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CRM: Importing & Exporting Contacts and Companies

Learn how to bulk-import and export your contacts and companies using CSV files in Unificus.

What is a CSV Import?

Instead of manually creating your Contacts and Companies or waiting for self-registration, you can quickly add multiple records at once through a CSV file. CSV (Comma Separated Values) is a widely-used format for data transfer and works perfectly with spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets—both of which can export files in this format.

Before you start, plan how you’ll organize your data. Will you need Custom Fields?

Learn about Custom Fields

Contact Import

You can import these fields for Contacts:

  • First Name
  • Middle Name
  • Last Name
  • Primary Email
  • Individual Address Items
  • All default extra information fields (Work Email, Home Email, etc.)
  • Tags
  • Contact Custom Fields
  • Company Custom Fields (Private and Public)

You can also configure these settings per Contact:

  • Role (affects which actions are available)
  • Company
  • Company Category
  • Primary Contact status
  • Circle(s)
  • Email Marketing Audience
  • Follow-up Generators
  • On-Demand FLOW
  • On-Demand Invoice Generator
  • Accumulating Generator
  • Recurring Generator
  • Proposal Generator
  • On-boarding FLOW
  • Email/Form Cannons (requires PLUS Bundle Power-Up)
  • Community/Space (requires COMMUNITY Power-Up)
  • Coordinator
  • Assign Salesperson

Tip: Organize everything before importing. There’s no undo option, so removing imported data can be time-consuming.

Company Import

You can import Companies and assign a Primary Contact to each. Automation from this import targets the Company rather than individuals.

You can either create new Companies or update existing ones during import.

You can assign these to each Company:

  • Role (or assign all Contacts to the same Role)
  • Primary Contact Email
  • Primary Contact First Name
  • Primary Contact Last Name
  • Existing Primary Contact (from current Contacts)

You can also enable ‘Prevent the Primary Contact from switching into individual mode’.

Learn about preventing Primary Contacts from switching to Individual Mode

You can import these Company fields:

  • Company Name
  • Category
  • Company Phone
  • All default extra information fields (Work Email, Home Email, etc.)
  • Skype
  • Website
  • Full Address
  • Individual Address Items
  • Background info
  • Tags
  • Company Public Custom Fields
  • Company Private Custom Fields
  • Target Custom Fields
  • Community/Space (requires COMMUNITY Power-Up)

How to Prepare Your Import

Take time to review the details below before importing.

Column Headers & Mapping

Create your CSV from scratch or download and customize our sample file. In your spreadsheet application (Excel, Google Sheets, Open Office, etc.), each row (except the first) represents one record, and each column holds a data point.

Download: Sample CSV Import File

Important: Only UTF-8 encoded CSV files are supported. Convert your file through your spreadsheet application if needed.

The first row serves as your Column Header and identifies each column’s content. These header values aren’t imported—they’re used only for mapping.

How Roles Are Assigned

You have two options for assigning Roles to imported Contacts.

Option 1:

Assign the same Role to all imported Contacts by selecting Lead, Prospect, or Client from the Role selector.

All Contacts will receive this Role regardless of your CSV configuration.

Option 2:

Include a Role column in your CSV and select it in the Role selector. Each Contact will receive the Role specified in their row.

For example, Art Venere would import as a Lead while Simona Morasca would import as a Client.

How to Import Primary Contacts

Import Primary Contacts either through your Company CSV or by adding a Primary Contact column in your Contact CSV. Choose based on whether you want automation targeted at the Individual or the Company.

Existing Companies

To assign Contacts to an existing Company, that Company must already be in your account.

Important: The Company name in your CSV must be an EXACT match to the existing Company name, including capitalization, punctuation, and spacing.

New Companies

To create and import a new Company during the import process, select the option to create Companies when no exact match exists.

The import will match Companies from the CSV column to existing ones and associate Contacts accordingly. In this example, James Butt, Art Venere, and Lenna Paprocki will all be linked to “Primus Associates, Inc.”

In your CSV, create a column with the header Is Primary Contact. Use the values yes or no, or leave cells empty.

After uploading, you’ll see a mapping selector for the Primary Contact field.

Rows marked “yes” will set that Contact as the Primary Contact for the associated Company. Rows marked “no” or left blank will not change the Primary Contact status.

How to Import Custom Fields

If using Custom Fields, create them in Unificus before importing. Then configure your CSV with a column for each Custom Field.

During import, map the CSV columns to the Custom Fields you’ve already set up.

Certain Custom Field types require specific formatting:

  • Checkbox Type: Use checked / unchecked or 1 / 0 (not case-sensitive)
  • Date Type: All dates must follow the same format you select
  • Radio Single Selection (no multiselection): Value must match one custom field option (not case-sensitive)
  • Radio with Multiple Selections: Separate values with commas (e.g., apple,pear,plum). Matching values will be added
  • Dropdown Single Selection: Value must match one custom field option (not case-sensitive)
  • Dropdown with Multiselection: Separate values with commas (e.g., apple,pear,plum). Matching values will be added

If you haven’t created Custom Fields beforehand, you can add them during the mapping phase.

Once added, a new field will appear for mapping to your CSV column.

Download: Sample CSV Import File

Tip: To import data for existing Custom Fields, export your current Contacts or Companies. The resulting CSV already has proper column headers for all Custom Fields, making a great template.

You can also import Company Custom Fields. When you map the Company field during Contact import, any Company Custom Fields you’ve created will automatically appear.

How to Execute the Import

Importing takes three steps: select import type, upload your CSV, then map columns.

Step One

Go to CRM > Companies or CRM > Contacts and click the three dots menu to find and select Import.

Step Two

Upload your CSV file. Nothing is imported until you complete Step Three, so there’s no risk at this stage.

Step Three

You’ll be taken to a mapping page where you match CSV columns to your account’s fields and Custom Fields.

Your account’s existing fields appear in dropdown menus. Select the CSV column headers that correspond to each field.

Learn about Company Categories

Learn about Follow-up Generators

Learn about FLOWs

Learn about Invoice Generators

Learn about Accumulating Generators

Learn about Recurring Generators

Learn about Proposal Generators

Learn about Marketing Audiences

Learn about Circles

Learn about Cannons

Important: Available options change based on your Role selection. Leads may show fewer options—this is normal since that Role has limited access.

Before clicking Import, you’ll see additional Import Options.

Portal Access Invitation: When checked, all imported Prospects and Clients immediately receive a Portal invitation. If unchecked, they’ll get a “Not Invited” status and won’t receive an email until you manually send one.

Update existing Contacts: When checked, any CSV rows matching existing Contacts (by email address) won’t be imported as new. Instead, the existing Contact’s data will be replaced by the CSV data. This is useful for bulk-updating existing records.

Important: If updating existing Contacts and you leave a field blank where data already exists, that existing data will be deleted.

Coordinator: By default, the person importing the Contacts becomes the Coordinator for all imported records. You can select a different user from the dropdown instead.

Import Tips

Assigning by ID Number

When assigning Contacts to Follow-up Generators or Email Marketing Audiences during import, use the numerical “ID” of these items in your CSV. Find these ID numbers in:

  • CRM > Follow-ups > Follow-up Generators (for Follow-up Generator IDs)
  • Marketing > Audiences (for Marketing Audience IDs)

Enter only the numerical ID in your CSV, not the name. See the sample CSV for an example.

Importing Large Data Sets

Small files import immediately with a success message. Larger files are queued and will complete within minutes.

Testing Your CSV Import

Since there’s no undo, test with just one or two rows first. This saves time if something doesn’t work as expected.

Import Logs: Understanding Errors

View import status (pending and successful) and troubleshoot problems through Import Logs.

Go to CRM > Contacts or CRM > Companies, click the three dots, and select Logs from the top menu.

You’ll see the file name, type, data source, row count, successful imports, status, and creation date.

Click Options to:

View Errors Log: See the specific rows that caused import errors.

Download Errors Log: Get the original CSV with an extra column showing errors.

Download Original: Download the original CSV file.

Delete: Remove the import from your logs. This action can’t be undone.

Download a Sample CSV

Our sample CSV is a starting point, not a final template. Customize it for your needs—modify fields, add columns, rearrange order, etc.

Download: Sample CSV Import File

What is CRM Exports?

The Contact and Company Export function lets you download all or selected default and custom data for your records in CSV format.

Company Exports

Navigate to CRM > Companies and click the Reports button.

A window opens where you can select and arrange fields for your export.

Download: Click when ready to create the export.

Uncheck/Check All: This toggle reflects your selections. Uncheck All deselects everything currently checked. Check All selects everything.

Remember Selection: Enable this to make your current selections the default next time you export.

Drag fields using the = icon to arrange them in your preferred order in the CSV.

Contact Exports

Navigate to CRM > Contacts and click the Reports button.

A window opens where you can select and arrange fields for your export.

Download: Click when ready to create the export.

Uncheck/Check All: This toggle reflects your selections. Uncheck All deselects everything currently checked. Check All selects everything.

Remember Selection: Enable this to make your current selections the default next time you export.

Drag fields using the = icon to arrange them in your preferred order in the CSV.

What Happens After an Export?

After starting an export, you’ll be directed to the Export/Import Logs page. A message confirms your request started, and you’ll receive an email when it’s complete.

Once finished, your system email will include a download link, or you can download from the Export/Import Logs page.

You can also access the logs page directly to download earlier exports.

From this page, you can Download or Delete previous exports.