activities. .

Before you begin

Before you import data into WorkflowMax, you need to prepare a suitable import file.

• Tips for ensuring a successful import
  • In your import file, each column header identifies a data field that you want to include in your import. You need specify column headers for only those fields that you want to import.
  • Unless you are importing custom fields, do not include any column headers that are not shown in the sample file (see below).
  • The column headers in your import file must match the format of the column headers in the sample file exactly. You must use the same capitalisation, with any spaces, punctuation or other characters as shown.
  • Make sure that you save the import file in the correct format: CSV or tab-delimited TXT.
  • Make sure there are no carriage-return characters in any of the data fields. These characters are created by pressing the Enter key and may have been included in the original data to break text onto several lines; in an address, for example.
  • Make sure there are no blank lines at the end of the data file – they will produce warning messages during import.

Setting up an import file

To set up an import file, do one of the following:

• Modify a sample file
  1. Open the Staff import.csv file using a suitable desktop application, such as Microsoft Excel.
  2. Remove columns that you do not wish to use (but not the mandatory columns - see Set up a file from scratch, below).
  3. Replace the sample data (from row 2 onwards) with the information you wish to import.
  4. Save the completed file in CSV format.

• Set up a file from scratch
  1. Create a spreadsheet using a suitable desktop application, such as Microsoft Excel.
  2. Include all of the following column headers in row 1. Each column header should be in a separate column. Copy each column header exactly (the import is case sensitive).

     Name", "Email", "Base Rate", "Billable Rate", "Role"

     Field	Description
     Name	The name of the staff member.
     Email	The staff member's email address. This must be unique and not already exist in the system.
     Base Rate	The hourly cost of employing this staff member. If no value is defined for this in the import file, this field will be set to zero. It's vital that you set the Base Rate to the correct value for each staff member as soon as possible, because it is used as the basis for your labour cost reports.
     Billable Rate	The hourly rate that this employee is charged out at. If no value is defined for this in the import file, this field will be set to zero. It's vital that you set the Billable Rate to the correct value for each staff member as soon as possible, because it may be used as the basis for billing the staff member's time to clients.
     Role	The staff member's role, which must be one of the following: Partner. Default privileges for a Partner include all permissions, except 'Edit/Delete' of General Privileges (clients/jobs), 'Delete' of Tax Privileges (cannot delete tax returns) and no Admin privileges. Manager. Default privileges for a Manager include all permissions, except 'Edit/Delete' of General Privileges (clients/jobs), 'Edit/Delete' of Financial Privileges, and no Admin privileges. Senior Accountant. Default privileges for a Senior Accountant include all permissions, except 'Edit/Delete' of Clients, Jobs and Job Costs, 'Edit/Delete' of Financial Privileges, and no Admin privileges. Junior Accountant. Default privileges for a Junior Accountant include most General Privileges, except 'Edit/Delete', some Tax Privileges such as viewing returns and statements, no Financial Privileges (except ability to create invoices, purchase orders and quotes), and no Admin privileges. Administration. Default privileges for Administration staff include all General Privileges, except the ability to 'Edit' Completed Jobs, no Tax Privileges, and no Admin and Financial Privileges, (except the ability to create invoices). System Administrator. Default privileges for a System Administrator include ALL permissions.

  3. In row 2 onwards, enter the information that you wish to import.
  4. Save the completed file in CSV format.

• Modify a file containing data exported from another application
  1. Open a CSV or TXT file that has been exported from another application.
  2. Remove any columns and rows that you do not wish to use.
  3. Change each column header so that it exactly matches the equivalent column header listed under "Set up a file from scratch" above.
  4. Save the completed file in CSV or TXT format.

Notes on import data for staff

• Default privileges are assigned to each staff member based on their role. The staff records are created as soon as the import is complete, but privileges are set only after each staff member has activated their account.
• Each staff member will receive an email invitation to activate their account. To get started, each staff member should click Create Password in the email and follow the instructions to activate their account and log in.

• If the staff member's email address already exists in your WorkflowMax account, then that staff member will not be imported. A warning will be displayed that the staff member was not imported: "XXX was not imported as it already exists" where XXX is the name of the staff member.

• The staff import will be aborted when the number of active users exceeds the user subscription licence limit. See Upgrade your subscription for details of how to increase your licence limit.

• The Update Existing checkbox cannot be used when importing staff (see below).

Importing the data

To import staff data into WorkflowMax:

1. In the Business menu, select Settings > Import.
2. On the Import screen, provide the following information, as required.

   Field	Description
   Options
   File Type	The type of file that you wish to import. Select Generic - Staff.
   File Format	The format is either CSV or tab-delimited.
   Update Existing?	Controls whether existing data is overwritten with newly imported information. The Update Existing? option is not available for this import type, so selecting the checkbox will result in an error message.
   File	Choose the file on your computer that you wish to import.
   Job Import Options
   This section is required only if you are importing job data.

3. Import the data. The number of rows successfully imported is displayed at the foot of the screen. If there were any errors during the import, they will be displayed at the foot of the screen.

Upgrading to WorkflowMax Premium

If you are interested in upgrading to the Premium version please contact our support team, and we will be happy to turn on this module and answer any queries you may have.