Bulk Imports
Create many records at once by filling in an Excel template and uploading it.
Typing records into FMX one at a time is fine for day-to-day work, but not for onboarding a thousand pieces of equipment. Bulk Imports lets you create many records at once from an Excel spreadsheet.
What can be imported
Depending on which modules your organization uses and what your user type allows, bulk import supports: inventory items, buildings, users and contacts, equipment items, equipment types, resources, work requests, schedule requests, work tasks, work task instruction sets, transportation requests, funding sources, and utility bills.
How it works
- Download the template. From the Bulk Imports area, download the Excel template for the type of record you're importing. Each record type has its own template with fixed columns — there's no column-mapping step, so the file must follow the template's layout.
- Fill it in. One row per record. If your organization has defined custom fields for that record type, the template includes columns for them too.
- Upload it. Give the import a title, attach your completed file, and import.
Validate before you commit
If you're not sure the file is right, use Validate only. FMX checks the whole file as if importing it but creates nothing. Problems come back annotated with the worksheet, row, and column of each error, so you can fix the spreadsheet and try again. Running a validation pass first is a good habit for any large import — it's much easier to fix a spreadsheet than to clean up half-imported records.
Permissions
Bulk import access is granted per record type on your user type — someone may be able to bulk-import equipment but not users. If you don't see Bulk Imports, or a record type is missing from it, that's a permissions question for your administrator.
Updating existing records
Some record types also support bulk updates from a spreadsheet — for example, users have a separate User Administer template for changing existing people in bulk, alongside the User Import template for creating new ones. See Managing Users and Contacts.
A worked example
A district is bringing its second high school into FMX with 800 pieces of equipment. The facilities manager downloads the equipment template, exports the old system's asset list into it, and runs Validate only. The report flags 14 rows where the building name doesn't match anything in FMX — a spelling mismatch. She fixes the spelling, validates clean, then imports. Ten minutes instead of a week of data entry.