If you are building your import file by hand, or your old system's export is a mess, start from a Studio template. It is a CSV with the exact column headings Studio recognizes, plus three example rows showing the format each column expects.
The headings matter more than they look. Every one of them maps itself when you upload, so there is nothing left to match by hand and nothing that quietly gets dropped because it was called something Studio had never seen.
Getting a Template
- Go to Imports → Templates.
- Find the module you're importing into. Only the modules switched on for your workspace are listed.
- Click Download template for the version with example rows, or Headers only for the bare heading row.
You can also grab one mid-flow. The module picker on New Import has a template link under each card, and the Import by Module page shows one as soon as you choose a module.
Filling It In
- Open the file in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.
- Delete the three example rows. They are there to show formats, not to be imported.
- Paste or type your data underneath the heading row.
- Leave the headings exactly as they are. Renaming a heading is the one thing that breaks the auto-mapping.
- Delete any column you don't have data for. Empty columns are fine too, but deleting them keeps the file easier to read.
- Save as CSV and upload it.
What Each Column Means
On the Templates page, click What each column means under any module. You get a table of every heading, a sentence on what to put in it, an example value, and a Required badge on the ones the import can't run without.
You Don't Have to Use One
A raw export from Planning Center, Tithe.ly, QuickBooks or anything else works fine. Studio recognizes the common column names from those systems and maps them for you.
Templates are for two situations: you're assembling the file yourself, or a column didn't auto-match and you want to see what it should have been called. In that second case, open the template for the same module, find the heading you needed, and rename your column to match.
The Order to Import In
The Templates page lists modules in the order you should import them, top to bottom. Records that other records attach to come first: Companies before People, Clients before Invoices, People before Giving. See What Order Should I Import In? for why.
Common Questions
- Can I add my own columns? Yes. Anything Studio doesn't recognize stays on Ignore, and you can map it to a Studio field yourself or leave it out.
- Do I have to fill in every column? No. Only the ones marked Required, and even those have alternatives on some modules (People takes an email or a name).
- My file opened with strange characters in Excel. Templates are saved so Excel reads accented names correctly. If you re-save from another tool, choose UTF-8.