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Troubleshooting Excel Import

Before your first Excel import, please check the appropriate import article for information about how the import templates work:

If you do encounter any issues, we have put together a list of things for you to check.
If your problem is not on the list, please contact our support team for further assistance.

Error message appeared upon import

If you receive an error message at the import stage and Spotlight will not let you go any further, this means there is something wrong with the formatting of the spreadsheet.

  • Are you using the Spotlight Excel Template?

    Spotlight has a simple Excel format that is required to be used so that the software can read and obtain the correct account data. To make it simple, we offer a template that can be used, all you need to do is copy and paste your account names and values into the corresponding columns.

    To obtain a copy of the template, within your organisation open the Import tab and click the required data source, then use the link to download the template.

  • Have you removed the example text from the template?

    If you are using the Excel template provided by Spotlight, the second row includes some default text to help provide instructions. You should delete this row before you import to Spotlight.

  • In the spreadsheet, do any cells have strange formatting?

    When you import your spreadsheet, Spotlight only reads basic text e.g. words and numbers. The software may have trouble reading cells that have alternative formatting or formulas, so before you finalise the spreadsheet for import make sure each column or row is using general or number formats.

  • What document or file type is your Excel file saved as?

    Spotlight reads only .xlsx excel files. Please ensure this is the file type that has been selected when you save your spreadsheet.
    If this is the not the file type, you can select "Save As" to save with a new file type.

Once you've checked the above areas and updated your spreadsheet:

  1. Ensure you have saved the changes to the spreadsheet.
  2. Open your Spotlight organisation.
  3. Open the Import tab and re-import the new Excel file.
  4. If an error message still appears, please contact our Support team. To do this, from the top right-hand corner of the Spotlight screen, click Help, then click Raise Support Query.  Enter as much detail as possible, including any error messages, and attach a copy of your Excel spreadsheet.

Certain accounts did not import

If you have imported your spreadsheet successfully, but then realise that some accounts are missing, it could be due to having two different account types with the same account name.

For example, you may have two accounts with the account name "maintenance" but one is an expense and one is income, therefore one has the account type "Overheads" and one has the account type "Revenue".

Spotlight will recognise only one account and only import one of those values from the spreadsheet. To resolve this:

  1. Ensure the account names are unique - e.g. change the name to be "maintenance income" and "maintenance expense".
  2. Save the updated spreadsheet.
  3. Go to the import tab of your Spotlight organisation.
  4. Re-import the new Excel file.

Accounts are imported but values are not

There are two different things to check if this is happening to you.

  • Have you included months of your spreadsheet?

    The spreadsheet needs to include specific formatting requirements as outlined in the Excel import articles. Column 3 onwards should include a header for each month and year that the corresponding values relate too e.g. Jan-17 would indicate January 2017, Jun-18 would indicate June 2018 etc.

  • Do the cells containing the values also contain specific formatting?

    If your spreadsheet is using formulas to calculate the values or any special formatting, Spotlight may be having trouble reading the overall numbers.

    Format all the cells that contain values to be using the number or general format.

Once you've tried the above options:

  1. Save the updated spreadsheet.
  2. Go to the import tab of your Spotlight organisation.
  3. Re-import the new Excel file.

A successful import message appeared, but nothing appears on the data grid

If no error message appears upon import, but when you head to th customise data tab there is no data appearing it could be due to the formatting of the spreadsheet.

  • Are you using the Spotlight Excel Template?

    Spotlight has a simple excel format that is required to be used so that the software can read and obtain the correct account data. To make it simple, we offer a template that can be used, all you need to do is copy and paste your account names and values into the corresponding columns.

    To obtain a copy of the template, within your organisation open the Import tab and click the required data source, then use the link to download the template.

  • Have you removed the example text from the template?

    If you are using the Excel template provided by Spotlight, the second row includes some default text to help provide instructions.
    This row should be overwritten with your own data or deleted before import to Spotlight.

  • In the spreadsheet, do any cells have strange formatting?

    When you import your spreadsheet, Spotlight only reads basic texts e.g. words and numbers. The software may have trouble reading cells that have alternative formatting or formulas, so before you finalise the spreadsheet for import make sure each column or row is using general or number formats.

Once you've checked the above areas and updated your spreadsheet:

  1. Ensure you have saved the changes to the spreadsheet.
  2. Open your Spotlight organisation.
  3. Open the Import tab and re-import the new Excel file.
  4. If an error message still appears, please contact our Support team. To do this, from the top right-hand corner of the Spotlight screen, click Help, then click Raise Support Query.  Enter as much detail as possible, including any error messages, and attach a copy of your Excel spreadsheet.

Data you did not want is imported

This may happen when you are trying to update your actual data with the new month.

  • Are you importing tabs on the spreadsheet that are not needed?

    When using the Spotlight template, there are multiple tabs that correspond to the appropriate data. You may have accidentally added data to some of the tabs that are not required in your report.

    If you are not using a tab on the spreadsheet e.g. KPI's, you can delete the related tabs so that there is no mistaking what needs to be imported.

  • Have you made manual changes to the data in Spotlight?

    It is recommended that all changes are made in your original data source and then imported to Spotlight, rather than making changes to the numbers directly in the app.

    If you have made changes directly in the app and the same changes have not been made in your original data source, in your next import the original numbers will overwrite what is in Spotlight.

Note: You are not able to delete data that has been imported to Spotlight from Excel. If you have imported accounts that were not meant to be imported, you will need to manually change these accounts to nil values in Spotlight and ensure it has been removed from your original data source before re-importing.  Alternatively, you can remove and re-add the Excel data source. If you choose the second option, this also removes any changes made to Spotlight Display Names or Report Codes.

Importing the Spotlight Display Names

The Spotlight Display Names are automatically assigned by Spotlight. These can be edited within the app directly. You can read more about editing the Spotlight Display Names from the relevant help centre article.

The Excel Import template currently only allows for Account Name, Account type and the values by month.


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