# CSV imports and exports

Merchants move data in bulk with CSV or Excel files. They export from the dashboard, edit and import again, or an integration writes a file in the same layout for the merchant to import. This page describes every file: its columns, the key a row is matched on, and what a blank cell means. Imports run in the merchant's dashboard. The one file the public API takes is the product file, through `/v1/import` (see [Product import](/scope-catalog#product-import-import)).

## Rules every file follows

- **Column names** are matched without regard to case and in any order. A header that appears twice, in any casing, refuses the whole file. A header the importer does not know is not imported. The company, product, locations and cost centres files list it as a warning; the customer and order files drop it without one (the order file notes only its own export-only columns that carry values).
- **Rows group into records.** The company file has one row per company user, with the company columns repeated. The customer file has one row per address, the order file one row per order line, and the product file one row per variant or image. In the company and customer files a record's own columns may sit on any of its rows: the first value found counts, and rows that give different values fail the record. In the order and product files the first row of a group carries the record's own columns.
- **A blank cell keeps the current value**, so an import never clears a field by leaving it empty. Where a column can be cleared, the word `none` clears it; the tables say where. The order file does not follow this rule: a matching row replaces the order (see [The order file](#the-order-file)). In the other files there are two exceptions:
  - a `Tags` cell replaces the record's tags, so a blank `Tags` cell removes them;
  - a blank `cf:<name>` cell clears that custom field. Leaving the column out of the file leaves the field alone, and when a record spans several rows, a value in any of its rows wins over another row's blank.
- **Custom fields** travel as one `cf:<name>` column per custom field definition, named after the definition. Leaving the column out of the file leaves the values alone.
- **`default` and `all`.** In a column that overrides a store or company setting, `default` removes this company's or user's own choice, so a company follows the store again and a user follows their company. In a list of allowed locations or cost centres, `all` goes back to every one.
- **Create, update or both.** At upload the merchant chooses whether rows that match nothing create records, whether rows that match update them, or both. A row the choice excludes is skipped and listed with its reason. In the company file the choice governs companies, not users: a new email on a company the file creates or matches always creates its user and customer account, even when "create" alone leaves a matched company as it is, and an existing user is updated only when updating is allowed.
- **Matching keys** decide whether a row updates a record or creates one, so importing the same file twice changes nothing the second time, except in the order file:

| File | A row matches |
|---|---|
| Companies | the company whose `Company External ID` equals the cell, ignoring case; else, by `Company Name` ignoring case, a company that has no External ID yet, which then takes the row's. A row with no External ID matches by name any company, one with an External ID included; names need not be unique, so give companies External IDs before relying on names |
| Company users (rows of the company file) | the user of that company with the row's `User Email` |
| Customers | the customer with the row's `Customer ID` (Orbit's id); else the customer with the row's `Email`, ignoring case |
| Orders | the order imported earlier with the same `Order Reference`, or the order whose order number equals it |
| Products | by `Handle`, exactly, capitals included; or by `SKU` or `Barcode`, ignoring case, when the merchant picks that key, and then a row updates every product or variant with that value and never adds or removes a variant. An import that only creates always matches by `Handle` |
| Company locations | the location of the row's company with the row's `External Ref`, ignoring case; else the one with the row's `Branch` name, ignoring case (when the row has an `External Ref`, only a location with no reference yet, which then takes it) |
| Cost centres | the cost centre of the row's company with the row's `External Ref`, ignoring case; else the one with the row's `Code`, ignoring case (when the row has an `External Ref`, only a cost centre with no reference yet, which then takes it; a code that belongs to a cost centre with a different reference fails the row: "Another cost centre of this company already uses this code.") |

- **References keep your spelling.** The company file's `Company External ID`, and the `External Ref` of the locations and cost centres files, match ignoring case and surrounding spaces, and the record they match takes the file's spelling. In the locations and cost centres files, `Company External ID` only finds the row's company.
- **Exports round-trip**, except the order and product exports (see each file below). Every other export imports back unchanged, and importing the company file's export again writes nothing. An export's columns are the import's columns plus a few the platform computes, marked *export only* below; an import ignores those.
- **Results** list how many records were created, updated, skipped and failed (companies, customers, orders and products are counted per record, locations and cost centres per row), each failure with its row number and reason. In the company and cost centre files, a record that matches and that the file would not change counts as skipped, with that as its reason. One bad row never stops the others, with two exceptions: the company file and the customer file are checked a record at a time, so a row that fails the check leaves out its whole company, with every one of its users, or its whole customer, with every address. In the order and product files a row that fails is left out, and its record imports from its other rows. In the company file, a note about a company or user applied only in part, such as a catalogue it could not find or a user it could not add, is listed with the failures, though the company still counts as created or updated.

### The company file

| Column | Import | Values |
|---|---|---|
| `Company Name` | yes | Up to 255 characters. A row needs `Company Name` or `Company External ID`; the name is needed to create a company, and an existing one can be matched by its External ID alone. |
| `Company External ID` | yes | Your id for the company, unique in the store ignoring case. A row whose id two older companies hold in different casings fails, naming the clash. |
| `Company Status` | yes | `active` or `suspended`. |
| `Tax ID` | yes | The VAT or tax registration number. |
| `Note` | yes | A note for staff; buyers never see it. |
| `Pricing Catalogue` | yes | The name of a catalogue, set on the company's default location; `none` removes it. |
| `Payment Terms` | yes | The name of a payment term, set on the default location; `none` removes it. |
| `Tax Exempt` | yes | `yes` or `no`, on the default location. |
| `Tags` | yes | Tag names separated by commas. |
| `Credit Limit` | yes | An amount, or `none` for no limit (`creditLimit`). |
| `On Stop` | yes | `yes` or `no` (`onStop`). |
| `Status Note` | yes | Up to 500 characters, or `none` (`statusNote`). |
| `Order Approval` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.orderApprovalEnabled`). |
| `Over Spending Limit` | yes | `refuse`, `approval` or `default` (`b2bSettings.overSpendingLimit`). |
| `Over Credit Limit` | yes | `refuse_account`, `approval` or `default` (`b2bSettings.overCreditLimit`). |
| `Approval Threshold` | yes | An amount, or `none` (`approvalThreshold`). |
| `Approval Non Contract` | yes | `yes` or `no` (`approvalNonContract`). |
| `Authoriser Email` | yes | A company user's email, or `none` (`authoriserContactId`). |
| `Second Authoriser Email` | yes | A company user's email, or `none` (`secondAuthoriserContactId`). |
| `Approval Reminder Hours` | yes | A whole number from 1 to 168, or `default` (`b2bSettings.approvalReminderHours`). |
| `PO Number Rule` | yes | `off`, `optional`, `required` or `default` (`b2bSettings.poNumberMode`). |
| `PO Format` | yes | A mask, or `default` (`b2bSettings.poNumberFormat`). |
| `PO Unique` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.poNumberUnique`). |
| `Cost Centre Rule` | yes | `off`, `optional`, `required` or `default` (`b2bSettings.costCentreMode`). |
| `Cost Centres Managed Externally` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.costCentresManagedExternally`). |
| `Pay On Account` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.payOnAccountEnabled`). |
| `Branch Picker` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.branchPickerEnabled`). |
| `Delivery Instructions` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.deliveryInstructionsEnabled`). |
| `Lead Times` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.leadTimePerLineEnabled`). |
| `New Address At Checkout` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`b2bSettings.newAddressAtCheckoutDefault`). |
| `Loyalty Multiplier` | yes | A whole number from 1 to 3 (`loyaltyMultiplier`). Company loyalty is not in use yet, so the value changes nothing for now. |
| `Loyalty Pot` | yes | `shared`, `per_user` or `default` (`loyaltyPotMode`); not in use yet. |
| `Loyalty Redeem` | yes | `managers`, `managers_authorisers`, `everyone` or `default` (`loyaltyRedeemRoles`); not in use yet. |
| `User Email` | yes | The user's email. A row with no user email carries the company only. |
| `User First Name` | yes | |
| `User Last Name` | yes | |
| `User Role` | yes | `admin`, `buyer` or `viewer`, a preset of permissions. |
| `User Permissions` | yes | Permission flags separated by `;`: `can_view_company_orders`, `can_place_orders`, `can_add_users`, `can_delete_users`, `can_manage_permissions`, `can_request_quotes`, `can_view_company_quotes`, `can_view_invoices`, `can_pay_invoices`, `can_manage_company_profile`, `can_manage_addresses`. Or `none` for no permissions. Wins over `User Role`. |
| `User Spending Limit` | yes | The largest order total, with up to two decimals. Blank on a new user means no limit. |
| `Main Contact` | yes | `yes` or `no`. |
| `User Status` | yes | `active` or `inactive`; `suspended` is read as `inactive`. An inactive user cannot sign in or order. |
| `User Login` | export only | `verified` when the user's email address is confirmed, `pending` when it is not. It does not say whether they have set a password. |
| `User Approves Orders` | yes | `yes` or `no` (`canApproveOrders`). |
| `User Approval Limit` | yes | An amount, or `none` (`approvalLimit`). |
| `User Over Spending Limit` | yes | `refuse`, `approval` or `default` (`overSpendingLimit`). |
| `User Pay On Account` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`payOnAccount`). |
| `User May Enter New Address` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default` (`mayEnterNewAddress`). |
| `User Visibility Catalogue` | yes | A restricted catalogue's name, or `none` (`visibilityCatalogId`). |
| `User Locations` | yes | Branch names or external refs separated by `;`, or `all` for every location (`allowedLocationIds`). |
| `User Cost Centres` | yes | Cost centre codes separated by `;`, or `all` for every active cost centre (`allowedCostCentreIds`). |
| `User Default Billing Location` | yes | A branch name or external ref, or `none` (`defaultBillingLocationId`). |
| `User Default Shipping Location` | yes | A branch name or external ref, or `none` (`defaultShippingLocationId`). |
| `cf:<name>` | yes | One column per company custom field. |

In `User Locations` and the two default location columns, a branch is named by its External Ref or its name. A cell that could name two locations (one location's External Ref and another's name, or the name of two locations) is noted and the field left as it is: use an External Ref only one location has, or rename one of them. A deleted location a user still holds is exported by its External Ref or name rather than as `all`, and an import that names it notes it and leaves the field as it is. The words `all` and `none` keep their meaning only while nothing they could name is called that. A location named `All` or `None`, or with that word as its External Ref, or a cost centre coded `all`, from before those words were refused, makes a cell reading the word a clash, which is noted and the field left as it is: change that External Ref or code, or rename the location. `all` with other values in a list is noted too, and the list left as it is. Where the store has a catalogue or a payment term actually called None, a `none` cell never clears one. In `Pricing Catalogue` and `Payment Terms`, a default location already holding that record is left alone without a note, and any other keeps its value with a note asking you to rename the catalogue or payment term; in `User Visibility Catalogue`, the user's catalogue is left as it is, with the same note. A `Status Note` that already reads None is not cleared by a `None` cell.

### The customer file

| Column | Import | Values |
|---|---|---|
| `Customer ID` | yes | Orbit's id for the customer, as the export writes it. Leave it blank for a new customer: an id Orbit does not know fails the row. Keep your own system's id in a `cf:<name>` column. |
| `First Name` | yes | |
| `Last Name` | yes | |
| `Email` | yes | |
| `Phone Country Code` | yes | |
| `Phone` | yes | |
| `Notes` | yes | |
| `Marketing Email Consent` | yes | The export writes `true` or `false`; the import reads `true`, `yes`, `1` or `y` as yes and anything else as no. Blank keeps the value, or means no for a new customer. |
| `Marketing SMS Consent` | yes | The export writes `true` or `false`; the import reads `true`, `yes`, `1` or `y` as yes and anything else as no. Blank keeps the value, or means no for a new customer. |
| `Transactional SMS Consent` | yes | The export writes `true` or `false`; the import reads `true`, `yes`, `1` or `y` as yes and anything else as no. Blank keeps the value, or means no for a new customer. |
| `Tax Exempt` | yes | The export writes `true` or `false`; the import reads `true`, `yes`, `1` or `y` as yes and anything else as no. Blank keeps the value, or means no for a new customer. |
| `Tags` | yes | |
| `Customer Groups` | yes | Names of existing customer groups, separated by commas, matched ignoring case; an unknown name is a warning. An import only ever adds a customer to a group, never takes one out. |
| `Address ID` | yes | Orbit's id of the address the row updates; an id that is not one of the customer's skips the row's address, and a value that is not an id fails the customer. When it is blank and the customer has one address row in the file, the row updates their default shipping address, else their oldest, and adds one only when they have none. With several address rows, a blank one updates the address with the same `Address1` and `Postal Code`, ignoring case, and adds one when none matches. |
| `Address First Name` | yes | |
| `Address Last Name` | yes | |
| `Company` | yes | |
| `Address1` | yes | |
| `Address2` | yes | |
| `City` | yes | |
| `State` | yes | |
| `Postal Code` | yes | |
| `Country` | yes | |
| `Address Phone Country Code` | yes | |
| `Address Phone` | yes | |
| `Default Shipping` | yes | `yes` or `no`; `yes` takes the default from the customer's other address, and blank keeps it. |
| `Default Billing` | yes | `yes` or `no`; `yes` takes the default from the customer's other address, and blank keeps it. |
| `Account Type` | yes | `standard` or `company`. It must match an existing customer's type; an import never changes it. A new customer is always `standard`: company customers are created through the company file. |
| `Price Display` | yes | `inc` or `ex`: whether the customer sees prices with or without VAT; `none` removes the choice. The same value is `priceDisplay` on `/v1/customers`. |
| `Company Name` | export only | The company the customer belongs to. |
| `Company External ID` | export only | That company's External ID. |
| `cf:<name>` | yes | |

### The order file

A row group whose `Order Reference` matches an order replaces that order: its lines, amounts and statuses all come from the file. A blank amount reads as 0 (a blank `Tax Amount` or `Discount Amount` adds up the lines' own instead, and a blank `Item Quantity` is 1), a blank `Payment Status` reads as `payment_due`, a blank `Type` as `order`, and a blank `Order Status` follows from the payment status. Only `Notes`, `PO Number`, `Delivery Instructions`, `Branch`, `Order Date` and the addresses keep their value when blank, and a matched order keeps its currency. Each import also adds the order's shipping and billing addresses to the customer's address book, so every run adds them again. The order's customer is found by `Email` in lower case, compared exactly: a customer saved with capitals in their email is not found, and the import creates a new customer. A row that fails validation is left out, and its order imports from the rest of its rows, so a matched order loses that line.

| Column | Import | Values |
|---|---|---|
| `Order Reference` | yes | Required; groups the rows of one order. |
| `Type` | yes | `order` or `draft`; blank is `order`. |
| `Order Date` | yes | A date, `YYYY-MM-DD`, with an optional time and zone, such as `2021-03-04T14:22:10Z` or `2021-03-04 14:22:10 +0000`; a value without a zone is read as UTC. It cannot be in the future. |
| `Email` | yes | |
| `Customer First Name` | yes | |
| `Customer Last Name` | yes | |
| `Currency Code` | yes | |
| `Order Status` | yes | `pending`, `processing`, `awaiting_balance`, `completed`, `canceled` or `refunded`. Blank follows from the payment status; any other value reads as `pending`. |
| `Payment Status` | yes | `paid`, `succeeded`, `payment_due` (also `unpaid`), `partially_paid`, `awaiting_payment`, `processing`, `refunded`, `partially_refunded`, `canceled` or `failed`; blank reads `payment_due`. Use `payment_due` for an order the customer still owes. `pending` is only valid on a draft. The export can also write `authorized`, `captured`, `disputed` and `expired`, which do not import back: a row with one fails as an unrecognised Payment Status. |
| `Amount Paid` | yes | Required for `partially_paid`. |
| `Prices Include Tax` | yes | `true` or `false` (`yes`, `y` and `1` also read as true): whether `Item Price` already includes its VAT, so an order's line totals do not add `Item Tax` on top. Read from the order's first row; blank takes the store's own pricing mode. Shopify's `Taxes Included` column is read the same way. The export writes it on each order's first row. |
| `Shipping Amount` | yes | |
| `Tax Amount` | yes | |
| `Discount Amount` | yes | |
| `Notes` | yes | |
| `Item Name` | yes | |
| `Item SKU` | yes | |
| `Item Price` | yes | |
| `Item Quantity` | yes | |
| `Item Discount` | yes | |
| `Item Tax` | yes | |
| `Shipping Address1` | yes | |
| `Shipping Address2` | yes | |
| `Shipping City` | yes | |
| `Shipping State` | yes | |
| `Shipping Postal Code` | yes | |
| `Shipping Country` | yes | |
| `Billing Address1` | yes | |
| `Billing Address2` | yes | |
| `Billing City` | yes | |
| `Billing State` | yes | |
| `Billing Postal Code` | yes | |
| `Billing Country` | yes | |
| `PO Number` | yes | The buyer's purchase order number. |
| `Branch` | yes | The branch name or external reference of the customer's company location, matched within their company. The export writes the location's External Ref when it has one, else its name. A cell that could name two locations is not imported, with the note `Branch "X" was not imported:` and the reason. |
| `Delivery Instructions` | yes | The order's own delivery instructions, up to 1000 characters. |
| `Item Cost Centre Code` | yes | The code of a cost centre of the customer's company, matched ignoring case. |
| `Item Lead Time Days` | yes | A whole number of days, from 0 to 9999, until the line could ship; a row with any other value is refused on its own, with the reason. |
| `Item Expected Date` | yes | A real date written `YYYY-MM-DD`; a row with an impossible date is refused on its own, with the reason. |
| `Is Draft` | yes | `true` or `false`. The export still writes it and the import still reads it: a row is a draft when `Type` is `draft` or `Is Draft` is `true`. The import template leaves it out. |
| `Order Number` | export only | |
| `Subtotal` | export only | |
| `Total` | export only | |
| `Item Total` | export only | |
| `Item Bundle Name` | export only | |
| `Item Bundle Group` | export only | |
| `Payment Flow` | export only | How the order is paid, as recorded when it was placed: `on_account`, `manual`, `gift_card` or `loyalty_points`; blank for other orders. |
| `Amount Due` | export only | What is still owed. |
| `Due Date` | export only | `YYYY-MM-DD`. |
| `Item Cost Centre Name` | export only | The cost centre's name as it was at placement. |
| `Approval State` | export only | `awaiting`, `approved` or `declined`. |
| `Approved By` | export only | The name of who decided the order. |

### The product file

The product export does not import back unchanged. Its `Quantity` is the quantity stored on the product, not the live stock, and an import sets the stock of every product it matches from that column, so take the column out of an export you import again unless you mean to set stock. A `scheduled` product's row fails, `Bundle Components` are not applied, and `Taxonomies` holds only each product's primary path. With `SKU` or `Barcode` as the match key every row is matched on its own, so a blank `Tags` or `cf:` cell on a variant's row clears that product's tags or custom field; the export fills those cells only on a product's first row.

| Column | Import | Values |
|---|---|---|
| `Handle` | yes | The product's URL handle; the default match key. |
| `Name` | yes | |
| `Description` | yes | |
| `Short Description` | yes | |
| `Brand` | yes | A brand's name, matched exactly, capitals included; a name that matches no brand creates a new, live brand. Blank keeps the brand. |
| `Product Type` | yes | `physical`, `digital`, `subscription`, `service`, `gift_card` or `bundle`; an unknown value is read as `physical`. A blank cell makes a new product `physical` and keeps an existing product's type. |
| `Custom Type` | yes | The name of a custom product type. |
| `Tags` | yes | |
| `Status` | yes | `active`, `draft` or `archived`; any other value, `scheduled` included, fails the row. Blank keeps an existing product's status; a new product is `active`, or `draft` when none of its rows has a price. |
| `SKU` | yes | |
| `Barcode` | yes | |
| `Manufacturer Part Number` | yes | Up to 50 characters: on each variant's row for a product with options, else on the product's first row. Blank keeps it, and a value that is too long or holds control characters is skipped with a warning. |
| `Search Keywords` | yes | Extra words the store's search finds the product by, separated by commas or spaces; never shown to shoppers. On the product's first row; blank keeps them. Up to 1,000 characters: a longer value is cut at the last whole keyword before the limit, with a warning naming what was dropped. |
| `Replacement SKU` | yes | The SKU of the product that replaces this one once it is discontinued, on the product's first row: a product's SKU, or a variant's, which means its product. Matched without regard to capitals. Blank keeps the current replacement. A SKU this store does not have, the product's own, or one whose replacements lead back to this product is skipped with a warning, and the rest of the row imports. |
| `Quantity` | yes | Sets the stock of the product or variant the row matches. |
| `Is Physical` | yes | |
| `Is Taxable` | yes | |
| `Weight` | yes | |
| `Weight Unit` | yes | |
| `Dimensions Length` | yes | |
| `Dimensions Width` | yes | |
| `Dimensions Height` | yes | |
| `Dimensions Unit` | yes | |
| `Price` | yes | |
| `Compare At Price` | yes | |
| `Cost Price` | yes | |
| `Categories` | yes | Manual category (collection) names separated by commas. |
| `SEO Title` | yes | |
| `SEO Description` | yes | |
| `SEO Keywords` | yes | |
| `Image URL` | yes | |
| `Image Position` | yes | |
| `Image Alt` | yes | |
| `Option1 Name` | yes | |
| `Option1 Value` | yes | |
| `Option2 Name` | yes | |
| `Option2 Value` | yes | |
| `Option3 Name` | yes | |
| `Option3 Value` | yes | |
| `Option4 Name` | yes | |
| `Option4 Value` | yes | |
| `Option5 Name` | yes | |
| `Option5 Value` | yes | |
| `Variant Image URL` | yes | |
| `Variant Shipping Class` | yes | |
| `Shipping Class` | yes | |
| `Inventory Policy` | yes | `continue` or `deny`. |
| `Track Inventory` | yes | `true` or `false`. |
| `Taxonomies` | yes | Paths in the standard product category list, levels separated by `>` and paths by commas, such as `Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Tableware > Drinkware > Mugs`; each level matches ignoring case. A path that is not in the standard list is skipped with a warning, and a category whose name holds a comma cannot be named. A matched path replaces the product's taxonomies. |
| `HS Code` | yes | |
| `Country of Origin` | yes | |
| `Customs Description` | yes | |
| `Bundle Components` | export only | `sku:qty` pairs. The import does not apply them: set a bundle's components in the dashboard. |
| `Image Variant SKU` | yes | |
| `Tax Class` | yes | An unknown class fails the product, with all its rows. |
| `cf:<name>` | yes | One column per product custom field. All the columns above are importable. |

### The company locations file

| Column | Import | Values |
|---|---|---|
| `Company External ID` | yes | The company the branch belongs to; matched first, ignoring case. A row whose id two companies hold in different casings is refused, naming the clash. |
| `Company Name` | yes | The company's name, used when the external id is blank. |
| `Branch` | yes | The branch name buyers see at checkout. A new or changed name cannot be `all` or `none`, in any casing; a name the location already has passes. |
| `External Ref` | yes | Your own reference for the branch, unique within the company. A new or changed reference cannot be `all`, `none` or `default`, in any casing. |
| `Default` | yes | `yes` or `no`; the company's default branch, used when an order names no branch. |
| `Billing Address1` | yes | |
| `Billing Address2` | yes | |
| `Billing City` | yes | |
| `Billing State` | yes | |
| `Billing Postal Code` | yes | |
| `Billing Country` | yes | |
| `Billing Phone` | yes | |
| `Shipping Address1` | yes | |
| `Shipping Address2` | yes | |
| `Shipping City` | yes | |
| `Shipping State` | yes | |
| `Shipping Postal Code` | yes | |
| `Shipping Country` | yes | |
| `Shipping Phone` | yes | |
| `Delivery Instructions` | yes | Standing instructions for every delivery to this branch; `none` clears them. |
| `PO Required` | yes | `yes`, `no` or `default`; `default` follows the company's `poNumberMode`. It counts only while that mode is `optional` or `required`: while it is `off`, PO numbers are not used and this cell changes nothing. |
| `Payment Terms` | yes | The name of a payment term, or `none`. |
| `Pricing Catalogue` | yes | The name of a catalogue, or `none`. |
| `Tax Exempt` | yes | `yes` or `no`. |

Each address you send replaces the stored one whole. As in the company file, a `none` cell never clears a catalogue or payment term when the store has one actually called None, and `Delivery Instructions` that already read None are not cleared by a `None` cell.

### The cost centres file

| Column | Import | Values |
|---|---|---|
| `Company External ID` | yes | The company the cost centre belongs to; matched first, ignoring case. A row whose id two companies hold in different casings is refused, naming the clash. |
| `Company Name` | yes | The company's name, used when the external id is blank. |
| `Code` | yes | The code buyers pick, unique within the company ignoring case. A new or changed code cannot be `all`, `none` or `default`, in any casing; a code the cost centre already has passes. A row matched by its `External Ref` renames the cost centre to this code. |
| `Name` | yes | What the code stands for. |
| `External Ref` | yes | Your own reference for it, unique within the company. A new or changed reference cannot be `all`, `none` or `default`, in any casing. Rows that repeat a reference for one company, in any casing, fail. |
| `Status` | yes | `active` or `archived`. |
| `Users` | yes | Emails of the company users allowed to charge this cost centre, separated by `;`, or `none` to take it from every user; the export writes `none` for a cost centre nobody is given. If any email in the cell is not a user of the company, the cost centre's users are left as they are and each unknown email is noted. A user given any cost centre here can charge only the ones they are given. |

Every row for a company whose `Cost Centres Managed Externally` is on fails with "This company's cost centres are managed by its accounts system. Change them there, or through the API.", whichever columns it fills.

## Next steps

- The company and user fields behind the company file's account rules: [Companies, buyers and locations](/guides/b2b-companies).
- The cost centres file's API equivalents: [Cost centres](/guides/b2b-cost-centres).