Importing Inventory Items

Inventory Items is a Tier 1 (Day One) data type. This is typically one of the first imports you perform when setting up AccuArk, as your product catalog is essential for sales, invoicing, and stock management.

Before You Begin

Set Up Categories First

Every inventory item must be assigned to a category. The Category field is required, and the value you enter in your CSV must match an existing category name in AccuArk exactly.

If you have categories to import, do that first using the Categories import. Otherwise, manually create your categories in AccuArk before importing inventory items.

Select a Location

The inventory import is location-aware. Before importing, you select a target location from the dropdown in Step 1. Stock quantities in your CSV are applied to this location. If you operate multiple locations, you can run separate imports for each location.

Step-by-Step Import

1. Open the Data Exchange Center from the Business menu
2. Click Import on the Inventory Items card
3. Select the Location where these items will be stocked
4. Click Browse and select your CSV file
5. Click Next to proceed to column mapping
6. Review and adjust the column mappings. Ensure at minimum:
   • Item Name is mapped (required)
   • Category is mapped (required)
   • SKU is mapped if you want upsert (update) support
7. Click Next to validate
8. Review the validation results. Check for errors, especially category lookup failures.
9. Click Import to run the import
10. Review the summary when complete

How Upsert Works for Inventory

Inventory items use SKU as the primary match key. When you import a row:

• If the SKU matches an existing item, the item is updated with the new values
• If no SKU match is found, AccuArk checks by item name
• If neither matches, a new item is inserted

This means you can safely re-import your inventory file after making changes in a spreadsheet. Existing items are updated, and new items are added.

Stock Quantities

The Stock Quantity field sets the stock level for the selected location. When importing:

• For new items, the stock quantity is set at the selected location and a stock transaction is logged
• For updated items, the stock quantity at that location is adjusted to match the imported value

If you leave the stock quantity blank or do not map it, the item is created with zero stock.

Common Issues

"Category not found" Error

The category name in your CSV does not match any existing category in AccuArk. Check for typos, extra spaces, or case differences. Category matching is case-insensitive, but the name must otherwise be exact.

"Class not found" Error

Similar to categories, the class name must match an existing class in AccuArk. Classes are optional — if you do not use them, skip the Class column.

Duplicate SKUs in File

If your CSV contains two rows with the same SKU, the second row updates the record created by the first row. The final result reflects the values from the last row processed.

Tips

• Export a template first — Click Export on the Inventory Items card to get a CSV with all the correct column headers
• Start with essentials — At minimum, include Item Name, SKU, Category, and Price. You can always add more details later via a second import.
• Tax type values — Use "l" for local tax, "n" for non-taxable, or leave blank for the default
• Track Stock — Use "true" or "false" to control whether stock tracking is enabled for each item. Defaults to "true" if not specified.