General recommendations and limitations of data import
General recommendations for importing accounts and subaccounts
When you import accounts and subaccounts to Visma Net, consider the following general recommendations:
In your new Visma Net implementation, the chart of accounts may differ from the chart of accounts in the legacy application from which you are going to import the data. When the company switches to newer software, the length of the account identifier is usually extended to include more characters; in many cases, several zeros are added in the middle of or at the end of the account identifier. In such a simple case, consider inserting these additional characters during the import process by using a formula.
In Visma Net, subaccount identifiers are segmented, but the separator characters are not part of the subaccount identifier as it is saved in the database. If subaccount identifiers in the external file have segments separated by a character, use a formula such as the following to remove this character from the external data during import.
replace([Sales Subaccount],'-','')If you import subaccounts from your subsidiary or parent company, consider the differences in their segment structures. You may need to add a segment when you are importing from a subsidiary or remove a segment when you’re importing from a parent company.
General recommendations for importing supplier and customer data
Here are some general recommendations for importing supplier and customer data to Visma Net:
In Visma Net, supplier and customer numbers may be segmented. You can create a formula to insert any missing segments into the imported IDs.
If the external file contains fields with supplier or customer data that is not tracked in Visma Net in built-in fields, you can create and use attributes to store this supplier or customer data in Visma Net. Attributes are created for supplier or customer classes, and then can be entered and tracked for individual suppliers and customers.
If customer and supplier records have numerical IDs in the source and you want to retain these IDs in the new implementation, perform the following steps:
- In the Segment keys (CS202000) window, configure the SUPPLIER and CUSTOMER segmented keys as alphanumeric one-segment keys.
- Import the records with their IDs unchanged.
- In the Number series (CS201010) window, assign appropriate numbering sequences to the SUPPLIER and CUSTOMER segmented keys with the appropriately adjusted last-used numbers (equal to the largest number used in the imported data for suppliers and customers, respectively) to assign numeric IDs to new customers and suppliers.
When a Visma Net user creates a new supplier or customer account in the standard way in the Suppliers (AP303000) or Customers (AR303000) window, some fields are populated automatically with the values provided by the default supplier or customer class or the supplier or customer class the user has selected instead.
To use the functionality of classes while you are importing supplier or customer data, before import, analyse the source data and create as many classes as there are groups of customers or suppliers in the source (or source file) that would need accounts, subaccounts, and other common information you can specify among the class settings. When you create classes, take one of the following approaches:
- If one group of settings can fit all customers or suppliers, use just one default class. To use default values from the default supplier or customer class, you don’t even need to do anything specific, such as mapping the Supplier class field or Customer class field to any data.
- To use default values from a particular class, in the Field/action name field of the Manage import scenarios (SM206025) window, you can assign the class to the Supplier class field (when you are importing supplier records) or to the Customer class field (when you are importing customer records) directly as a literal or assign a class conditionally, by using appropriate formulas that are based on customer or supplier properties. Filling in the class ID field requires a commit to the database and a window refresh.
General recommendations for importing documents and batches
When you are importing batches, supplier ledger documents, or customer ledger documents, consider the following recommendations regarding the mapping:
Batch or document IDs: By default, Visma Net automatically generates identifiers for general ledger batches and supplier ledger and customer ledger documents. For example: When importing batches to the Journal transactions (GL301000) window, even if you map the Batch number field to an external field holding batch IDs, when the record is saved, the original batch ID will be overwritten by an automatically generated ID. If you plan to update the imported batches later, you will not be able to recognise the imported records by their new IDs. To make updating of the imported records possible, you need to save the original ID to another field to be able to recognise the previously imported records. You can use the Description field for this purpose. As an alternative to this approach, you can configure manual numbering of batches or documents in the Number series (CS201010) window, import them with their IDs defined in the source, and then configure the system to use auto-numbering again.
Batch control totals: When importing batches to the Journal transactions (GL301000) window, if you are mapping the Control total field, take into account whether the Validate batch control totals on entry check box is selected in the General ledger preferences (GL102000) window. If it is selected and you map the Control total field to the source field, during data import until all batch entries are imported, the system will display the error, indicating that the control total does not match the credit total or debit total. In this case, in the Import scenarios window, select the Ignore error check box for the row that maps the Control total field to force the system to ignore such errors during the import process.
Document amounts: When importing documents to the, if you are mapping the Amount field, take into account whether the Validate document totals on entry check box is selected in the Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) or Customer ledger preferences (AR101000) window. If it is selected and you map the Amount field to the source field, during data import until all document details are imported, the system will display the error, indicating that the document is out of balance. In this case, in the Import scenarios window, select the Ignore error check box for the row that maps the Amount field to force the system to ignore such errors during the import process.
Mapping Statuses: The possible batch and document statuses in the source may be different from those in Visma Net. To manage this discrepancy, you might want to exclude the Status field of the applicable window from mapping. In this case, the imported batch or document will get one of the following statuses:
- On hold, if the Hold batches on entry check box is selected in the General ledger preferences (GL102000) window or the Hold documents on entry selected is selected in the Customer ledger preferences (AR101000) or Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) window
- Open, if the Hold batches on entry or Hold documents on entry check box is not selected in the appropriate window
General recommendations for importing attributes
Attributes in Visma Net make it possible for users to specify additional properties (those not already defined in the applicable Visma Net window) of entities, such as stock items and customers. The list of attributes is specified for an entity class, so that entities assigned to different classes may have different sets of attributes. To import data with attributes, you have to create a scenario for each class if the applicable classes have different sets of attributes. In the mapping of the scenario created to import entities of a particular class in the Schedule import scenarios (SM206035) window, you should specify the name of the attribute as the source field for the Attribute target field and the value of this attribute as the source field for the Value target field.
Limitations of data import
By using import scenarios, you can perform the same commands in the window as you do during manual input, with the following exception:
- For the Purchase invoices (AP301000) window,
<Action: Auto Apply>(which corresponds to the Auto apply button on the Applications tab) does not work because Visma Net does not load applications during data import.
Parent topic: Configuring scenario mapping