Import Master Expense Types

This feature allows for the importing of Expense Type entries into the Unanet system via an ascii csv formatted file.

When adding expense types, you have the option to associate built-in wizards (with the exception of the Cash Return and Advance wizard types).

Roles

This screen is available to users having any of the following roles: Administrator and P&R Administrator

License

This feature is available with any Unanet edition.

Performance Tip Note: Depending on the number of users in your installation and other factors such as the overall performance of your platform, the activity of importing one or many files may take up to several minutes. Should this be the case with your installation, you may want to consider running these processes at non-peak times to minimize database contention.

Topics covered on this help page include:

Import File Record Layout (field by field descriptions)
Import File Format (note about csv layout and option to import a subset of columns using header values)
Excel Template (spreadsheet template containing column headings)
Import Screen (invoking the import via the user interface)

Import File Record Layout

IMPORTANT: Note that there are multiple places within this documentation that say you MUST use double quotes for the strings in your import. If you are working in Excel, Excel will provide the double quotes and thus you do not need to add them in manually. Manually adding double quotes within Excel would result in multiple sets of double quotes in the resulting .csv file and thus cause an error (should you attempt to import that resulting file). Please see Excel Tips for more information.

		Field Header Name	Required/Comments
1	A	Expense_Type	ALWAYS REQUIRED. Unique expense type code. Values supplied will be converted and saved as all capitals and can contain spaces. Note that this is not the same field that is seen by the users throughout the product, but rather a unique code (users will see the expense_type_name field in the various drop-downs and on the standard reports). You can use the expense type import to update an expense type name by supplying the following syntax in this field. "!RENAME!,old_expense_type,new_expense_type" -- this entire string must be enclosed in double quotes. For example, if you were attempting to change: 1) Existing Expense Type "STUFF" to "SUPPLIES", the import file would include: "!RENAME!,STUFF,SUPPLIES" Maximum Length: 25 characters
2	B	Description	This field is used to supply a description of the Labor Category being imported. You can use the special tag !BLANK! to remove an existing entry in this field. Maximum Length: 2000 characters
3	C	External_System_Code	This field allows you to specify a particular value for an expense type. You can use the special tag !BLANK! to remove an existing entry in this field. Maximum Length: 2000 characters Note: This field used to be named Account_Number. Beginning with v10.0, the account number functionality has been altered and the fields previously referred to as account_number have been changed to external_system_code. While the import column header Account_Number will continue to be a recognized alias for some time, you may want to take measures to update any automated imports to use the new name.
4	D	Threshold	The field allows you to specify a threshold dollar value per expense type. This value will be evaluated when a user is entering expenses. If there is a threshold for an expense type, and that threshold is exceeded, then a red flag will appear next to that detailed item on the expense report. The expense report can still be approved, the flag is shown to draw attention to both the user and the approvers. The Require Comments if Threshold Exceeded (unasense.threshold.exceeded.need_comments) property can be enabled to force a comment to explain why the threshold was exceeded. When entering expenses, the user can click on the Threshold button to display a list of the thresholds per expense type. This field accepts a numeric value up to 15 positions to the left of the decimal and 3 positions to the right.
5	E	Vendor_Required	Valid values include Y or N (if not provided, N is the default for a new entry). Determines if charges to this expense type will require the entry of Vendor information (enforced on the expense wizard).
6	F	Receipt_Required	Valid values include Y or N (if not provided, N is the default for a new entry). Determines if charges to this expense type will require an indication that receipt information has been provided (enforced on the expense wizard). Note: For expense types having an association with Company Car, MIE Allowable, MIE Per Diem, Mileage, Advance and Cash Return wizard types, Receipt Required will be set to 'N' with a warning message.
7	G	Show_Description	Valid values include Y or N (if not provided, N is the default for a new entry). When set to Y, the contents of the Description field will be displayed across the top of the expense wizard for this expense type. May be used to display policy information.
8	H	Request_Allowed	Valid values include Y or N (if not provided, Y is the default for a new entry). Determines if this expense type can be used on Expense Requests (in addition to Expense Reports).
9	I	Enabled	Valid values include Y or N (if not provided, Y is the default for a new entry). Determines if this expense type will be an available option on new Expense Report/Request line items.
10	J	User01	OPTIONALLY REQUIRED. Depending on how you have configured the user defined fields in your system, this field may be a Date, Numeric, String or value that matches a Pick List entry. This field can be left blank if not configured to be required. You can use the special tag !BLANK! to remove an existing entry in this field. Maximum Length: 128 characters Click here for more information about user defined fields for expense types.
11	K	User02	See note for User Defined 1 above
12	L	User03	See note for User Defined 1 above
13	M	User04	See note for User Defined 1 above
14	N	User05	See note for User Defined 1 above
15	O	User06	See note for User Defined 1 above
16	P	User07	See note for User Defined 1 above
17	Q	User08	See note for User Defined 1 above
18	R	User09	See note for User Defined 1 above
19	S	User10	See note for User Defined 1 above
20	T	Delete	This field is used to trigger the system to delete an expense type. In order for the delete to happen, you must have the following text string !DELETE! in this field. Note that you will not be allowed to delete any expense type having a built-in Unanet wizard (you can only disable these). Also, you will not be able to delete any expense type if they have been referenced or used elsewhere (either having actuals charged to them or having been mapped to cost elements, etc.).
21	U	Expense_Type_Name	REQUIRED on ADD. Unique expense type name. Values supplied can contain spaces. This field is the expense type name that will be displayed in screens throughout the product. Maximum Length: 50 characters
22	V	Markup	This field is optional and can be used to supply a project specific expense type markup percentage value. You can use the special tag !BLANK! to remove an existing entry in this field. This field accepts a numeric value up to 3 positions to the left of the decimal and 2 positions to the right (-999.99 to +999.99). Do not include the % sign within the file.
23	W	Wizard_Type	This field will indicate the wizard type that is to be associated with a particular expense type. This is an optional field. The valid values for this field include (and these are not case sensitive) - which are the same values available on the Wizard tab of the Admin >> Setup >> Expense Type screen: Air Cell Phone Company Car Employee Business Meeting Entertainment Lodging Lodging Allowable Lodging Per Diem MIE Allowable MIE Per Diem Mileage You can use the special tag !BLANK! to remove an existing entry in this field. However, you can only update the wizard type associated with an expense type if the current expense type has not yet been used to record any expense actuals. Note there are two built-in expense types (Cash Return and Advance). You cannot insert any new expense types having one of these wizard types as they are special built-in system expense types. Similarly, you cannot attempt to update an existing expense type to have a wizard type of Cash Return or Advance either. You can, however, update attributes (such as description) on these expense types via the import.
24	X	Record_Overage	Valid values include Y or N (if not provided, N is the default for a new entry). This field is used to indicate whether the current expense type will have an associated expense type defined to capture an overage amount. This field is intended to be used in conjunction with expense types associated with either the Lodging Per Diem or MIE Allowable wizards. When adding a new expense type, if this field is set to Y, then you must also specify a valid value in the Overage_Expense_Type field.
25	Y	Overage_Expense_Type	When the Record_Overage indicator above is set to Y, this field must be populated with an appropriate expense type name (which is the expense type to which the expense overage amounts are to be recorded). The expense types available to record overage amounts include those expense types that: are not already associated with any built-in wizard type are active do not have any actuals already charged to that expense type You can use the special tag !BLANK! to remove an existing entry in this field, however, you would need to also update the Record_Overage value to N at the same time.
26	Z	Mileage_Rate_Set	When the expense type being imported is associated with either the Mileage or Company Car wizard, this field is required to indicate which mileage rate set is to be associated (specifically, the value supplied would need to match an existing Mileage Rate Set name).
27	AA	Cost_Account	This field is used to indicate the cost account to be associated with the expense type. This value must match an existing account value as defined on the Admin >> Setup >> Accounts screen. You can use the special tag !BLANK! to remove an existing entry in this field.
28	AB	User11	See note for User Defined 1 above
29	AC	User12	See note for User Defined 1 above
30	AD	User13	See note for User Defined 1 above
31	AE	User14	See note for User Defined 1 above
32	AF	User15	See note for User Defined 1 above
33	AG	User16	See note for User Defined 1 above
34	AH	User17	See note for User Defined 1 above
35	AI	User18	See note for User Defined 1 above
36	AJ	User19	See note for User Defined 1 above
37	AK	User20	See note for User Defined 1 above

Note: Check out the Unanet Data Model for specific field data types, lengths, and other attributes.

Import File Format

The file to import must be saved in a comma delimited format. The fields can be enclosed in double quotes -- which would be particularly necessary should the data being imported contain commas.

Importing a Sub-Set of Columns using a Field Header Record

If you are not using the default column layout sequence as defined above, you must include a header record (prefixed with an asterisk *), containing the column Header Names for those columns you are including in the import file (to indicated what data is contained in each column). The specific Header Names for each column are listed in the table above.

Example:

*Expense_Type,Delete
SUPPLIES,!DELETE!

Excel Template

You can create the comma delimited import file with any number of tools. For those interested in using an Excel spreadsheet to create the file, you can download an Excel Template with predefined headers and required fields noted.

See the Excel Tips regarding the use of double quotes and more.

Import Screen

The Import Master Expense Types screen looks like:

Field Descriptions:

Field	Description
Type of Import	Select the appropriate import type from the list of available types of imports.
File to Import	Enter (or browse for) the file that you would like to import.
Output Options	Specify the level of detail included in the output.

The import process is triggered by pressing the Import button. All Warnings and Error messages are written to the screen and can then be saved if desired. While some line items may be found invalid and rejected, the remaining line items will be successfully imported and saved in the database. The rejected line items will be written out to a file on the Unanet server as well as displayed at the bottom of the Import results page. The rejected record file name will be the import name (from the Type of Import drop-down on the Admin>> Import page) , concatenated with a space and "Errors.csv" (e.g., Item - Master Errors.csv, Alternate.csv, etc.). The file will be placed in the Unanet temporary directory (which is defined by the Temp Directory (Fully Qualified Directory Name) (unanet.temp_directory) Unanet property). You can also click on the Download the error file link at the bottom of the Import results page (sample image follows).