Imports create or update records from CSV. Start with a fresh template for the selected type and mode. A report download can supply identifiers, but cannot be uploaded as an import template.

Before you begin

You need the Run batch imports permission plus the permission for the selected type. Imports cover the organization, so any department-limited management permission must cover All departments.

Import Additional permission
Invitations Manage user access
Organization settings, departments, or account codes Manage organization settings
Job groups or job codes Manage job catalog
Work schedules Manage position setup
Positions Manage positions
Employees or assignments Manage employees
Pay adjustment rules or budget rates Manage labor budgets
Employee compensation Manage actual compensation

Choose the type and mode

Choose the record you intend to change: invitations, departments, job groups, job codes, work schedules, positions, employees, position assignments, account codes, department account assignments, adjustments, job code budget rates, position budget rates, or employee compensation. Available choices depend on access and setup.

Use Create for new records and Update for existing records. Search before creating to avoid duplicates. Download a fresh template for that exact type and mode; do not convert a Create file into an Update file by adding columns.

Each import changes its own area. Position imports do not create assignments, budget rates, or employee pay. For small changes, the record page may be easier than a file.

Prepare setup first

Create departments, job groups, job codes, work schedules, and adjustment choices before records that use them. Then prepare positions, employees, assignments, budget rates, and employee compensation in that order as needed. Wait for each earlier import to complete and verify its records before using their identifiers in the next file.

Employee Create rows need every required value, including department and status where required. Successful rows make the employee available from the row’s effective date.

Invitations Create files must keep every downloaded access-planning column. Invited name and email need values. Other cells may be blank only where the template permits it.

Keep the file shape unchanged

Use the downloaded column names and file format exactly as provided.

  • Keep every header exactly as downloaded, including capitalization and spaces.
  • Do not rename or remove required columns, and use only the headings provided by the template.
  • Do not add headings, totals, notes, blank title rows, or formulas.
  • Keep one record action per row.
  • Use the accepted date and choice formats shown in the template.
  • Remove example or unused rows before uploading.
  • Save as CSV when the template requires CSV.

Spreadsheet programs can alter dates, leading zeros, and long identifiers. Reopen the saved CSV as plain data and confirm those values before upload.

When LibreOffice Calc opens the file, choose Separated by, select only Comma, clear Semicolon, and keep the double quote as the String delimiter. When saving, choose Text CSV (.csv), turn on Edit filter settings, use the same comma and double-quote settings, and select Quote all text cells when that choice is available.

If a cell contains several values separated by semicolons, keep them together in that cell. If validation reports unnamed columns that contain data, reopen a fresh template with the settings above and copy the values into their intended columns instead of deleting those columns.

Use one documented representation for each typed value:

Value Required representation
Date YYYY-MM-DD
Date and time YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
Time HH:MM:SS
Boolean Yes or No
Pay adjustment rule rate A decimal rate such as 0.1025 for 10.25%, without a percent symbol
Built-in choice The exact choice label shown with the template
Configured code The exact configured code

Capitalization matters for choice labels and configured codes. Values such as true, 1, 10.25%, an unlisted choice, or an alternate date layout do not represent the documented template value.

FTE in import and export files uses four decimal places. The organization’s FTE display setting does not change file precision or calculations.

Enter dated values

Use the effective date on which the information begins. In an Update file, a blank mapped value normally leaves the existing value unchanged. Where the downloaded template allows <clear>, use it to make an optional value blank beginning on the row’s effective date without erasing earlier history.

Cell value Typical Update meaning
Blank Leave the existing mapped value unchanged
A new value Begin that value on the row’s effective date
<clear> where allowed Make the optional value blank beginning on the row’s effective date

The template guidance is final for the selected type. Do not use <clear> in a column that does not explicitly allow it.

An optional end date is the first date a period no longer applies. A blank end date means there is no planned end unless the template guidance for that action says otherwise. Do not invent a placeholder value when information is unknown; validation will explain required setup.

Example: adjacent assignment periods

An assignment fills position A through June 30 and position B beginning July 1. Use July 1 as the end date of the first assignment and July 1 as the start date of the second. The end date is the first day the earlier assignment no longer counts.

Prepare identifiers carefully

Stable identifiers protect against changing the wrong record.

  1. Obtain identifiers from the record page or an authorized report.
  2. Confirm the organization and record type.
  3. Preserve leading zeros and exact characters.
  4. Do not reuse an identifier for a different business record.
  5. For records matched to another trusted source, coordinate corrections so later files continue to match.

Employee and position numbers are FTE Tree references that are assigned once and not reused. External IDs are separate values from a district, payroll system, HRIS, or another approved source. Financial templates can request a specific record identifier. Copy the identifier from the matching record or report as instructed by that template. Do not substitute a name, external ID, or another reference.

Import use Identifier behavior
Employee Create Leave Employee number blank to assign the next number, or enter an approved unused number. Include the external employee ID only when that column is enabled.
Employee Update Use the existing employee number. If external employee IDs are enabled, you may leave the employee number blank and use the exact external ID instead. If both identify different employees, validation stops the file.
Position Create or Update Position numbers and enabled external position IDs follow the same matching pattern as employee identifiers.
Position assignment Employee identifier and Position identifier accept the matching FTE Tree number. They also accept the exact external ID when that type of external ID is enabled. External assignment ID identifies the assignment row itself.
Employee compensation Use the employee and assignment record IDs supplied by the downloaded template or an authorized export. These are FTE Tree record IDs, not employee numbers or external IDs.

Organization settings determine whether employee, position, and assignment external IDs are not used, optional, or required. A locally managed required employee or position ID must be included in a Create file and cannot be cleared. An integration-managed ID is read-only: omit it from local changes, and review missing or incorrect values through the connected system.

Prepare assignment rows

Confirm the external assignment ID, employee, position, assignment FTE, start date, optional end date, type, and work schedule. External assignment IDs must be enabled because the ID identifies an assignment import row. A Create file cannot supply an ID owned by an HRIS integration. Assignment rows must also follow the organization’s flexible, one-per-employee, one-per-position, or one-to-one rule.

Review overlapping assignments already in FTE Tree, not only other rows in the file. A file can be internally consistent and still conflict with an existing or future assignment.

Prepare financial rows

Job code and position budget-rate files affect labor budget only. Employee compensation files affect actual compensation only. Confirm the exported employee record ID and assignment record ID, amount, basis, amount meaning, and dates.

For an employee compensation update, choose the explicit action correct, end, or remove. Validation checks every row before any part of the file is applied.

  • Use correct when the recorded amount, meaning, scope, or dates were wrong.
  • Use end when a valid compensation record should stop on a known date.
  • Use remove when the record should never have existed.

For a job code or position budget-rate update, choose supersede, end, or void.

  • Use supersede to replace the current rate with a corrected or newly effective rate.
  • Use end when a valid rate should stop on a known date.
  • Use void when the rate record should never have existed.

Every financial Update row also requires a reason.

Do not put compensation amounts in position, employee, or assignment files.

For employee compensation, assignment-specific pay overrides employee-level pay only for that assignment. Pay periods cannot overlap within the same employee-level or assignment-specific timeline. To schedule a new amount, end the earlier entry on the date the new entry begins.

A correction cannot move pay to another employee. Remove the incorrect entry and create the intended employee’s entry. If an integration manages pay for the affected period, correct it through that integration. See Manage employee pay for pay types and timeline examples.

Review before uploading

Check the type, mode, row count, identifiers, dates, required choices, amounts, and intended result. Include only necessary information and store the file in an approved location. For a broad or protected change, have another qualified person review it when possible.

Direct position imports can change approved information without ordinary request steps. Review the approval-bypass warning and active-request effects before applying. An import does not approve, rewrite, or close an active request.

Next, validate and apply the import. Validation checks whether a file can be applied; you still need to confirm that its preview matches the intended change.