Table of Contents
Purpose
Aspire offers the ability to import your Catalog Items yourself through Administration.
Below, you can read the instructions for downloading and uploading the Catalog Item Import file, as well as how to fill out each field.
📑 It's a good idea to educate yourself on how Items are set up in Aspire, so if you haven't already, check out this article!
Downloading the Catalog Item Import Sheet from Aspire
Next, you can move forward with downloading your catalog item import sheet from Aspire!
To download the spreadsheet for entering catalog item information, navigate to your profile icon and select Administration.
Then, select the Application tab, and then Imports.
Under Import Type, select Catalog Item.
Then, select Download Example to download the spreadsheet.
In your browser or file explorer, locate the downloaded spreadsheet and open it!
If your Excel file opens the file in a read only format, then you can select Enable Editing at the top to add your import information.
You'd fill in the spreadsheet with your Catalog Items that will be updated in Aspire!
🧠 If you need information or examples on each column, keep reading!
Here's an example:
Instructions for the Catalog Item Import Sheet
Please follow the guidelines very carefully below when entering your Excel spreadsheet with your items data to be uploaded into the Aspire system.
Instructions for how to fill out each field, including required fields, are available in the table below.
🧠 Keep in mind:
Do not remove or change any columns on this spreadsheet. If removed or changed, the data load will not work.
Do not press “ENTER” (carriage return) or “ALT+ENTER” (linefeed) anywhere in the spreadsheet. These will not be accepted by our system.
Do not skip or have blank rows.
No copyright or ™ symbols
⚠️ Columns A-D, G-J, N-P, and T are required fields and must be filled with data. Do not leave these cells empty.
Field Name Descriptions for Your Item Catalog Import
Below are the columns that are available for your Item Catalog import. 👇
Column and Field Name | Description | Example |
A. Item Name: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank.
Enter the common name for the item. This name is visible on proposals and when estimating. | 1" Backflow, Amethyst False Spiraea, Compost |
B. Item Type: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank
Select the item's Type from the available dropdown menu.
Types are predetermined by Aspire and can't be customized. | Choose from Labor, Material, Sub, Equipment, or Other |
C. Category Name: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank.
Used to group kinds of Items. | Gravel, Stone, Trees/Shrubs Hardscape, Perennial, or Chemical. |
D. Item Alternate Name: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank. Often the same as Item Name, but can be used for botanical name or other name for customer facing documents.
If you are not using an alternate name, then insert Item Name.
Additional info on where names are visible through Aspire can be found by clicking the Item Alternate Name header in the spreadsheet. | 1" Backflow, Astilbe a. 'Amethyst' VIO/PK, Compost |
E. Item Description: | This note becomes available when the item is placed onto a service in the estimate.
Additionally, you can choose to include it in the layout for a proposal as extra information for the customer. | Compost for landscaping side yard, gravel to cover driveways, covers full day of work |
F: Item Code: | Code used by you or your vendor to identify an Item. |
|
G. Purchase Unit Cost: | This is a required field must be two decimals and cannot be left blank.
Cost is what you pay for the item prior to any markups.
You can include tax in the cost if you pay sales tax and do not charge sales tax to the customer, states vary. | 12.22, 5.00, 100.00 |
H. Purchase Unit Type Name: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank.
Specify the unit of measure that provides the basis for ordering the item from a vendor.
Unit types are customizable and defined by the user. | 2 gal, 40 lb bag, 2" B&B |
I. Allocation Unit Type Name: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank. Often the same as Purchase Unit this is the unit of measure for the item when it is allocated or sold to the job.
Unit types are customizable and defined by the user. | ea, 1 gal, oz |
J. Allocation: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank.
The conversion factor to get is from Allocation Unit to the Purchase Unit.
Most items will have conversion of 1:1.
| Examples include:
Purchasing a yard of mulch and allocating a yard of mulch.
Another example would be: Purchasing 1 ton of Salt ➡️ Allocating it by the Pound ➡️ the conversion would be 2000. Enter a single number in the Allocation column.
2000, 1, 50 |
K. Allocation Unit Price Item Override: | Use this field if you need to override the price based on your Allocation.
Set the unit item override price directly at the catalog level, ensuring the correct price is used in estimates.
When an item with an override price is added to an estimate, Aspire uses the catalog price as the overridden price. | 0, 500, 49 |
L. EPA Name: | Enter your materials' EPA name if reporting on chemical usage.
| 2217-976, 2217-976
More examples of chemical usage reports can be found by clicking the EPA Name header column in your downloaded spreadsheet. |
M. EPA Number | This would be your materials’ EPA number if you need to report on chemical usage. |
|
N. Inventory: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank.
Enter 1 or Yes if this is an Item you will keep in your inventory.
Enter 0 or No if it is not. | 1,0,0 |
0. Available to Bid: | This is a required field and cannot be left blank.
For your initial item import, items will be marked as 1 or Yes for all items. If the item is marked as Available to Bid, your Aspire employees will be able to use it during bidding.
If you are doing a import of items after your initial import, then you can use 0 or No to mark the item as Not Available to Bid. | 1 |
P. Allocate From Mobile | This is a required field and cannot be left blank.
This will make the equipment item available to be allocated from Aspire Mobile.
Use 1 or Yes to mark this item available to be allocated from mobile.
Use 0 or No to make this item unavailable to be allocated from mobile. Use 0 or No if you do not plan to allocate from mobile. | 1 |
Q. Takeoff Item Name: | Use this field to set an Item Takeoff Name.
Make sure your Takeoff Names are created in your system before completing your import!
If the name does not match a Takeoff Item in your system, it will be tied to a Takeoff that most closely relates to a Takeoff that exists in your system. |
|
R. Material Item ID 1: | Enter or customize the unique identifier of any item type (material, equipment, etc..) except kits to utilize as tags.
These tags can then be selected when creating an estimate and then used to generate Reports. |
|
S. Material Item ID 2 | Enter or customize the unique identifier of any item type (material, equipment, etc..) except kits to utilize as tags.
These tags can then be selected when creating an estimate and then used to generate Reports. |
|
T. Branches: | This is a Required Field and cannot be left blank.
Allows your branch admins to set the branches for which the item can be used. Use a | symbol (pipe symbol) to add multiple branches in this field.
If the Item should be available for all branches, write ALL Branches in this column. | Main | Jefferson | South | Western, ALL Branches, Main |
Uploading the Catalog Item Import Spreadsheet in Aspire
When your spreadsheet is completed with information, you can then head to Aspire to import your Catalog Item information!
Navigate to your profile icon, and select Administration.
Then, select the Application tab, and then Imports.
Under Import Type, select Catalog Item.
Then, you can click the Upload button and choose your file from your computer folders.
The file chosen from your computer will upload into Aspire!
Understanding Errors
As you are importing your records if there are any validation issues with the spreadsheet, they will be flagged under the import type drop down.
Here’s an example:
There is a legend to help you understand the error type:
Depending on the import legend information, you can choose to import the file as is by selecting Complete Import in the right corner of the import window, or you can choose to fix the spreadsheet and begin a new import!