Supplier Import

January 4, 2023


Benefits of importing suppliers

Upload thousands of records
Maintain accurate, up-to-date supplier records with minimum effort. Choose your import file, map your data with intuitive dropdown bars, and begin importing. The supplier import tool can be used to import 10,000 supplier data entries without disrupting back office processes. 

Update all supplier records at once
Say goodbye to item-by-item updates. The supplier import tool can be used to make changes to all supplier and their individual points of contacts. Erply updates mapping options based on your dataset to keep your records highly accurate.

A flexible upload process
Upload templates are flexible, allowing you to freely map your data regardless of column order. The supplier import tool accepts .xlsx and .csv files.

Starting a supplier import

Be sure to use our supplier import template.

In the back office, navigate to the Inventory module and select Import suppliers.  
Suppliers can be imported in the back office as a .xlsx or a .csv file. In order for your data to upload properly, you must select if you have a header row.
Click Upload and Start Mapping to begin your supplier import.

Mapping your supplier data

Erply may predict where each data column should be mapped. Blank fields will need to be manually mapped.
Double-check that all data columns pre-filled by Erply are correctly mapped. If you need to change where a column is mapped, click the column’s header. 
Select Confirm Mapping to finalize your data mapping.  

Erply will update you on the import status, as well as inform you of how many data entires were updated, skipped, or failed.  
You can download a job report to learn more information on your reports status.

Data types:

Customer/Supplier information: Used to set up supplier-specific information such as supplier name, business type, main point of contact information, bank info, and more.
Address information: Used to set up location-based information for a supplier. You can import up to five locations for a supplier.
Contact information: Used to upload additional point of contact information for employees or departments within your supplier’s business. You can import up to five additional supplier contacts.
Although your data can be mapped into any column, we recommend choosing values that most accurately represent your data’s values.

Updating existing supplier data

If you want to update existing supplier data in bulk, scroll down to the option Match Existing Suppliers by Supplier ID when you start importing.
Supplier IDs are unique and help prevent you from importing a duplicate supplier entry when making bulk updates to your supplier base.
Please note that Erply will only display fields which have been assigned to a specific column.You can follow the above importing steps to make bulk supplier updates.

Finding your supplier number

Your supplier ID can be found in the URL bar. It’s the number located directly after “&edit=” in the URL.

In this instance, the supplier ID is 76.

Frequently asked questions

I received an error saying “the field that is used to match the supplier with existing users is empty.”
Erply sends this alert if it detects empty data in a column that’s selected for mapping. You can cancel the import and edit your file, or start the import regardless of the blank data.

Why isn’t my file importing?
The two most common import errors are improper formatting or bad data. Be sure to check over your data for blank columns and ensure that all columns are mapped correctly.
If a .xlsx file will not work, try saving the file as a .csv instead. This will strip away any formatting that Erply’s supplier importer tool may be unable to read. 

Is there a maximum amount of data I can import?
Erply’s supplier import tool can handle approximately 10,000 records within an hour. While we do not have a dedicated upper limit, larger files have more potential for error and can tie up your API calls for longer periods of time. 
We recommend larger imports should be started after hours, to allow ample time for the upload to complete.