Data Import

If you're migrating from another system or need to add a large number of records at once, you can import them in bulk using a CSV file. Wattle Clinic supports importing clients, patients, and catalog items.

To get there: click Settings in the sidebar, then select Import & Export — importing lives on the Import tab.

What you can import

Step 1 — Upload your file

Drag your CSV file into the upload area, or click Browse files to select it. Wattle Clinic will read the file and attempt to detect what type of records it contains based on the column headings.

If the detection is wrong, use the dropdown to manually select the correct import type.

The page will show how many data rows were found. If your file has more than 2,000 rows, a warning will appear — large imports may take a couple of minutes to complete.

Step 2 — Map your columns

Wattle Clinic will match your CSV columns to the fields it expects. For each column, you can confirm the mapping or change it using the dropdown. Any column you don't want to import can be set to Skip this column.

Required fields are clearly marked. If any are missing, a warning will tell you which ones still need to be mapped before you can proceed.

A live preview on the right shows the first few rows of your data as it will be imported, so you can check that everything looks right.

For files with dates, you'll be asked to confirm your date format — Australian (DD/MM/YYYY) or US (MM/DD/YYYY).

Required fields by import type

Clients: First Name, Last Name

Catalog Items: Code, Name, Category, Sale Price, Cost Price

Clients & Patients: First Name, Last Name (for client) + Patient Name, Species, Breed, Sex, Desexed/Neutered, Client/Owner Name

Step 3 — Review

Wattle Clinic validates every row before importing. The review screen shows:

• How many rows are ready to import
• Any rows with errors (shown in red) — these will be skipped unless you fix the source file and re-upload
• Any rows with warnings (shown in amber) — these can usually still be imported

For a large file, checking happens in the background so the page never freezes — you'll see a line like "Checking 1,200 of 5,000 rows…" count up while it works. Just wait for it to finish.

The list of rows is paginated — 50 rows to a page — with Previous and Next buttons and a "Page 1 of 3" indicator at the bottom. That keeps even a very large import quick to scroll, rather than one enormous list.

Duplicate detection: If any records match something already in Wattle Clinic, you'll be shown the match and asked whether to Link to existing or Create new. You must resolve all duplicates before you can proceed.

Step 4 — Import

Click Import to start. A progress bar shows how far through the file Wattle Clinic has got. Keep the page open while importing — closing it may interrupt the process.

When it's done, a summary shows how many records were successfully created. If any rows were skipped, the reasons are listed.

Undoing an import

If something went wrong, click Undo Import immediately after the import completes. This will delete all the records created by that import batch. Once you navigate away or import more data, the undo option may no longer be available.

Import history

Below the wizard, the Import History section shows a record of all previous imports — what was imported, how many records, the date, and the status.