Edition: Business & Enterprise

User-level: System Administrator

Add-on required: Advanced Data Import (please contact customersuccess@totalsynergy.com to discuss this option).

What this import does

This import creates new Invoices in Synergy in bulk, along with their Stage-level breakdown, the underlying Transactions being invoiced, and (optionally) any Credit Notes against them. It requires the Advanced Data Import add-on - without it, this import option isn’t available at all.

Before you start, make sure these already exist in Synergy, since the import checks every one of them:

The Projects being invoiced (with their Stages already set up)
Contacts, with the correct one marked as that project’s Invoice Contact
Staff, Rates, Tax Rules, and Expense Types used on any transaction line
Your Invoice Number and Credit Number numbering rules (prefix + digit length), Invoice Terms configured in Settings

Download and Import the Synergy Excel template

Download:

From Side Navigation, click your organisation > Organisation Settings > Data Imports > Excel Import
Click on the Invoices tab, and click Download.

Fill in the spreadsheet as instructed below, save and Upload.

Warning:

Do not rename, reorder, or delete any columns.
Do not remove or alter the header rows.

Import:

As above, click next to go to the Upload page.
Click Add files.
Find the completed spreadsheet.
- This will automatically start the upload and take you to the preview.
If Errors are found:
- Expand the Errors section.
  - Click on the red error triangle to review the errors.
  - Resolve each error on the spreadsheet.
  - Click re-upload.
Ready to Import:
- If no errors are found, click Import to begin importing the data to Synergy.
- Allow this process to complete before uploading additional data.

The five sheets, and how they fit together

Sheet	Purpose
Invoices	One row per invoice - the header: who it’s for, dates, and totals.
Invoice stages	Breaks each invoice down by Stage (and Phase, if used).
Invoiced transactions	The actual time entries, expenses, or disbursed bills being invoiced within each stage.
Credit Notes	One row per credit note, linked back to an invoice.
Credit Note Stages	Stage-level breakdown for each credit note.

Key thing to understand: these five sheets are linked purely by matching text - the same Invoice Number must appear on the Invoices, Invoice stages, and Invoiced transactions rows that belong together, and the same Credit Number links a Credit Note to its Credit Note Stages. You’re creating the invoice and all its detail in one batch — the invoice itself doesn’t need to already exist in Synergy, but everything it references (project, contact, stage, rate, etc.) does.

Sheet 1: Invoices

Column	Required?	Notes
Invoice Number	Yes	Must start with your Invoice Prefix, and the remaining digits must match your configured numbering rule’s length. Must be unique.
Invoice Prefix	Yes	Must match a numbering rule already set up in Synergy.
Invoice Date	Yes
Project Name	Yes	Must match an existing project.
Contact Name	Yes	Must be a Company or Individual contact (not Personnel).
Attention Name	Yes	Must be a valid contact under/related to the Contact Name - or “The Manager” - and must be marked as an Invoice Contact on that project.
Address	No
Invoice Terms	Yes	Must match an existing Invoice Terms setup.
Start Date / End Date	Yes	The invoice’s billing period. End Date can’t be before Start Date.
Summary	No	This is entered in as the Invoice Note.
Sub Total, Tax, Total	Yes	Sub Total + Tax must exactly equal Total — no rounding tolerance. Sub Total and Total must both be positive.
Credit Sub Total, Credit Tax, Credit Total	No (0 if none)	Same math rule applies. Each must be ≤ its Sub Total/Tax/Total counterpart. If any Credit value is positive, you must also provide matching Credit Notes rows - an invoice can’t show a credit was applied with nothing backing it up.

Sheet 2: Invoice stages

One row per Stage being invoiced on a given invoice.

Column	Required?	Notes
Invoice Number	Yes	Must match a row on the Invoices sheet.
Phase Name	Only if the project uses phases
Stage Name	Yes	Must exist on that project; can’t be Proposal/Unsuccessful/Complete status, and its Fee Type can’t be “No Billing”.
Tax Rule	Yes
Sub Total, Tax, Total	Yes	Same Sub+Tax=Total rule. The sum of all stage rows for an invoice must exactly equal that invoice’s own Sub Total/Tax/Total — this is the single most common import error.
Credit Sub Total, Credit Tax, Credit Total	No (0 if none)	Same proportional rules as the Invoices sheet.

Every invoiced stage amount also has a ceiling: it can’t push the cumulative invoiced value for that stage beyond the stage’s agreed value in Synergy (for Hourly Rates-type fee stages, there’s no such cap).

Sheet 3: Invoiced transactions

The actual chargeable items - this is what’s “inside” each invoiced stage.

Column	Required?	Notes
Invoice Number / Phase Name / Stage Name	Yes	Must match a row on the Invoice stages sheet.
Type	Yes	One of: Time, Cash, Travel, Office, Bill.
Date	Yes
Staff Name	Required for Time/Cash/Travel	Must be existing Staff.
Rate Name	Yes	Must be the correct rate type for the Transaction Type, and (for Time) configured specifically against that staff member.
Charge Value, Cost ex tax	Yes, > 0
Invoiced Value	Yes, ≥ 0
Credit Value	No	Can’t exceed Invoiced Value.

Type-specific extras

Time — needs Task Name and Quantity (hours) > 0.
Cash — needs Note, Expense Type, and Tax Rule.
Travel — needs Quantity > 0, Note, and Expense Type.
Office — needs Quantity > 0 only.
Bill (disbursements) — needs Bill Number, Bill Contact Name, and Bill Item Description, all matching an existing Bill already in Synergy (bills aren’t created by this import), with enough remaining quantity on that bill line and a matching Bill Date.
Reconciliation rule: for each invoiced stage, the sum of its transactions’ Invoiced Value must equal that stage’s Sub Total, and the sum of Credit Value must equal the stage’s Credit Sub Total. For Hourly/Capped-fee stages, at least one transaction row is required — you can’t invoice those stage types with zero underlying transactions.

Sheet 4: Credit Notes

Column	Required?	Notes
Credit Number	Yes	Must start with your Credit Prefix and match your numbering rule’s digit length. Unique.
Credit Date	Yes	Can’t be before the Invoice Date it relates to.
Invoice Number	Yes	Must match a row on the Invoices sheet (same file).
Notes	No
Sub Total, Tax, Total	Yes	Sub+Tax=Total rule applies.

Reconciliation: the sum of all Credit Notes against an invoice must equal that invoice’s Credit Sub Total.

Sheet 5: Credit Note Stages

Same pattern as Invoice stages, but for credits.

Column	Required?	Notes
Credit Number	Yes	Must match a row on the Credit Notes sheet.
Phase Name / Stage Name	Yes	Must match (and belong to) the same stage that appeared on the original invoice’s Invoice Stages rows.
Sub Total, Tax, Total	Yes	Must sum to equal the parent Credit Note’s totals.

The math rules, summarised

This import is strict about validating - everything must reconcile exactly, with no rounding tolerance:

On every sheet: Sub Total + Tax = Total.
Invoice total = sum of its Invoice Stages.
Each Invoice Stage’s Sub Total = sum of its Invoiced Transactions’ Invoiced Value (and Credit Sub Total = sum of their Credit Value).
Invoice’s Credit Sub Total = sum of its Credit Notes.
Credit Note’s Sub Total = sum of its Credit Note Stages.

If any of these don’t tie out exactly, the row will fail, double-check your spreadsheet formulas round to 2 decimal places before relying on them.

Quick troubleshooting checklist

“Invoice Number does not exist” on the Stages/Transactions sheet — check for typos; the number must match character-for-character with the Invoices sheet.
A math mismatch error — almost always means a stage, transaction, or credit row is missing, or a total was typed instead of calculated.
“Stage cannot be invoiced” — check the stage isn’t set to Proposal/Unsuccessful/Complete, or Fee Type “No Billing”, in Synergy.
Bill-type transaction errors — remember these require the Bill to already exist in Synergy first; this import can’t create one.
Test with one invoice (and its stages/transactions) before bulk-loading everything, so you can confirm your mapping is right before scaling up.

Importing Invoices