15Five's bulk import tool allows account admins to add or update multiple accounts at once via CSV. This article walks through how to complete a bulk import and what information can be managed via bulk import. See the "FAQs" section at the bottom of this article for tips and tricks on how to use the bulk import tool efficiently and effectively.
In this article, you will learn...
Access and availability
⛔️ Required access to Manage people.
👥 This article is relevant to Account admins.
📦 This feature is available in all pricing packages.
How to Complete a Bulk Import 🧑💻
Account admins can import new users or update existing users via CSV using our bulk import tool.
- Click People in 15Five's main, left-hand navigation.
- Open the "Import" tab in the top navigation bar.
- You’re now on the bulk import page, which lists all fields manageable via CSV. Review the table and formatting rules carefully before creating your CSV to ensure proper formatting and content. For questions about specific columns, check the FAQs at the bottom of this article.
- Download your company's current employment structure by clicking the Download current structure button at the top of the page.
Tip
We suggest downloading two copies of your current structure: one to make edits to and upload, and another to keep in a safe place for re-upload in case any unintended changes are made.
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Prepare your bulk import CSV. The only required column is your Employee Identifier (email or employee_id). If you're updating employee settings via bulk import, be sure to include columns for each field you want to modify.
Note
Make sure the Employee Identifier (employee ID or email) shown at the bottom of the page matches the identifier you used in your CSV file. If it doesn’t, you can update your organization's default identifier. Learn how →
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Upload your CSV. Click Choose file at the bottom of the import page and select your saved CSV (must be in UTF-8 CSV format).
- On the Preview import screen, review the pending changes. If something looks off, click Start over in the bottom-left corner to cancel the import and return to the bulk import page.
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[Optional] If you want new users to receive an invite email right away, check the box next to "Send invite email to all in bulk import." If you leave it unchecked, you can manually send invite emails later when you're ready for them to access the platform.
Tip
You can customize the subject line and body of the invite email using the steps in our "Customize the content of invite emails" article.
- Click Finish import. Depending on the size of your CSV, it may take up to 15 minutes for the import to complete.
- Once complete, updates will appear in 15Five:
- If you sent invite emails, new users will show up under "Pending invitations" in the Invited tab of the Manage People page.
- If not, they’ll appear under "Created people." To send invites, follow the steps in our "Send an invitation to a created person" article.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ❓
Billing
No. 15Five will not charge for invited/new individuals until the invite is accepted and the person becomes active. Billing for the new individual(s) is prorated based on activated date and the time left in your current subscription period.
CSV fields
For a full list of fields that can be managed via CSV import, visit the bulk import page in 15Five. Please read that page in its entirety before creating a bulk import CSV, as it contains important information regarding each individual field.
It just might be! See this article for information on how to bulk update custom attributes.
We use employee email or employee ID as the unique identifier— you can select which option you want to use in your company's import settings (in-app link). That means if you're, for example, looking to update the job title via bulk import, your CSV only needs to include either the email column or the e employee_id column and the title column. That said, if you're adding people via bulk import, you must include an email address even if your company uses employee_id as the unique identifier because all 15Five accounts must be associated with an email address.
We only update fields that change. For example- if you upload a CSV on which the only change is a new job title for an individual, as long as you make that title change in the row that contains the individual's current email address, the job title will be updated.
No. 15Five will only update information for people and fields who are included on the import. If a person or field is not included on the CSV, that information will remain as is.
start_date is the date a new individual will be invited to and have access to 15Five (mm/dd/yyyy). This field is optional. If you'd like for a person to be invited/have access to 15Five immediately, leave this field blank or do not include it in your import. People without a start date will get an invite immediately and can sign into 15Five right away.
Yes. To bulk deactivate, use the column header is_active and type "n" next to the email addresses of people whose accounts you'd like to deactivate.
The due_day column header can only be used if you are on a weekly cadence for Check-ins. At this time, you cannot use the bulk import tool to update due day for bi-weekly or monthly reporting periods. For steps on how to change Check-in due day for people who aren't on weekly Check-in cadences, check out this article.
Groups
Each group type gets its own column in a CSV import (e.g. group_type_Department). You can also create new group types via bulk import CSV by creating a new column with the format group_type_NewGroupType.
If you want to add a person to more than one group within a group type, separate the group names using a semicolon. For example, if you want to add a person to both the Sales and Account Management groups within the group type Departments, it would look like this:
So— if you want to add a person to a group called Learning & Development in the group type Team Initiatives, it would look like this:
No, you do not need to upload or update Smart Groups through the CSV. As you upload new employees, they will be placed into the corresponding Smart Group depending on the direct manager email you include in the CSV file.
Integrations
Yes. The bulk import tool is often utilized by SCIM/HRIS customers for fields that are not automatically updated via the integration.
Errors
If you see this error message, try re-saving your import as a CSV UTC-8 format and uploading again. This error is common when you try and upload an Excel file instead of a CSV file, but can easily be resolved by saving the file in the correct format.