Despite your best efforts, sometimes a spare comma or line break will remain buried somewhere in your spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel has all of the tools required to help you clean up and condition your data, however not everyone has access to Excel.

Google offers a FREE spreadsheet editor called Google Sheets that you can easily use to condition your data before upload.

Load up your spreadsheet in Google Sheets, and perform the following:

Strip all formatting

Click the grey rectangle in the top left corner of the spreadsheet, or press (Ctrl+A) to select everything
With everything selected navigate to "Format" in the main menu, and select "Clear All Formatting" (Ctrl+\)
With everything still selected, Navigate through the main menu and select "Format > Number > Plain Text"

Remove unwanted characters

Navigate to "Edit" in the main menu, and select "Find and replace" (Ctrl+H)

Find any commas and remove them

Find: ","
Replace with: (empty)
- or alternatively, you might like to use a hyphen instead
Press "Replace all"

Find any single or double quotation marks and remove them

Find: ","
Replace with: (empty)
- you might alternatively want to replace these with the word foot or inch, depending in why they were there to start with
Press "Replace all"

Find any line breaks and remove them

Find: /n
Replace with: (empty)
Turn on "Search using regular expressions"
Press "Replace all"

Remove currency signs from prices

(only applicable for Items, Item Prices, Bank Feeds, and Supplier Price List)

You do not need to include any of these symbols in your price uploads. Just simple '12.34' decimals are all that is needed.

Find: "$"
Replace with: (empty)
Turn off "Search using regular expressions"
Press "Replace all"

Cleanup and Final Verification

Visually inspect data and be sure you are satisfied with the content.
Remove any columns you will not need - this will simplify the import process.
Ensure the first row of your spreadsheet has meaningful header names in it.
Export
- When ready, navigate to File > Download > "Comma-separated values (.csv, current sheet)"
- Save the file to your computer, ready for upload to HirePOS.

CSV Data Import (Overview)

CSV Data Import (Overview)