Last reviewed: September 2026.

The Clients & Households import creates your households and clients. Run it before any account, insurance or billing import. Every later file links to these clients by Client ID.

If your firm syncs with Redtail or Zoho, do not import clients from a file. The sync creates them. See What to Import First.

At a glance

Start from Households › Add Household › Import Data, or Imports › Import Data.
Choose Import Client Data › Clients & Households.
Map Household ID and Client ID. Map one Client Name column, or First Name and Last Name.
One file per import. CSV or .xlsx. Only the first sheet is read. Row 1 is the header row.
One import both creates new clients and updates existing ones. Clients match by Client ID.
Watch the progress panel: Created, Updated, Failed, Duplicates.
The report and the original file stay on the Imports page. The person who ran the import and Admins can open them.

Before you start

Download the template. The link is on the first screen of the import: Download the Contact Import template. Its headers auto-map.
Give every client a stable Client ID. SurgeTK matches on it, exactly as typed, across your whole firm. Never change it later.
Give every household a Household ID. Clients with the same Household ID share one household.
Put names in one Client Name column as Last, First (for example Doe, John). Or use two columns, First Name and Last Name.
Use one row per client. Remove duplicate rows.

What each row needs

Your row has	It also needs	Result
A Household ID that matches an existing household, and a Client ID	Nothing else	The client is created or updated. A name is optional on an update.
A Household ID that matches an existing household, and no Client ID	Nothing else	Only household-level fields are updated: Lead Advisor, Marginal Tax Bracket %, Household Status.
A new Household ID	Client ID, first name and last name	A new household is created with this client as head of household. Without all three the row fails: "Cannot create a new household for Household ID '…' without Client ID, First Name, and Last Name. Map those columns and ensure this row has values, or remove this row from the file."
No Household ID	Client ID, first name and last name	The client is created without a household. Without all three the row fails: "No Household ID, and missing Client ID / First / Last — nothing to import for this row."

Step 1: Open the import window

From Households: click Add Household, then Import Data.
From Imports in the left sidebar: click Import Data.

Both open the same window. Its title is Import. If your firm has no households yet, the Households page also shows an Upload button that opens it.

Step 2: Choose what to import

On Pick Your Data Type, click Import Client Data. The window moves ahead as soon as you click a tile.
On Choose Your Client Import Type, click Clients & Households.
The Prepare Your Spreadsheet screen lists the fields and has the Download the Contact Import template link. Click Next.

Step 3: Upload your file

On Upload Contact File, click Choose File or drag your file into the box.
Upload one file. If you drop several files, only the first one is used.
Click Next.

Accepted files: CSV and Excel .xlsx. The older .xls format is rejected with "Only CSV or Excel (.xlsx) files are allowed for imports." SurgeTK reads the first sheet only. Row 1 must be the header row.

Step 4: Map your columns

The screen is called Map Your Spreadsheet Columns for Contact Import.

Check Household ID and Client ID. Both must be mapped before the import can run.
Check Client Name. By default it takes one column. Tick Use separate First & Last columns? to map First Name and Last Name instead. Middle Name is available under Map Additional Fields in this mode.
Click Map Additional Fields to map the other columns. Template headers auto-map. Other headers auto-map only when they match a field name exactly.
Click Import.

How SurgeTK reads a single Client Name column

With a comma: the word just before the comma is the last name. The first word after the comma is the first name. Any other words after the comma become the middle name.
Without a comma: the first word is the first name. The last word is the last name. Anything between is the middle name.
Jr, Jr., Sr and Sr. at the end of a name are dropped.
Multi-word last names lose their first part. Van Buren, Martin is saved with the last name Buren. Use separate First Name and Last Name columns for these clients.

Step 5: Monitor progress

A progress panel opens. The import runs on SurgeTK servers and the panel updates as rows are processed.

Created: new clients.
Updated: existing clients, with the fields that changed.
Failed: rows that were not imported, with the reason.
Duplicates: a Client ID that appears more than once in the file. The first row is imported. The others are listed as "Duplicate clientId in the same spreadsheet: {id}".
Warnings: appears only when there are warnings, such as "Household is archived". While it shows, it takes the place of the Updated tab.

The footer shows "Created: … | Updated: … | Total: …". When the import finishes, a See Report button appears and the page reloads shortly after.

If nothing arrives for 60 seconds, the panel shows "The import appears to have stalled. Please close and try again."

Step 6: Review the report

Go to Imports. Each import is one row with the file name, the import type, who ran it, and the import date.
Click the View import report icon to open the PDF report in a new tab. Allow pop-ups for SurgeTK, or you see "Unable to open the report. Please allow pop-ups for this website and try again."
Click the Download original file icon to get the file you uploaded.
Only the person who ran the import and Admins can open the report and the file.
The newest import in the firm has an Undo button. See Undoing Your Most Recent Import.

What the import does and does not do

Clients match by Client ID. The match is exact and covers your whole firm.
Households match by the Household ID you imported before, or by the ID shown next to Household ID: at the top of the household page.
A new Household ID creates a household with that ID. The first client in it becomes the head of household.
A client never changes household through an import. If a Client ID already belongs to another household, the client stays there. A new Household ID on that row still creates a new, empty household.
Household names are not imported. SurgeTK builds them from the first two clients, for example Doe, John & Jane or Doe, John & Smith, Jane.
Rows without a Household ID create clients without a household. The Households page then shows "You have N client(s) without a household." with a Fix Clients button. The Clients Without a Household window lets you add a client to an existing single-client household, select two clients and group them into a new household, or delete them.
Two clients per household is the SurgeTK model. The import does not enforce it. The household name only ever shows two clients.
Blank cells keep the stored value, for every field except Marital Status (see the column reference).
Archived households still receive updates. The row gets the warning "Household is archived".

Column reference

The template has these 20 columns. Map Additional Fields also offers Middle Name and Home Phone.

Column	What SurgeTK does with it
Household ID	Required mapping. Groups clients into one household. Matches an existing household or creates a new one.
Client ID	Required mapping. Unique, exact, firm-wide match. Creates or updates the client.
Client Name	`Last, First`. Parsed as described above. Or map First Name and Last Name instead.
Lead Advisor	The advisor's name, as `Last, First` or `First Last`. Saved on the household only when the household has no lead advisor yet. If a Lead Advisor user in your firm has the same first and last name, the household is linked to that user. If not, the name appears under Settings › Team › Unlinked Imported Advisors, where an Admin can link it.
Gender	`M` or `Male`, `F` or `Female`, any case. Any other text is saved as `other`. Blank keeps the stored value.
Date of Birth	A date. Excel date cells and text dates such as `1985-04-12` or `4/12/1985` work.
Tax Filing Status	Saved as typed.
Marital Status	Recognized values: Married, Single, Widowed, Widower, Divorced, Separated, Domestic Partner, Partner, Other, Unknown (any case). Any other text, such as `Life Partner`, clears the stored value.
Mobile Phone	Saved as typed.
Email Address	Saved as typed.
Home Address	Saved as typed.
Living/Deceased	Living: `Living`, `Alive`, `No`, `N`, `L`, `False`, `0`. Deceased: `Deceased`, `Dead`, `Died`, `Passed`, `Passed away`, `Yes`, `Y`, `D`, `True`, `1`, or a word plus a year such as `Deceased 2021`. Any other text keeps the stored value.
Monthly Income	A plain number. Do not use commas or symbols. A text cell of `5,000` is saved as 5.
Marginal Tax Bracket %	A percentage from 0 to 100, or an Excel percent cell (0.24 is 24%). Stored on the household. An import can only raise it. A value lower than the stored one is ignored.
Occupation	Saved as typed.
Employer	Saved as typed.
Retirement Date	A date.
Household Status	`Active` or `Archived`. Also read as Archived: Inactive, Terminated, Closed, Former, Deceased, Transferred, Merged, Duplicate, Declined. Blank keeps the current status. Any other text writes nothing and adds a warning. This column is the only way an import archives or restores a household.
Archive Reason	Terminated, Deceased, Transferred, Prospect declined, Merged, Duplicate or Other.
Archived Date	The date the household was archived.

Best practices

Keep Client IDs and Household IDs identical in every file you import.
Use First Name and Last Name columns when any client has a multi-word last name.
Put no more than two clients in a household.
To update clients, re-import with the same Client IDs and only the columns you want to change. Blank cells keep the stored values.
Import one file, check the Households page, then import the next.

FAQs

Can I update a client with only the Client ID?
Yes, when the row's Household ID matches an existing household. Map Household ID, Client ID and the columns to update. If the Household ID is blank or new, the row also needs a first and last name.

Can I move a client to a different household with an import?
No. An import never moves a client out of its household.

Why does the household name not match my file?
SurgeTK builds household names from the clients' names. There is no household name column.

Why do I see "You have N client(s) without a household."?
Those rows had no Household ID. Click Fix Clients on the Households page to place them.

Can I import more than one file at a time?
No. One file per import. Repeat the import for each file.

Does the import create or update?
Both. A new Client ID creates a client. A known Client ID updates that client.

Quick start tip: Download the template, fill in Household ID, Client ID and Client Name, import one file at a time, then use the same Client IDs in your account file.

Importing Clients