One of the ways you can import your company's data into Projectal is by importing via spreadsheet.  Here are a few tips and tricks to help you import data from spreadsheets into Projectal successfully.

Supported Spreadsheet Files & Formats

Supported file types for importing spreadsheets are XLS, XLSX, CSV, ODS and PDF.

Importing Spreadsheets from URLs

When importing from a URL from websites like Google Sheets or Office 365, make sure that the sharing permissions of the URL are publicly accessible.  Otherwise, Projectal may not be able to read the contents of the URL.

Understanding the Spreadsheet Columns for Importing

When importing data via spreadsheet into Projectal, you will first need to know the columns of data that you need to have in your spreadsheet.

The easiest way to do this is to first export data from Projectal as a spreadsheet and this will list all the columns that you can have in your spreadsheet for importing.  

For example, if you wanted to import staff into Projectal via spreadsheet, then follow these steps:

1. Go to the Management screen and click on the Staff button to display the Staff screen.
2. On the Staff screen, click the Export button on the toolbar.
   
3. An Excel XLS spreadsheet will be saved onto your local computer.
   
4. You can use this spreadsheet as a sample template to understand what columns Projectal expects when you import staff data via spreadsheet.
   
5. In the spreadsheet, delete the existing data (keeping the column headers) and start filling in the data about your company's staff.
   
6. You are now ready to import your staff into Projectal via spreadsheet.

Updating Existing Data in Projectal via Spreadsheet

After you have imported data into Projectal via a spreadsheet, there are times you wish to update the data using updated data in your spreadsheet.

When you re-import a spreadsheet, Projectal will notify you when existing data already exists - for example, staff with the same email address are already in Projectal and also in your spreadsheet.  When this happens, Projectal will display small warning icons next to the offending data on the Import Document Preview screen.

If you click the Identify Existing Data for Updating button on the toolbar on the Import Document Preview screen, then Projectal will find all the existing data and mark them with an icon for updating. This lets you proceed to import the spreadsheet and update the existing entries in Projectal with data the from your spreadsheet.

Date Formatting in Spreadsheets

When importing dates from your spreadsheets, make sure your dates are formatted as "YYYY-MM-DD" to ensure the year, month and day are interpreted correctly.  Example: "2025-05-23"