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Import customers from a CSV file

Onboard multiple customers at the same time

Import a CSV file to create many customers at once. Start from the BillPro sample file so the columns are right.

If the file itself is wrong, the whole import fails. If only some rows are wrong, BillPro imports the rest and gives you a file with the failed rows to fix and import again.

To import customers, you need an admin role. See Manage users.

Create a CSV file of customers

  1. On the navigation bar, go to Customers and click Import.

  2. Click Sample Import File to download the sample. You can also download it here: billpro-customer-import-sample.csv.

    The Import CSV pop-up with the Sample Import File link

    Download the sample file

  3. Fill in one row per customer. Keep the header row as it is.

Customer_ID,Firstname,Lastname,Birthdate,Email,Phone_CountryCode,Phone_Number,Billing_Street,Billing_City,Billing_State,Billing_PostCode,Billing_Country,Shipping_Street,Shipping_City,Shipping_State,Shipping_PostCode,Shipping_Country,Organization_Name,Registration_Number,Website_URL,VAT_Tax_ID,Organization_Description
C-1002,Maria,Garcia,21/03/1990,[email protected],+34,612000111,Calle Mayor 10,Madrid,Madrid,28013,ES,,,,,,,,,,
ColumnsNotes
Firstname, Lastname, EmailRequired. The email must be valid and not already used by another customer.
Customer_IDOptional. If you leave it blank, BillPro creates a random 10-character ID.
BirthdateOptional. Use DD/MM/YYYY.
Phone_CountryCode, Phone_NumberOptional, but needed to send payment links by SMS. An invalid number stops that customer importing.
Billing_*Optional. Billing_Country is an ISO country code, such as ES, or the country name in English.
Shipping_*Optional. Same format as the billing address.
Organization_*, Registration_Number, Website_URL, VAT_Tax_IDOptional, for customers who represent a company.
  1. Save the file as CSV, with commas between fields. In Excel on a Mac, use the MS-DOS Comma-separated Values format.
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CSV separators

BillPro only accepts commas as separators. If your computer uses commas as decimal separators, Excel may save semicolons instead. See Use commas for Excel CSV export.

Import a customer CSV file

  1. Go to Customers and click Import.
  2. Click Click to upload, or drag your file onto the upload area. The file must be a .csv, up to 50 MB.
  3. Click Import.

When the import finishes, BillPro shows how many customers it imported and skipped, for example 248 customers imported, 3 skipped. For a large file, BillPro shows Import in progress and sends you an alert when it's done.

If BillPro can't read the file, it shows Import failed. Check that the header row matches the sample file.

Fix skipped customers

  1. On the navigation bar, click the bell icon to open Alerts.
  2. Find the import alert, and check the number of customers imported against your file.
  3. If customers were skipped, click Download CSV. The file has the skipped rows, with an Error column that says why each one failed.
Customer_ID,Firstname,Lastname,...,Error
C-1003,Tom,Baker,...,Email has already been taken
  1. Fix the rows. You don't need to delete the Error column. BillPro adds a new Error column after it if a row fails again.
  2. Save the file as CSV and import it again.

Check your CSV file

If an import fails, check for these problems.

FieldIssueError result
File format, headers, and separatorInvalid line-breaks;
invalid header fields;
invalid separator, such as a semi-colon.		Import fails
Firstname, LastnameMissing dataCustomer import fails and CSV error record
EmailMissing data, not valid, or duplicateCustomer import fails and CSV error record
TelephoneNot valid for country codeCustomer import fails and CSV error record
Billing addressInvalid fieldsThe customer is Active and the billing address is empty
Shipping addressInvalid fieldsThe customer is Active and the shipping address is empty
Optional fields such as
Birthdate		Invalid fieldThe customer is Active and the field is empty

BillPro reports errors in order of severity. After you fix one error, the next import can show another, so you may need to import more than once.

Updated 23 days ago

Recommended reading

Create orders for your customers, and manage your customers.

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