Import jobs from files

Upload work orders or service requests and let Essential prepare customers, properties, contacts, jobs, and visits for review before anything is created.

Where to find it: Open Jobs, then the "⋮" menu next to Create Job, select Import from Files, then add the source files.

Upload and review

1. Add the work-order or service-request files and any optional interpretation instructions.
2. Select Extract Records and wait for processing to finish.
3. Review the Customers, Properties, Contacts, Asset Groups, Assets, and Jobs & Visits sheets. Correct cells and resolve anything marked Needs attention.
4. For a long review, select the floating Save draft button to create a checkpoint. Saving a draft does not create customers, jobs, or visits.
5. Reopen or refresh the review whenever needed; Essential restores the latest saved checkpoint.
6. When the review is complete, select Create N Job(s) (showing the number of jobs about to be created). This final confirmation creates the reviewed records.

If you exclude a property but want to keep its contact, reselect the contact row to retain it as a customer contact.

Edits made after the last checkpoint remain marked as unsaved. Essential warns before you leave a review with unsaved changes.

If EA asks a clarifying question, answer it in chat before processing starts. When importing through EA, Finished means the review is ready to open. If review preparation fails, EA reports Import not completed and keeps the uploaded files and extracted results available. Open the review link to try again; a successful load updates EA to ready without reading your files again.

If a file cannot be processed, the review names it as failed instead of presenting an empty result for that file. Check any failed files before confirming the import.

Review custom fields

Your business’s configured custom fields appear on the sheet for their record type. Asset-group fields apply only to their configured equipment types. Required fields have a red asterisk; correct the marked cells before confirming. Choices come from the field’s configured options.

Existing values remain in place until you edit them. Select View source facts to inspect printed facts, including values that differ from an existing record or do not have a configured destination. A purchase-order reference becomes writable only when your business has an applicable custom field for it. Importing never creates field definitions or choices.

Keep store and building identifiers in the full property name, such as Cabelas #0507. Equipment headings remain source evidence; they are not a separate editable group name.

If a field no longer applies to a row, open View source facts and select Keep as evidence. This preserves the value in the draft and removes its assignment from that row.

Custom-field edits are included in saved drafts and support undo and redo. If a field’s configuration or an existing value changes while you review, reload and check the affected field before confirming again. An error prevents the import from partially applying.

If an import is too large

If Essential cannot finish checking an import or says it is too large to review, split the files into smaller imports and try again. No customer records or jobs are created by that failed check.

If checking a later edit fails, your previous review remains available. Retry the changes before confirming the import.

Related guides

• What is a job, and how does the Jobs list work?
• Work with the scheduling backlog