Updating actuals by CSV spreadsheet

In this article:

• Downloading the CSV template
• Entering actuals into the spreadsheet
• Uploading the completed CSV template
• How is the CSV template formatted?
• Creating new rows in the CSV template
• Troubleshooting the CSV upload

Our CSV template simplifies the importing your financial actuals by creating a template that is pre-formatted to match the structure of your Dashboard. Categories such as revenue, expenses, and more are automatically created in a convenient spreadsheet that can be edited in Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Pages, and other popular programs. Once you input your accounting actuals into the template, you can then upload it into the LivePlan Dashboard. Your imported actuals can now be analyzed and compared to your forecasted projections using the Dashboard, Live Forecast, and Monthly Review.

This feature is available to LivePlan Premium users. To learn more about LivePlan Premium, please click here. 

Downloading the CSV template

To ensure the accuracy of your financial actuals, LivePlan will format a CSV template to be used to import your actuals into LivePlan.

To download the CSV template:

• If this is your first visit to the Dashboard section for a particular company, click the Get Started button to move past the initial video:
  
  • In the overlay that appears, click Import or enter your accounting data:
    
• If you have already visited the Dashboard or if you have previously entered actual data, click Update your actuals:
  

1. Click Import Actuals from a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file:
   
2. Click Download .csv template:
   
3. The spreadsheet template will download to your default download folder.

Entering actuals into the spreadsheet

Once you have found the CSV template, you can open it with your preferred spreadsheet app, such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, or Apple Numbers.

In the template details below, you will find the revenue streams and expenses for an example plan, along with the first four months of past actuals:

You can input actuals for the two years prior to your plan start date. Any existing actual data will be included in the download template. 

Uploading the completed CSV template

When the template is completed, you can upload it to LivePlan. All figures entered into the template will be applied to your past actuals.

To upload a completed CSV template

1. In the CSV import overlay, click Upload .csv file:
   
2. Select the completed template file on your computer. LivePlan will automatically apply the data from the template to your past actuals. Once complete, the Upload Results box will summarize the changes. Click View Performance Dashboard to return to the Dashboard:
   

How is the CSV template formatted?

The CSV template is formatted based on your Dashboard. In turn, every Dashboard in LivePlan is structured to match the structure of the corresponding forecast, specifically in revenue, direct costs, and expenses.

The example below shows the difference in available Dashboard fields when comparing an empty forecast scenario to a forecast with entries. A CSV downloaded from either of these example forecast scenarios would be formatted to their own individual structures.

Creating new rows in the CSV template

The forecast creates the fields in the Dashboard where you input your actuals. The fields in the Dashboard determine the formatting of your CSV template. To add a new row in your CSV template, you must first create a corresponding forecast entry and a matching row it will automatically be added to your next CSV template download.

Note: To learn more about creating forecast entries, please read Preparing a forecast

Using List View as a shortcut

You don't have to complete all the numbers in forecast entries to create rows in your CSV template. Instead, you can use List View to set up your fields quickly. This is especially useful for those starting LivePlan from the Dashboard.

In the example below, you see List View used to quickly start three revenue entries in the forecast without inputting the values. Navigating to the Dashboard, refreshing the browser, and then updating the Dashboard with these example revenue fields will now be included as fields in the CSV template.

Example revenue fields in exported template

Troubleshooting the CSV upload

Invalid value errors

Just like the Dashboard, each CSV template is based on your unique forecast. This means that if you use a CSV template from a different forecast or alter the formatting in the CSV template in any way besides filling data into the fields included in your unique template, the upload will not work.

The example below outlines revenue, expenses, and direct costs in red. All of those rows are unique to and based upon a specific forecast. If you were to add your own line items as rows into the .CSV as you could in Excel, the formatting matching this CSV template to the specific Dashboard it was generated from would be broken, and the upload would not work.

Why isn’t my forecast updating upon successful CSV upload?

The CSV template is only formatted to upload your financial actuals into the Dashboard. At this time, the LivePlan Forecast cannot be updated with the CSV template. However, you can use the template to manually copy and paste rows of data into your forecast entries to update them.

To learn more about moving numbers from a CSV into the LivePlan Forecast, please read about Pasting numbers from a spreadsheet into the forecast