👤 This feature is available for the following applications:
Standalone application ✅
Consortium application ✅
🔐 This feature is available for the following user/s:
Administrator ✅
Application Member ❌
Application User with “Review” ability ❌
Application User ❌
🔍 Purpose
In some cases, suppliers may choose to complete a questionnaire via spreadsheet, which must then be manually uploaded by an application administrator. This process is not automated and requires manual setup and import.
Forms can either be:
Updated, if the supplier is revising an existing submission.
Created, if no prior form exists for that supplier.
Manual imports are necessary when automation isn’t feasible. Administrators are responsible for ensuring data accuracy and should maintain clear communication with suppliers to support transparency and address any issues.
🛠️ Prerequisites
Although it may seem counterintuitive, setting up the import first is essential. It allows for early mapping of spreadsheet columns (e.g., supplier names, response data) to form fields, ensuring accurate data transfer.
The setup defines the required spreadsheet structure, guiding how suppliers prepare their data. Done correctly, it prevents errors like misaligned columns or missing fields.
Prioritizing this step creates a solid foundation for integration, streamlining the process and minimizing the need for corrections.
📝 Step-by-Step Guide
(a) Manual Data Upload
1. Go to the Form Template Module within the navigation menu and click on the Form Template tab
2. Select the form/s that will be uploaded. (see example below)
3. Click on the Edit Question icon of the question that will contain the response of their organisation/supplier name and click Question Settings.
4. To ensure that responses are applied to the correct form the Import Key field is populated with the same text as the Question field. Remembering to press Save once a change is made to the Import Key field.
Note: The Import Key must be unique for each question in the questionnaire and cannot contain comma’s.
One way to ensure this is to add the Question ID (found in square brackets in the Question field e.g. [23292]) as part of the Import Key e.g. ‘Please provide your: [23293]’
5. One of the requirements for the import process is for the application to identify which organisation this form is linked to. In order to do this, the Import Key for the question ‘Organisation name’, it needs to have the suffix owner
If there is no form currently on the supplier profile you will need to follow this step:
To add a form to the organisation profile and add responses, the Import Key might initially be Organisation Name on it’s own. However, as it serves as the identifier of the organisation and indicates which Organisation this form pertains to, we add the suffix |owner to the Import Key .This transforms it into Organisation Name|owner
If there is an existing form attached to the supplier profile and just needs updating please follow this step:
In order to update forms rather than create new ones, the suffix |unique needs to be applied to the Import Key that contains the unique information identifying which form to update. For instance, in the case of updating an audit, the Audit Id might serve as the unique question, thus the Import Key would be Audit Id|unique or another example would be Factory Name question thus the import key would be Factory name|unique.
Note: A question might be both the owner and the unique identifier and as such, the suffixes can be “joined” together. Organisation Name|unique|owner (the order is irrelevant whether unique or owner comes first)
(b) Generate the required spreadsheet (.XLSX) to provide the Supplier/s
All of these Import Key’s created for questions from the earlier steps are the headings for the spreadsheet (.XLSX file) that will be imported into the application.
The Import Key with the extra suffix’s do not need the suffix added to the column name in the .XLSX file. In other words;
”Organisation Name|owner” from our earlier example only needs to be “Organisation Name” in the .XLSX file.
There are 2 options available;
1. Create a brand new spreadsheet with the headings which are the same as the Import Key’s.
This option is useful to provide a Supplier that hasn’t yet answered any questions.
2. Export the responses that already exist on the form that require updating.
This option is useful if the Supplier has already started the questionnaire and the Client needs to manually update responses or add to them.
This can be done through the Reports -> Export Forms Module.
This export does not include the Import Keys, just the questions as headings and the responses for the forms, therefore it will be important to cross reference the questions are the same as the Import Key's (see Item 3 above).
By default, this will export all forms visible to the Client in the application within a selected Group. If there is only a small number of forms that the Client would like to send out for manual updating, we recommend setting up (even if only temporarily) a Group with the required Supplier/s within it and exporting just that Group.
3. If the Client follows step 2 above, then each of the headings in the exported file needs to be replaced with the appropriate Import Key’s that were set up in the Setup the form template in preparation for the data import process.
The client is also able to delete the unneeded columns in the exported spreadsheet.
(c) Import the form/s responses
Once the .XLSX has been completed by the Supplier and ready to be reimported back into the application;
1. Go to the Forms Module
2. Select the Form Templates tab
3. Select the applicable Form Template
4. Click on the Settings icon in the Form Template and then click on the Import tab and select the .XLSX file that needs to be imported
💡Important Information
Questions in the questionnaire that have predefined answer options need to be responded to by the Supplier exactly as the answer is written in the application. It is for this reason that we recommend that the Client provide the Supplier with all options available to them to select from in a separate spreadsheet. These can be exported straight from the
Form Templateproviding a separate sheet with all the possible answers for each of these questions.Responses that have commas, need to have double quotes at both ends of the response e.g. “No, we are not required to report on Modern Slavery”
Questions that can have multiple responses, need to have each response separated by a comma
In order to update existing forms, the suffix
|uniqueneeds to be applied to theImport Keyof the question that holds the unique identifier
If the Client is sending out the responses on the form that the Supplier has already completed, it is the responsibility of the client to not send Supplier information to other Suppliers. In other words, if the exported spreadsheet contains multiple Suppliers responses, then the file needs to be broken up into multiple files so that there is a separate file for each Supplier so that sensitive information about Suppliers is not shared.
🤔Troubleshooting
The import will only work with .XLSX files even though it accepts other formats from the file selector. Be sure to use an .XLSX file.
Occasionally Excel will put a “title” row as the first row of the file. Be sure to hide that or remove it before attempting the import.
Make sure responses with commas have double quotes around the response e.g. “No, we are not required to report on Modern Slavery”
✋ Need Help?
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For assistance, please contact your Customer Success Manager, email [email protected], or click the chat icon in the bottom-right corner for further support.