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Use Client Import Templates
Updated over a month ago

Heads Up! If you see features in this article that aren’t in your account, this article may be what you're looking for instead.

Clients can be exported and easily transferred to Canopy.

The templates below show which fields you will need to pull from your current software when exporting contacts. If the required fields cannot be pulled from the software directly, you will need to reformat the fields you can pull to match what is shown on the templates.

Please Note: You are not required to pull all of the fields from the templates. You will select which fields to import to Canopy during the import process.

Before importing to Canopy, you must ensure that the format of your downloaded CSV file(s) (from your previous software) matches Canopy's required formatting. You will need at least two files -- one for Individuals and one for Businesses.

Best Practice for Spouses: The best way to keep spouses organized in Canopy is to:

Linking the secondary spouse allows you to communicate with both parties without the inactive spouse counting toward your client limit!

Importing Clients Using a .CSV

Use the templates attached to this article to make sure your .CSV file has all the correct headings and details. This makes for a seamless import process. Please note that while any user can access previously created contact import templates, only admin users can edit existing templates.

CSV File Size Limit: Ensure your file is in CSV format and under 20MB. If it's over 20MB, you'll see a message during the import. Since 20MB can accommodate a lot of data, you may not reach this limit often.

If needed, however, you can split your file into multiple CSVs by alphabet range. For example, you might organize files as follows: A-F in one file, G-M in the next, N-T in another, and U-Z in the last. Upload each CSV individually to ensure all contacts are added to Canopy.

1. Click on the Canopy Import Examples file.

This file is a great reference that shows examples for each type of client.

2. Click on the Canopy Import Template file.

Use this file to copy and paste your data into. Alternatively, copy the headers and paste them into your own spreadsheet.

3. Once you have a .CSV file exported of your contacts and you have customized it to fit the provided templates, refer to this article to start importing.

Formatting

Required Fields Key:

Yellow

Both Individual & Business

Green

Individual

Red

Business

Column Header

Important Notes

Contact Type*

This is required. Available options include:

  • Client

  • Prospect

  • Other

*You must separate address information into Street 1, Street 2 or Apt., City, State, Zip, and Country columns.

Contact Owner

This field is optional and should list the email of the user who is over the clients in your firm (usually a CPA or partner).

*Add the user to Canopy before importing so it links successfully!

First Name*

This is a required field for Individual clients.

Last Name*

This is a required field for Individual clients.

Is business

Options listed are:

  • Yes

  • No

Business name*

This is a required field for Business clients.

Email*

At least one email is required to send client portal invites.

Tags

Tags help you create filtered client list views. Refer to this resource to learn how to add tags to your import template.

Bear in mind that you can add multiple tags to one client by separating them with a comma.

Example: "1040, Bookkeeping, Audit"

Spouse information

After the 'Spouse Contact Type' column in the template, everything is about the spouse. If you enter spouse details on the same row as the main client, Canopy will:

  • Create a profile for the spouse

  • Link both accounts together

  • Set the spouse record as 'inactive'

Custom fields

If you track any data in your current system that we don't have a column for, feel free to add a custom field!

Be sure to title the header what you would like the field to be called in Canopy, and we can create the field and import the data for you.

A note on spouse tags: Be sure to add tags in the spouse tags field if you want to filter by them in Canopy.

A note on business contact owners: The contact owner should be used for the owner or main person associated with the business and can be a full name (does not need to be separated, like Individuals).

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