Adding subscribers in bulk

Uploading a transactions file to create every subscription transaction at once, and fixing the rows that do not match a shareholder.

Overview

The bulk path uploads a transactions file and lets the file decide who takes part. Every row becomes a subscription transaction, complete with its amounts — so where you already hold the transactions in a spreadsheet, there is nothing left to type.

The one rule that governs everything: shareholders first, transactions second.

What you'll learn

Why every named party must exist before you upload
Where the transactions template comes from, and why getting it is awkward the first time
How to read the import summary
What to do with skipped rows
When the transactions are actually created

Before you start

Every shareholder your file names must already exist in the project. The import matches each row's Beneficiary and Seller against the project's shareholder list; a row where either side is unknown is skipped, not created.

If you are also importing the shareholders, do that on the project's Shareholders page and confirm they appear before you open the subscription wizard.

You will need:

A subscription process you are ready to set up
Your transactions file in .xlsx, .xls, .ods or .xlsm — the transactions template, not the shareholder import file
Project Editor rights or above

Getting the template

The transactions template is downloaded from a running process. On the subscription dashboard's Transactions Setup stage, open the transactions table's Actions menu and select Download Import Template.

That is currently the only place it exists, which leaves a chicken-and-egg problem the first time: the wizard offers Bulk import transactions before you have a process to download the template from.

The way through it, until this improves:

Start the wizard and choose Select manually instead.
Finish the wizard so the subscription dashboard is created.
On Transactions Setup, use Actions → Download Import Template.
Cancel that subscription, and start again choosing Bulk import transactions with the file in hand.

Keep the file once you have it. The template does not change between processes, so this detour is a one-off rather than something you repeat each wave.

Do not confuse it with the shareholder import template, which is downloaded from the Shareholders page and describes people, not transactions (A4.5).

One column is worth deciding before you upload rather than after: Payment Deferred Post-Signature? Yes lets that transaction's documents be signed before its money arrives. Blank or No keeps the default, payment first. Setting it in the file beats opening several dozen transaction panels afterwards — A8.12.

Steps

In the project navigation, open Shareholders. Confirm that every buyer and seller named in your file is listed. Add any who are missing and wait for them to appear.
From the project Dashboard, select Start a Subscription. Subscription Process Setup opens.
On Event Name, enter the name this event will carry once the process completes. Select Next.
On Choose Shareholders, under How to add shareholders, select Bulk import transactions. You do not select shareholders by hand on this path.
Drag your transactions file onto the upload area, or select it from your machine.
Read the summary. "n transaction(s) ready, involving n shareholder(s)" confirms the rows were understood and matched.
If you see "n row(s) name a shareholder that does not exist in this project and will be skipped", select Download the report. It returns just those rows, with the reason for each. Either create the missing shareholders and re-upload the full file, or continue and import the skipped rows later as a second pass.
Select Next to reach Review Shareholders and check the list the file produced.
Next through Process Overview, then on Confirm & Launch select Start Process.
Wait while Creating the process… and Importing transactions (n of n)… complete. Do not navigate away.

What good looks like

The Subscription Dashboard opens with one transaction row per imported line, each showing its type — Issue, Transfer, Contribution or Free Shares — and a setup status of Draft or Ready. The transaction count matches the "ready" figure from step 6.

Nothing has been sent to any shareholder: payments, documents and e-signature are later stages on this dashboard.

Common problems

"This file could not be read." The workbook is not a transactions template. The usual cause is uploading the shareholder import file by mistake — the two look similar in a file browser.

Rows are skipped even though the shareholder looks present. Matching is on identity, not on a free-text label: individuals on first and last name, legal entities on company name. A spelling difference, a missing accent, or a name recorded differently in the project than in your file will fail to resolve. The downloaded report names the exact party it could not find for each row — correct the file to match the project, or correct the shareholder record, then re-upload.

Nothing appears to happen after uploading. The upload only parses and matches; it creates nothing. The process and its transactions are created when you select Start Process.

A shareholder appears on several rows. Expected and handled — they join the process once, however many transactions name them.

A8.2 — Setting up a subscription · the wizard this sits in
A8.3 — Adding subscribers manually · the alternative path
A4.5 — Shareholder bulk import: preparing your file · the same matching discipline, for shareholders
A8.5 — Subscription process: reviewing before you commit · checking what the file produced