Import Employees

Importing Employees can either be completed immediately, or can be set up as a Timed Event.  If you are accessing this procedure from the Event procedure, you have likely already configured your import spreadsheet.  If this is the case, proceed to step 2 of Import Employees procedure.  If you have not configured your import information, start at the beginning.

Open the CSV file in Microsoft Excel
  1. Click here to access a CSV file containing the relevant Import Employees fields.

The File Download dialog appears.

  1. Click Save.

Please note:  Do NOT click Open.  If you do, the file will open in the Help window, with no way to save any changes you may wish to make.

The Save As dialog appears.

  1. Navigate to a desired location.
  2. (optional) Enter a new name for the import employees file.
  3. Click OK.

The Download Complete dialog appears.

  1. Click Open.

The CSV file opens in Microsoft Excel.

Open the exported file from your HRIS or EPS system in Microsoft Excel
To View all Property (Column) Names
  1. Highlight the columns in the Microsoft Excel file.
  2. Place your cursor at the border between the last two columns.
  3. Double-click to make the columns the width of the column names.
Create Required Custom Properties

Depending on the type of Employee Property you wish to include in the Import, create the corresponding custom property.  Select from one of the following procedures to create your property:

Combine the CSV Template with the Exported File
  1. Copy the information in the columns of the exported file, and place the information in the corresponding columns of the CSV Import Employees template.
  2. For any custom properties, enter the column header with the same name as was entered as a custom property in TRACCESS CI.

The information for one Employee occupies one row of the spreadsheet.

  1. Select File/ Save As from the main menu.

The Save As dialog appears.

  1. Navigate to an appropriate location.
  2. In the Save as type field, select Unicode text.

The import will also accept other file types such as .txt, .csv, .xls.  However, if you wish to import any special characters (such as accents or unicode), selecting Unicode text is the only format that will import the information properly.

  1. Enter a file name, and click Save.
Import Employees
  1. Select Tools/ Import from the main menu.

The Import dialog appears.

  1. Select the language to import information.
  2. In the Object Type field, select Employees.
  1. Click next to the Import File field.

A standard Open dialog appears.

  1. Navigate to the import file, select it, and click Open.

The file name appears in the Import File field.

  1. Select the Date Pattern that was used in the Import file.

You can choose from dd/mm/yyyy, or mm/dd/yyyy, or yyyy/mm/dd.  Microsoft Excel often reformats your dates after entering them into their respective fields.  Verify with your import file that you have the correct pattern selected.

Please Note:  The biggest reason for this field is to reconcile dates that could either be dd/mm/yyyy or mm/dd/yyyy.  For example, 05/12/2004.  Is this meant to be May 12 or December 5.  Not selecting the appropriate date format may still import your records properly, however it is advised to check that the formats match - just in case.

  1. Select the properties you wish to match with the current database information.
  2. Click Import.

An Import Status dialog appears to indicate completion of the process.

  1. Click OK.

An import log appears within an Import dialog.  At this point, you may wish to copy/ paste the information into another document.  This information will indicate how many records were successfully imported, how many were unsuccessful, and of those unsuccessful - where the problem occurred.

  1. Click OK.

If you (the person who is currently logged into TRACCESS) have a valid email address in your Employee Profile, the import log information will also be sent to your email address.