An import adds or changes records from a CSV file. Begin with two practice departments so you can see a successful row and a row needing correction without changing your original position example.

The department exercise below works in both editions with the required permissions. Position control learners can also practice the offered position, employee, assignment, and setup imports. Financial classifications, budget rates, pay adjustments, and employee compensation recipes require Workforce Planning and their financial permissions. Choose only the import types available for your edition and role.

Prepare the practice organization

Use the separate instructor-designated practice organization. You need Import organization setup plus Manage departments for department imports. Other types need their own import and management permissions covering every affected record, department, and effective date in the file. Shared job-code budget defaults require All departments.

Agree on the practice names Import practice A and Import practice B and confirm they do not already exist. Have an available parent department and any required choices ready. Do not use actual employee pay or real invitation recipients for unplanned practice.

Download and fill the template

  1. Open Imports and start an import.
  2. Choose Departments and Create.
  3. Download the current template for that exact choice.
  4. Keep its headers unchanged and complete two rows, one for each practice name.
  5. Enter 2028-01-01 for the effective date and the exact existing parent where the template asks for it.
  6. Complete all required organization-specific fields.
  7. In a copy for validation practice, change the second row’s date to 2028-02-30, an impossible date.
  8. Save the file as CSV with no title rows, formulas, or totals.

The template determines the field names and allowed choices. A report download is not a substitute for it.

Validate and correct the file

Upload the file and choose Upload and validate. Read the result for each row. The second row should be rejected for its invalid date, so do not apply this file.

Correct that date to 2028-01-01, save the CSV, and validate again. Read the proposed changes and warnings. Both rows should identify the intended new departments and their correct parent and date.

A valid file can still describe the wrong business change. Confirm the names and proposed values before applying.

Apply and inspect the records

  1. Apply the reviewed valid file once.
  2. Follow the import’s progress until it finishes.
  3. Open import practice A and import practice B.
  4. Check names, parent, availability, and January 1 starting information.
  5. Review Activity history and the completed import result.

If work stops after some rows finish, inspect which rows already applied before preparing another file. Prepare a file containing only the remaining work, then choose Upload corrected file when available, or Start a new import after a stopped import. This starts a new import; do not duplicate completed Create rows. Follow Import will not complete for the specific message or status you see.

Try Update with a dated change

Download a fresh Departments > Update template. Identify import practice A exactly as the template requires and propose a supported parent change to another existing practice department on 2028-07-01. Keep the correct identifying name and leave unrelated fields unchanged.

Validate, review, and apply. Compare June 30 with July 1: the earlier parent should remain in history and the new parent should begin on July 1. If the entered date was wrong, use the supported department correction or another appropriate import action. There is no universal Undo that safely reverses every import.

Practice every type and mode you use

The import reference contains Create and Update practice recipes. Each recipe supplies values for a correct row, a deliberate invalid row, the expected result, and a supported correction. Use the separate workforce rules guide when importing staffing requirements or cost limits.

Create setup choices first, followed by positions and employees, then assignments, budget rates, and pay. GL means general ledger; GL codes and Department GL assignments set financial account classifications. They do not create employee pay.

For assignment imports, first confirm that external assignment IDs are enabled and managed by FTE Tree. Every imported assignment needs an ID, even when the organization setting is Optional. Use the recipe’s fictional IMPORT-PRACTICE-001 only in the separate practice organization, after confirming it is unused. Keep that same ID for the Update exercise. Skip assignment imports if IDs are unavailable or managed by a connected HR system; continue with the other prepared import types.

Pay adjustment files create reusable rules. Apply a created rule separately in budget or compensation before expecting it to change a cost.

Read blanks, percentages, and active-request warnings

In Update files, a blank mapped value normally means leave it unchanged. Use <clear> only in a column whose template explicitly permits clearing. In an adjustment import, 0.20 represents 20%; a form percentage field uses 20. FTE files keep four decimals, such as 0.5000, even when the screen displays 0.5.

For a position with an active request, read the warning and compare approved information with the request’s saved proposals. An import does not silently update what reviewers were asked to approve. Follow Import during active requests on a separate practice request before using this workflow in your organization.

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