Shareholder bulk import: preparing your file

Getting the import template and filling it so the import succeeds first time — because almost every import failure is a file problem, and almost all of them are avoidable.

Overview

Bulk import has two halves, and this one determines whether the other is painless. Almost every import failure is a file problem, and almost every file problem is avoidable before you upload.

What you'll learn

Why to use the template rather than your own spreadsheet
The two things that must exist before you import
The three fields that cause most rejections
A one-minute check that saves the round trip

Before you start

The target companies must already exist. The import assigns each shareholder to a company, and it says so plainly when one is missing — the target company could not be found, so add it first or correct the information in the file.

Your categories should exist if you intend to group shareholders as they arrive. Grouping afterwards is possible, but it is extra work.

Get the template

In the project navigation, open Shareholders. On the shareholders table, select Actions, then Download Import Template.

Use that template rather than building your own spreadsheet.

It is tempting to import the spreadsheet you already have from the fund's own tracker. But a file with the right columns in the right order imports, and one assembled from elsewhere usually does not — and diagnosing why costs more than filling in the template would have.

Filling it in

Work through the template with the source in front of you, and pay attention to three things.

Company names must match exactly. This is the most common failure. The import matches on the company name as recorded on the platform, so a name differing by a suffix, an accent, or a legal form — SAS present or absent — will not resolve. Copy the names from the platform rather than typing them from a term sheet.

One person, one row per company. A participant holding in three ManCos needs three assignments. One record, an assignment per company. Follow the template's convention rather than inventing one.

Individuals and legal entities need different fields. An entity carries its legal identity and its representative's contact details; an individual carries their own. Filling an entity's row as though it were a person is a rejection waiting to happen.

Check before you upload

A minute here saves the round trip:

Every company name matches a company on the platform, character for character
No blank rows, and no stray content below the data
Email addresses belong to the person who acts for each shareholder
Types are right — individual versus legal entity
Everyone you expect is present, and nobody appears twice

What happens next

You upload on the Shareholders page and the platform reports what it managed: all imported, some imported, or a failure to read the file at all. Where rows fail, an error report comes back with the reasons — and that report is itself how you correct them.

A4.6 — Shareholder bulk import: running it · uploading, and working the error report
A4.2 — Adding a shareholder · the manual route, for one or two
A4.3 — Shareholder categories · create these first if you want people grouped on arrival
A3.1 — Three ways to create a company · the companies have to exist first