Last reviewed: September 2026.

Importing beneficiaries ensures your data is complete for planning and reporting. This information powers the Beneficiary Value Add, making it an important step after accounts are set up.

At a glance

Start the import from Households or Imports.
Choose Import Account Data, then select Beneficiaries.
Required columns: Account Number, Beneficiary Name (Last, First), Beneficiary Type (Primary / Contingent), Beneficiary Allocation (%). A row missing any of these fails and is listed in the import report.
Optional columns: Beneficiary Relationship, Per Stirpes, Date of Birth.
Client ID is in the template but not used by this import. Leave it blank.
Upload one spreadsheet at a time. Multiple files at once are not supported. Only the first sheet of a workbook is read. CSV and .xlsx files are accepted.
Multiple rows for the same account are supported. Add one row per beneficiary.
Confirm the column mapping and run the import.
SurgeTK creates new beneficiary records and updates existing ones.
After completion, review the import report on the Imports page.

Before you start

Download the template
On the import screen, select the link Download the Beneficiary Import template. Using the template ensures your columns auto-map to SurgeTK fields.
Required columns. A row missing any of these fails.
- Account Number
- Beneficiary Name (Last, First)
- Beneficiary Type (Primary / Contingent)
- Beneficiary Allocation (%)
Optional columns
- Beneficiary Relationship
- Per Stirpes
- Date of Birth
Client ID
Client ID is in the template but not used by this import. Leave it blank. This import never creates accounts. Accounts must already exist in SurgeTK.

Columns and accepted values

The template has eight columns in this order. Download it from the link Download the Beneficiary Import template on the import screen.

Column	Required	Accepted values
Client ID	No	Not used by this import. Leave blank.
Account Number	Yes	Must match an account already in SurgeTK exactly, including dashes and spaces.
Beneficiary Name (Last, First)	Yes	Last, First with a comma. First Last without a comma also works: the first word is the first name and the rest is the last name.
Beneficiary Type (Primary / Contingent)	Yes	Primary, Pri, Prim, Prime, P, or 1 for Primary. Contingent, C, Cont, Sec, Secondary, or 2 for Contingent. Any capitalization. Anything else fails the row.
Beneficiary Allocation (%)	Yes	A number 0 to 100, with or without the % sign. A decimal 0 to 1 is read as a fraction: 0.5 means 50%. Write 1% as "1%" because a bare 1 is read as 100%. A blank cell, a negative number, or a value above 100 fails the row.
Beneficiary Relationship	No	Free text, for example Spouse or Child.
Per Stirpes	No	Yes, Y, true, or 1 for Yes. No, N, false, or 0 for No. Any capitalization. Blank leaves the account's current setting unchanged.
Date of Birth	No	MM/DD/YYYY, M/D/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD, or an Excel date cell.

Step 1: Open the import window

Two entry points lead to the same window:

From Households: Go to Households, click Add Household, then Import Data.
From Imports: Go to Imports, then click Import Data.

Step 2: Choose what to import

On Pick Your Data Type, select Import Account Data.
On Choose Your Account Import Type, select Beneficiaries.
If the Beneficiaries option is greyed out, your firm has no accounts yet. Import accounts first.

Step 3: Upload your spreadsheet

Upload one spreadsheet at a time. Multiple files at once are not supported.
If your data is spread across different sheets, repeat the process until everything is loaded. Only the first sheet of each file is read.
The As-of Date shown on this step is not used by the beneficiary import.
Click Next to continue.

Step 4: Map your columns

On the mapping step, match each spreadsheet column to the correct SurgeTK field:

Client ID: not used. Leave blank.
Account Number: required. Must match an account already in SurgeTK exactly, including dashes and spaces.
Beneficiary Name (Last, First): required. Use Last, First format with a comma. First Last without a comma also works.
Beneficiary Type (Primary / Contingent): required. Primary, Pri, Prim, Prime, P, or 1 for Primary. Contingent, C, Cont, Sec, Secondary, or 2 for Contingent. Any capitalization.
Beneficiary Allocation (%): required. A number 0 to 100. Write 1% as "1%". A bare 1 is read as 100%.
Beneficiary Relationship: optional. Free text.
Per Stirpes: optional. Yes, Y, true, or 1 for Yes; No, N, false, or 0 for No. Any capitalization. Blank leaves the account's current setting unchanged.
Date of Birth: optional. MM/DD/YYYY, M/D/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD, or an Excel date cell.

All four required columns must be mapped, or every row fails with "Missing required mapping(s)".

When ready, click Import.

Step 5: Monitor progress (do not refresh)

The progress indicator will show:

Created: new beneficiaries added. Rows whose account number matched nothing also appear here, with the note "No matching account, saved as an unlinked beneficiary for manual linking".
Updated: existing beneficiary records updated.
Failed: rows that could not be imported, with the reason.
Duplicates: duplicate rows flagged.

Do not refresh or navigate away until the import completes.

Step 6: Review the import report

Go to Imports to view a record of your import. From there you can:

Open the import report to see results.
Re-download the original spreadsheet you uploaded.

The report and the original file are visible to the person who ran the import and to Admins.

What the import does and does not do

Adds beneficiaries. The import never removes beneficiaries already on an account that are not in your file. To remove a beneficiary, edit the account.
Updates the allocation on an existing beneficiary. Importing a beneficiary already on the account, in the same tier, updates its allocation. It does not create a duplicate. If you move a person from Primary to Contingent in your file, the import adds them to Contingent and leaves them in Primary. Remove the old entry on the account.
Matches beneficiaries by name within your firm. The match uses first name and last name and ignores capitalization. The same name on several accounts is one beneficiary record. Two different people with the same name become one record. Add a middle initial to keep them apart.
Saves Relationship and Date of Birth only when the field is empty. The import does not overwrite a value that is already set.
Per Stirpes is one setting per account, not per row. If two rows for the same account give different Per Stirpes values, the last row with a value wins.
Unmatched account numbers create unlinked beneficiaries. If Account Number matches nothing in SurgeTK, the row is saved as an unlinked beneficiary. The Households page shows "You have N unlinked beneficiaries" with a Fix Beneficiaries button. From there you can link each one to an account or delete it. Importing the same unmatched rows again creates a second set of unlinked entries, so link or delete them before you re-import.
Produces an import report. The report lists every created, updated, and failed row with the reason.
Never creates accounts. Accounts must already exist in SurgeTK before you import beneficiaries.
Marks Value Adds for refresh. The Beneficiary report for each affected household recalculates the next time you open it.

Best practices

Format names consistently: Use Last, First for beneficiary names.
Beneficiary Allocation: Ensure allocations across a single account add up to 100%.
Multiple beneficiaries per account: Add each as a separate row tied to the same account number.
Client ID is not used by this import. Leave it blank.
For beneficiary type, use 'Primary' or 'Contingent'.

What you cannot import here

Insurance beneficiaries. Those are imported with the policy in the Insurance import.

FAQs

Q: Can I import multiple files at once?
No. Upload one file at a time. If you have multiple sheets, import them one by one.

Q: Can I import multiple beneficiaries for one account?
Yes. Add a new row for each beneficiary tied to the same account number.

Q: Which columns are required?
Account Number, Beneficiary Name, Beneficiary Type, and Beneficiary Allocation are required. A row missing any of these fails and is listed in the import report. Beneficiary Relationship, Per Stirpes, and Date of Birth are optional.

Q: Does this import create and update at the same time?
Yes. SurgeTK creates new beneficiary records when no match exists, and updates existing records when it finds a match.

Q: Why is the Beneficiaries import greyed out?
Your firm has no accounts yet. Import accounts first, then come back.

Q: What do I put in the Per Stirpes column?
Per Stirpes is a supported and stored column. It sets per stirpes distribution for the whole account, not per beneficiary row. Enter Yes, Y, true, or 1 for yes; No, N, false, or 0 for no. Any capitalization. Leave the cell blank to keep the account's current setting. See What do I put in the Per Stirpes column? for the full reference.

Quick start tip: Download the template from the link on the import screen. Fill in Account Number, Beneficiary Name, Beneficiary Type, and Beneficiary Allocation for each row. Add Beneficiary Relationship, Per Stirpes, and Date of Birth as needed. Leave Client ID blank.

Importing Beneficiaries