The master data import worksheet in Business Central gives you flexible error handling when you import data. You can import records and immediately see which rows failed validation, so you can correct them and try again.
Each row gets an action message after you run the import. Successful rows are marked “Import Success” and failed rows are marked “Error”. This lets you filter out the rows that worked and focus only on the ones that need fixing.
The worksheet validates field by field, so the error can be in any column. You scroll through the failed rows to find the fields that didn’t validate, such as a missing payment method code, a payment term that doesn’t exist in your database, or a language code that’s spelled wrong.
You correct the data directly in the worksheet and run the import again. Rows that still fail keep the Error message, and rows that now validate change to Success.
How error handling works in the master data import worksheet
When you import master data, like a customer list, you map your data into an Excel sheet and bring it into Business Central. In practice you don’t always check every value against the dropdown lists in the system first, so some records will fail. The worksheet handles that for you instead of stopping the whole import.
After you carry out the actions to modify and update your existing data, every record gets an action message. Rows that import correctly show “Import Success”. Rows that fail show “Error”. From there you can filter on the action message, fill down and delete the successful rows, and clear the filter to get a clean overview of just the failed lines.
Finding and fixing the fields that failed validation
The validation runs per field, so the problem can be in any column of a failed row. You scroll across the row to find the field that didn’t validate.
Common examples of what goes wrong:
- Payment method code: The code doesn’t exist in Business Central. Often this is a typing error, for example a value that should have been BTI.
- Payment term: You import a term like “22 days” that isn’t set up. You then decide whether to create a payment term for 22 days or correct the value to an existing one like 21 days.
- Shipment method: The text doesn’t match the code in your database. “Free on border” doesn’t exist if your database uses FOB.
- Location code: The location has a different name than what you imported, for example it should be “Basic”.
- Language code: A common mix-up is using the country/region code instead of the language code. Spanish is ESP as a language code, not ES, which is the country/region code.
For each error you can look up the relevant table to check the valid values and decide whether to create a new record or correct the imported value.
Re-running the import until all rows succeed
Once you’ve corrected the data, you carry out the action again. Lines that still have a problem keep their Error message, while lines that now validate change to Success. You repeat this until every row reads Success. That’s all there is to handling errors in the master data import worksheet.
Q&A
How do I see which rows failed when importing master data in Business Central?
After you carry out the import, each row gets an action message. Successful rows show “Import Success” and failed rows show “Error”. You can filter on the action message to display only the failed rows.
Why does the master data import worksheet only show one field as the error in a row?
The worksheet validates field by field. The error message points to the specific field that didn’t validate, so you may need to scroll across the row to find which column failed.
What happens after I correct the errors in the import worksheet?
You carry out the action again. Rows that still fail keep the Error message, and rows that now validate change to Success. You repeat this until all rows succeed.
Why does my language code fail when importing customers?
A common cause is using the country/region code instead of the language code. For Spanish, the language code is ESP, while ES is the country/region code.