Software choice
How to import owner records into a new software
Master data is the first thing any management software must get right, because charges, reminders and communications all rest on it. Importing records into new software means transferring three linked sets: owners with their contact details, property units with their ownership, and suppliers. The typical error is not technical but data related: duplicate names, units with no owner, outdated certified email addresses. This guide explains how to prepare the source files, which fields are truly mandatory, how to map columns to the new layout, and how to validate the result before working on it, so you start with a clean archive instead of inheriting the old system's mistakes.
Before importing, make sure you have
- A list of owners with name, tax code, address, email and certified email where available
- The list of units with cadastral subunit, applicable thousandths (millesimi) tables and linked owner
- Correct ownership for each unit, distinguishing owner, usufructuary and tenant
- Supplier records with VAT number, recipient code or certified email for electronic invoicing
- One file per set, in CSV or spreadsheet format, with clear headers
- A safe copy of the data exported from the old system, kept untouched
What condominium records include
The condominium register is a specific obligation: Article 1130 no. 6 of the Italian Civil Code requires the administrator to keep and update the register with owners' personal data, the units' cadastral data and the safety conditions of the common areas. Before importing, it helps to separate the three levels the software keeps linked: the condominium as an entity, with its own tax code, the units that make it up, and the people holding rights over those units.
This distinction matters because the charge engine bills quotas to the unit and assigns them to whoever holds title on the reference date. If a unit is left without a linked owner during import, that position will not receive its instalments and will appear as an anomaly. Mapping the unit-to-owner relationship correctly is therefore more important than the simple list of names.
Preparing the source files
Almost all management software imports from CSV files or spreadsheets. The first step is to export from the old system, or rebuild, three separate files: owners, units, suppliers. Each file needs a header row with unique, consistent column names, no merged cells and no total rows in the middle of the data. Dates should use a uniform format and tax codes should have no spaces.
A preliminary cleanup of duplicates is essential: the same owner who holds two units must appear as a single entity linked to two properties, not as two twin records. It also helps to normalise contacts, separating ordinary email and certified email into different columns, because the software uses them for distinct channels, one for current notices, the other for legally binding communications.
Mapping fields to the new layout
Mapping is the operation that tells the software a file column corresponds to a given system field. It is where silent errors concentrate: a swapped column turns a tax code into a VAT number or the property address into the owner's residence. It is best to proceed one set at a time, importing owners first, then units linked to owners, and finally suppliers.
Many programs offer automatic column recognition based on header synonyms, but it must always be checked manually on a few sample rows. It is wise to import a small batch, five or ten units, check the outcome on screen, and only then proceed with the whole archive: fixing the layout on ten rows is trivial, redoing it on two hundred is not.
Suppliers and electronic invoicing
The supplier list deserves particular attention because it feeds accounting and the receipt of electronic invoices. Each supplier needs a VAT number, exact name and, for the incoming flow, the reference through which the condominium receives documents via the Interchange System (SdI). A supplier imported without a VAT number or with an approximate name generates invoices that cannot be reconciled automatically.
The migration is a good time to clean up the list: remove suppliers no longer active, merge those entered twice with different spellings, and assign each one the correct expense category, so the new software can automatically suggest the right account when it records an invoice.
Validating the imported records
Importing is not finished when the data goes in, but when it has been verified. The essential checks are three: the sum of the general thousandths must equal one thousand for each table, every unit must have a linked owner, and certified email addresses must be present where the owner had provided them. A quick control listing immediately reveals orphan units or tables that do not close.
It is the right moment to generate a test charge on a dummy financial year and compare it with the last one produced by the old system: if the quotas per unit match, records and tables have been transferred correctly. Only after this comparison can the archive be considered reliable. Software like AmministraPro supports this stage with assisted import and balancing checks; the /funzioni page describes the records and accounting tools, and /prezzi lists the plans that include them.
Frequently asked questions
Can I import records from a spreadsheet instead of the old software?
Yes, and it is often the cleanest route. If the old software does not export in a usable way, you rebuild three sheets, owners, units and suppliers, with clear headers and one row per entity. The software imports from CSV or spreadsheet by mapping columns to its own fields. The key is keeping every unit linked to its owner, because that relationship is what later allows instalments and charges to be generated correctly.
How do I avoid duplicates for owners who hold several units?
Before importing, consolidate the records: the same person must appear only once, identified by tax code, and be linked to all their units. If the file lists the same name on several rows, one per property, it must be restructured by separating the list of people from the list of units and using the tax code as the linking key. This way the software shows a single owner with several positions, not two identical records.
What happens if a unit is imported without an owner?
That unit receives no charges and appears as an anomalous position in the split. The quota engine assigns costs to the linked owner: with no owner, there is no one to bill. That is why, among the post-import checks, you should verify that every unit has at least one associated owner with the correct start date, distinguishing owner, usufructuary and tenant where needed.
Should owners' certified email be imported alongside ordinary email?
Yes, but in separate fields. Ordinary email and certified email serve different channels: the first for notices and current communications, the second for legally binding acts such as meeting notices and formal reminders. Confusing them risks treating an act sent on a non-probative channel as duly served. During import, it is therefore best to keep two distinct columns and map them to the respective software fields.
How long does it take to import records for several condominiums?
It depends more on data quality than on quantity. If the files are already clean and well structured, importing one condominium takes little time; most of the work is the preliminary cleanup of duplicates and contacts. It is best to proceed condominium by condominium, validating each with a test charge before moving to the next, rather than importing everything at once and discovering the errors afterwards.
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