Last reviewed: September 2026.
SurgeTK imports attach data to records that already exist. An account needs its client. A beneficiary needs its account. Billing needs its account or household.
This article gives you the order, the rules that dim import options, and where every template lives.
The order
Clients & Households first. This creates your households and clients. Path: Import › Import Client Data › Clients & Households.
Financial Accounts second. This creates the accounts and links each one to its owner by Client ID. Path: Import › Import Account Data › Financial Accounts.
Everything else in any order: Buckets, Guardrails, Beneficiaries, Billing Data, Household Taxes, Insurance, Liabilities, Physical Assets, One-time Transactions.
Use the same Client IDs in every file. That is how SurgeTK links accounts, policies, liabilities and physical assets to the right client.
Do you sync with Redtail or Zoho?
If your firm syncs with Redtail or Zoho, do not import clients or accounts from a file. The sync creates and updates your households, clients and accounts.
Use file imports only for data your sync does not provide. Billing Data always comes from a file import. See Syncing with Redtail or Syncing with Zoho for what each sync sends.
A file import cannot start while a sync is running. See Imports wait for CRM syncs below.
What unlocks each import option
SurgeTK checks your data when the Import window opens. Options you cannot use yet are dimmed and cannot be clicked. A dimmed option is not an error and not a permission problem. It means an earlier step is not done.
Option | Available when | Message shown |
Import Client Data › Clients & Households | Always | None |
Import Client Data › Household Taxes | Your firm has at least one household | "No households found. Import your clients & households first, then come back for tax information." |
Import Account Data (the whole branch) | Your firm has at least one client or one household | "No households/clients exist yet, so account import is unavailable." |
Buckets, Guardrails, Beneficiaries, Billing Data | Your firm has at least one account | "No accounts found. Start with a General Account import." |
Financial Accounts, Insurance, Liabilities, Physical Assets, One-time Transactions | No condition of their own. You only need to reach Import Account Data. | None |
In that message, "General Account import" means the Financial Accounts import.
Insurance, Liabilities, Physical Assets and One-time Transactions have no condition of their own. They still sit behind Import Account Data. So you need at least one client or household before you can reach them.
If SurgeTK cannot run the check, every option stays enabled and you see "Could not verify import eligibility. Everything left enabled by default."
Where the templates are
Every import starts with a screen called Prepare Your Spreadsheet. It has a download link for that import's template. All templates are Excel (.xlsx) files.
Import | Link text on the first screen | File |
Clients & Households | Download the Contact Import template |
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Household Taxes | Download the Household Taxes template |
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Financial Accounts | Download the Account Import template |
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Buckets | Download the Buckets Import template |
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Guardrails | Download the Guardrails Import template |
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Beneficiaries | Download the Beneficiary Import template |
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Billing Data (household fees) | Download the Household Billing Import template |
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Billing Data (account billing) | Download the Account Billing Import template |
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Liabilities | Download the Liability Import template |
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Physical Assets | Download the Physical Asset Import template |
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Insurance | Download the Insurance Import template |
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One-time Transactions | Download the One-time Transactions Import template |
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Template rules
Row 1 must be the header row. There is no way to pick another row.
SurgeTK reads only the first sheet of the file. The extra Status Values sheet in some templates is a reference list. It is not imported.
Columns auto-map when the header matches the field name exactly. Letter case and extra spaces do not matter. There is no fuzzy matching.
A few template columns do not auto-map. Map them by hand on the mapping step: Cash%, Income%, Annuities% and Growth% (Account and Buckets templates), Account / Loan Number (Liability template), and the Household ID or Account Number column in the billing templates.
Each spreadsheet column can be mapped to only one field.
The Household Taxes template leaves out archived households.
One file, one data type
Each import takes one file. Repeat the import for each file.
Do not mix clients and accounts in one file. Each import handles one data type.
Accepted files: CSV and Excel
.xlsx. The older.xlsformat is rejected with "Only CSV or Excel (.xlsx) files are allowed for imports."File names longer than 200 characters, with special characters, or with a double extension are rejected.
Imports wait for CRM syncs
Financial Accounts, Buckets, Guardrails, Beneficiaries, Liabilities, Physical Assets and Insurance imports cannot start while a Redtail sync, a Zoho sync, or another one of these imports is running for your firm. You see "A Redtail sync is currently running for your firm. Please wait for it to finish before starting an import." The first words change to "A Zoho sync" or "A data import" depending on what is running. Wait for it to finish, then start the import again.
Clients & Households, Household Taxes, Billing Data and One-time Transactions imports do not wait for a sync.
The demo households
Every new firm starts with five sample households, so you can explore SurgeTK before your own data is in. Their clients have the last names Demo, Demo2, Demo3, Demo4 and Demo5.
Delete them like any household when you are ready. Go to Households, select them, and click Delete. Only Admins and Lead Advisors can delete households.
If you make a mistake
You can undo the firm's most recent import. Only the newest import can be undone, so undo before you run the next one. See Undoing Your Most Recent Import.
Typical first-run sequence
Download the Contact Import template. Fill it in. Import it as Clients & Households.
Open Households. Check the household count and a few names.
Download the Account Import template. Use the same Client IDs. Import it as Financial Accounts.
Open one household. Confirm the accounts, owners and values.
Clear any banners on the Households page: Fix Clients for clients without a household, Fix Accounts for unlinked accounts.
Import Beneficiaries, Insurance, Liabilities, Physical Assets, Billing Data, Household Taxes or One-time Transactions as needed.
Delete the demo households.