Create import templates for leads, contacts and accounts
Create import templates that map your spreadsheet columns to lead, contact and account fields, clean the values with rules, and manage your templates.
Updated 28 October 2026 · 6 min read
An import template tells Salesfresh which column in your spreadsheet goes into which field. You make it once, from a sample file. After that, anyone can import files with the same columns. See Import from CSV or Excel.
For example, every month a property website sends you a spreadsheet of new leads. The columns are always the same. Without a template, someone has to work out each month which column is the name, the email and the phone number, and phone numbers end up in the wrong place. With a template, you match the columns once. Every month after that, anyone in your team imports the file in a few selects, and the data always goes to the right place.
Before you start
- Permission: View Import Templates to see templates. Create Import Templates and Edit Import Templates to make one, and Delete Import Templates to delete one.
- Plan: How many templates you can have depends on your plan. On the Free plan, you can have one template, for leads only. Starter allows 5 each for leads, contacts and accounts. See Plans and limits.
- Set up first: A sample file with the same columns as the files you will import, and a few rows of real data. Use a
.csvor.xlsxfile, up to 5 MB.
If you don't have a permission you need, ask your admin.
Make a template
Go to Settings → Data → Import Templates and select Create Template. There are four steps.
- Upload File: select Upload file, pick your sample file and select Next. A draft is saved as "Untitled Template" and a number.
- Choose Type: pick Leads, Contacts or Accounts, and select Next.
- Review Mapping: for each field under CRM Field, pick the column it comes from under CSV Column. For example, the "Buyer Email" column goes into Email. Select Preview to check your sample rows. You can go to the next step when every required field has a column and every sample row is valid.
- Finish: give the template a Name, such as "Property site leads", and add Notes if you like. Select Complete.
The template is now Ready, and anyone can use it to import. Until you complete it, it's a Draft. To carry on with a draft, select its name in the list.
Fields you must match
| Module | Required fields |
|---|---|
| Leads | Salutation, First Name, Email |
| Contacts | Salutation, First Name, Email |
| Accounts | Name, Entity Type, Type, Industry |
Phone numbers and addresses
Phone numbers and addresses come in groups. Contacts and accounts start with one address group. Phone numbers start empty, so select + next to the group to add the first one. Then do one of these:
- Match all four parts of the number: Label, Country Code, Calling Code and Number.
- Or match only Number, and add the Parse Phone Numbers rule. It fills in the other parts for you.
To add a second phone number or address, select + again. The bin removes the last one.
Clean the values with rules
Spreadsheets are often messy, with extra spaces or "Mr." in one row and "Mr" in the next. Rules clean each value before it's saved.
- Select the gear next to a field. The Transformation Rules panel opens.
- Select + Add Transformation Rule and pick a rule. You can add more than one. They run in order.
- Select Save.
- To test the rules on your sample file, open the panel again and select Validate. The results show under Validation Result.
Each rule can be added once to a field.
| Rule | Use it to |
|---|---|
| Trim | Remove spaces at the start and end, such as " Sam " to "Sam" |
| Case Transform | Change to Lowercase, UPPERCASE or Capitalize. Capitalize only makes the first letter a capital |
| Default Value | Fill in a value when the cell is empty |
| Map | Swap each value for another, such as "M" to "Male". Every value must be in your list, or the row is skipped |
| Replace | Change part of a value, such as "Mr." to "Mr" |
| Validate Email | Skip rows where the value isn't an email address |
| Parse Phone Numbers | Split a phone number into its parts |
| Lookup | Match a value to a lead source, account type, ownership, industry, campaign source, country or currency |
| Duplicate Check | Skip rows whose value is already in Salesfresh |
| Parse Address | Split an address into its parts |
| Split Text, Regex, Boolean Conversion, Type Conversion | Change the shape of text, yes or no values, and numbers |
Your templates
The Import Templates page lists your templates, with the sample file's name, their type, status, and when they were last changed and who changed them.
- To see a ready template's columns and sample rows, select its name. You can still change the columns there.
- To carry on with a draft, select ⋮, then Edit.
- To delete a template, select ⋮, then Delete. A deleted ready template's name can't be used again, so pick a new name for the next one.
Only the person who made a template can change its type or complete it.
Troubleshooting
| Message | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Not all required fields are mapped." | A required field has no column | Match it, or add a rule such as Default Value |
| "Unsupported file format. Please upload .csv or .xlsx file." | The file isn't CSV or Excel | Save it as .csv or .xlsx |
| "Some rows in your import template contain validation errors. Please …" | A sample row has a problem | Open Preview, then fix the file or add a rule |
| "Template name already exist" | Another template has that name, maybe a deleted one | Pick another name |
| A message that you've reached the maximum import templates on your plan | You have as many templates as your plan allows | Delete a template, or upgrade |
| A message that import templates for this module aren't on your plan | Your plan doesn't include templates for this module | Upgrade your plan |
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