Import clients in bulk

Bring your client list into ComptaFlow from spreadsheets, with duplicates caught and existing records never clobbered.

Who this is for: owners and managers. Employees cannot import.

Before you start

• You need a plan that includes spreadsheet import; the check is enforced on the server, not just hidden in the interface.
• Accepted files: .xlsx, .xls, or .csv, up to 5 MB each.

Steps

One spreadsheet of clients (the wizard)

1. Start the import from the Clients page and upload your spreadsheet. The number of rows per import depends on your plan: 10 on trial, 50 on starter, 500 on higher plans.
2. Review the match results. Every row is checked against your existing clients by NEQ first, then federal business number, then normalized company name. A near-match by name is only flagged for you; it is never merged automatically.
3. Pick a merge strategy for rows matching existing clients: fill empty (default, writes only blank fields), source wins, or confirm each. Under every strategy, an existing NEQ, business number, or client name is never overwritten.
4. Commit. New clients are created; matches are merged non-destructively (contacts append, yes/no flags never flip from yes to no, notes append under an import marker with the source and date).

Many per-client sheets (coordinate sheets)

1. Open Clients → Import sheets and upload the client coordinate sheets (up to 4 files per extraction batch).
2. Extraction reads each sheet. Sensitive values (SIN, ClicSEQUR credentials, bank logins) are read directly on the server and are never sent to the AI; only the redacted remainder is. Each extraction is recorded in the audit log.
3. Review the triage: auto (ready to create), review (something invalid or incomplete — for example a shareholder without an ownership percentage), or duplicate (matches an existing client).
4. Commit (up to 50 items per batch). Duplicates are re-checked at commit against live data, so a "create" that turns out to match an existing client becomes a fill-empty merge instead of a duplicate.

What can go wrong

• If you are an employee: every import path refuses you.
• If a file is rejected: check the type (.xlsx/.xls/.csv), the 5 MB size, and your plan's row cap; rejections are per file.
• If a row lands in review: fix or confirm it by hand; it will not be created automatically.
• If you worry about your existing data: merging never blanks anything — stored credentials are never touched by imports, and identifiers already on file win over the spreadsheet.

Limits

• Import is owner/manager only and requires the spreadsheet-import plan feature.
• Wizard row caps by plan: trial 10, starter 50, higher plans 500.
• Coordinate sheets: 4 files per extraction batch, 50 items per commit batch, 60 extractions per minute.
• Files must be non-empty and at most 5 MB.