Suppliers and clients often send their delivery advice as a CSV or Excel file. Instead of typing it in, you set up an import template once. The template says which column of the file belongs to which field of the advance notice. After that, you check and import new files in a few clicks.

![Screenshot: Import Notifications page with the list of import templates and the "Latest Imports" table](/inbound/images/import-advance-notices-overview.png)

## Before you start

- Your user needs the permissions for **Notifications** and **Import**. Ask your administrator if the **Import** button is missing.
- The client exists, see [Clients](/company/clients.md).
- The articles exist in the client's article master, see [Create an article](/products/create-article.md). Depending on the template, unknown articles can also be accepted.
- Have a sample file of the supplier at hand.

## Step by step

### Create an import template

1. Open **WMS › Notifications** (*WMS › Avisierungen*) and click **Import** (*Import*). The page **Import Notifications** (*Avisierungen importieren*) opens.
2. Click **New template** (*Neue Vorlage*).
3. Fill in the basics:
   - **Template name** (*Vorlagenname*), e.g. "Supplier Miller (Excel)".
   - **Client** (*Mandant*): assign a fixed client, or **Select during import** (*beim Import wählen*). With a fixed client, notices are always created for this client and articles are searched in its article master.
   - **File format** (*Dateiformat*) and **Sample file (CSV, TXT, XLS, XLSX)** (*Beispieldatei*). The sample is only used for the preview and the column mapping – no notices are created.
   - **The first line is the header** (*Erste Zeile ist Kopfzeile*) and **Skip the first few lines** (*Zeilen am Anfang überspringen*).
   - For CSV: **Delimiter (CSV)** (*Trennzeichen*) – semicolon, comma, tab or pipe – plus **Text delimiter** (*Textbegrenzer*) and **Escape**.
4. Click **Load preview** (*Vorschau laden*). The **File Preview** (*Datei-Vorschau*) shows the first rows of your file.
5. Under **Column Mapping** (*Spaltenzuordnung*), choose the matching column for each field (see [Fields and options](#fields-and-options)).
6. Set the **Import Behavior** (*Verhalten beim Import*).
7. Click **Save template** (*Vorlage speichern*).

![Screenshot: Create an Import Template form with template name, client, file format and CSV settings](/inbound/images/import-advance-notices-template-settings.png)

![Screenshot: Column Mapping with header data and item fields assigned to columns of the sample file](/inbound/images/import-advance-notices-column-mapping.png)

### Import a file

1. On **Import Notifications**, click **Import File** (*Datei importieren*), or **Import** (*Importieren*) next to a template.
2. Select the **Template** (*Vorlage*), the **Client** (*Mandant*) if the template does not fix it, and the **Import File** (*Import-Datei*).
3. Under **Information, if not included in the file** (*Angaben, falls nicht in der Datei enthalten*) you can enter a **Delivery note number** (only used if no column is assigned), an **Order number** and an **Estimated delivery** date.
4. Click **Check File** (*Datei prüfen*). The result area shows which notices and items would be created and lists hints and errors.
5. If the check is fine, click **Start Import** (*Import starten*). The button is only active after a successful check.
6. The result appears under **Latest Imports** (*Letzte Importe*): created, updated and skipped notices, hints, errors and details.

![Screenshot: Import page after "Check File" with the preview of notices and items to be created](/inbound/images/import-advance-notices-check.png)

![Screenshot: Latest Imports table with created, updated and skipped counts and the details opened](/inbound/images/import-advance-notices-latest-imports.png)

## Fields and options

### Column mapping

**Header Data (once per notification)** (*Kopfdaten (einmal je Avisierung)*):

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Delivery note number** (*Lieferscheinnummer*) | Groups the rows into notices. |
| **External order number** (*Bestellnummer*) | Used for grouping if no delivery note number is mapped. |
| **Container number** (*Container-Nummer*) | Container reference. |
| **Estimated delivery** (*Voraussichtliche Anlieferung*) | Expected delivery date. |
| **Supplier** (*Lieferant*) | Sender of the goods. |

**Items (per line)** (*Positionen (je Zeile)*):

| Field | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
| **Item Number (SKU)** (*Artikelnummer (SKU)*) | Identifies the article. | yes (or EAN) |
| **EAN** (optional) | Only used instead of the SKU if the file has no item number. | no |
| **Item description** (*Artikelbezeichnung*) | Article name from the file. | no |
| **Quantity** (*Menge*) | Expected quantity. | yes |
| **Line number** (*Positionsnummer*) | Position on the supplier's document. | no |
| **Batch number** (*Chargennummer*) | Batch of the goods. | no |
| **Best-by date** (*Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum*) | Best-before date. | no |
| **Supplier item number** (*Lieferanten-Artikelnummer*) | Supplier's own article number. | no |
| **Comment** (*Bemerkung*) | Free text. | no |

You can tick additional fields such as best-before date or batch as required. Rows without a value in a required field are then skipped.

### Import behavior

| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| **Item number not in the item master** (*Artikelnummer nicht im Artikelstamm*) | **Import line item without item master (assigned at putaway)** (*Position ohne Artikelstamm übernehmen*), **Skip line item** (*Position überspringen*), **Cancel import** (*Import abbrechen*) |
| **The delivery note number already exists** (*Lieferscheinnummer existiert bereits*) | **Skip ASN** (*Avisierung überspringen*), **Replace line items of the open ASN** (*Positionen der offenen Avisierung ersetzen*), **Create anyway** (*Trotzdem neu anlegen*) |

![Screenshot: Import Behavior section with both drop-downs opened](/inbound/images/import-advance-notices-behavior.png)

## How rows become notices

- Every data row becomes one item.
- Rows with the same delivery note number (or, if that is not mapped, the same order number) are combined into one advance notice.
- If neither column is mapped, the whole file becomes one notice. Enter the delivery note number when you import.
- New notices start with the status **Open**, see [Advance notices](/inbound/advance-notices.md).
- **Replace line items of the open ASN** only works while the existing notice is still open. Notices that are already in progress or closed are skipped.
- Items without an article in the master data can be added to the master data later at the putaway scanner with **Import Items into Master Data** (*Artikel in die Stammdaten übernehmen*), see [Putaway](/inbound/putaway.md).
- Deleting a template does not delete the notices you already imported with it.

## Troubleshooting

| Message | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| There is no import template available yet. (*Es ist noch keine Import-Vorlage vorhanden.*) | No template exists. | Click **Create template** and set one up. |
| Only CSV, TXT, XLS or XLSX files are allowed (*Nur CSV-, TXT-, XLS- oder XLSX-Dateien sind erlaubt*) | Wrong file type. | Convert the file. |
| The file contains no data rows (*Die Datei enthält keine Datenzeilen.*) | Empty file or wrong header settings. | Check the file and **Skip the first few lines**. |
| Please map the column for the item number (SKU) or the EAN (*Bitte die Spalte für die Artikelnummer (SKU) oder die EAN zuordnen.*) | Required mapping missing. | Map the column in the template. |
| Please map the column for the quantity (*Bitte die Spalte für die Menge zuordnen.*) | Required mapping missing. | Map the column in the template. |
| No delivery note number … (*Keine Lieferscheinnummer …*) | No delivery note number in the file and none entered. | Map a column or enter the number on upload. |
| Item number … not found in the item master (*Artikelnummer … nicht im Artikelstamm gefunden.*) | Unknown article. | Create the article or change the import behavior. |
| Quantity "…" invalid (*Menge "…" ungültig.*) | The quantity is not a number. | Correct the file. |
| Delivery note number already exists and is no longer open … (*… ist nicht mehr offen … wird übersprungen.*) | The notice is already in progress or closed. | Use a new delivery note number. |
| The import is not possible, please see the check (*Der Import ist nicht möglich, bitte die Prüfung beachten.*) | The check found errors. | Fix the errors and check again. |
| The uploaded file was not found. Please upload it again. (*Die hochgeladene Datei wurde nicht gefunden.*) | The upload has expired. | Upload the file again. |