While there are many different ways to bring data into DB Precision, the most efficient way is through import.

Importing data for a Plan Sponsor involves using an Import Definition (existing or needing to be created) that aligns with a file containing data and using that definition to import the data.

Import Definitions are part of the Plan Sponsor. To create an Import Definition, open the Plan Sponsor, right-click Import Definitions, and select Add from the resulting menu.

This will create a new definition that you should provide a name. Underneath the definition, you will see an item, single row. This is where the actual layout is defined. Before we begin specifying the layout, we will discuss the Import Definition itself.

Double-click on the newly created Import Definition to open the Import Definition screen. Here, you can specify the file type as well as whether the file being imported includes more than one format type.

File type is almost always going to be comma delimited. The only exception to this is if you received a text file which was space delimited (fixed width) from the client and you are importing this file directly into DB Precision without manipulation. Space delimited files were once fairly common when sponsors would sometimes report their data using mainframe systems. However, these files are very rare today.

The import file is almost always going to use a single layout. There was a time when mainframe-generated files would sometimes include different record types to report different types of information (address information records, salary records, etc.) on different rows for a Person. With such files, there would be some column which would be used to indicate the record type (A record, B record, etc.). However, this is very rare today.

Double-click on the row immediately below the definition name (titled single row) to edit the layout for the Import Definition.

Note: Every row of the file being imported must include an SSN. You can specify the location in the file of SSN on this screen.

You will see a list of row items. Here you can either edit an existing Import Definition or add new items for a new Import Definition. Each item corresponds to a column (or column range for space delimited files) in the file. Each item can be modified by selecting Item Type and Item Detail as well as double-clicking into an item.

When creating a new Import Definition, you have three ways to specify the Import Definition's file layout:

• Item-by-item: this is typically used when an editing an existing Import Definition to add one or two items. Using this method tends to be slower than the other two methods when adding multiple items.
• Wizard - Item-by-item: this is the most common method for adding items when creating a new Import Definition. It provides a quick way to add items and does not require file headers in a sample file as required below.
• Wizard - Analyze Import File: although this can be the fastest method, it requires that you already have a sample .csv file that has standard-named headers (DOB, Sex, DOH, NRD, ACD, etc.). If you have a csv file with headers, it is worth trying this method and cancelling out changes made if DB Precision is unable to add many items for you.

To use this method, on the Import Provision screen, simply press the Add button to add a new item. You can then modify the new item by selecting Item Type and Item Detail as well as double-clicking into an item.

To use the wizard and select items, on the Import Provision screen, press the Wizard button. This will open the Sponsor Import Wizard screen where you can then add items in the order that they appear in the file being imported. When adding reported amounts, you only need to add these once as you will be asked for the range of dates for the amounts on another screen.

For this method, on the Import Provision screen, press the Wizard button. This will open the Sponsor Import Wizard screen. Check the box Analyze existing import file and then press the Find button to navigate to a sample file to be imported. When you press OK, DB Precision will analyze the file and determine the layout. It will indicate the columns that were skipped which, if a small number, can then be manually completed item-by-item. If a large number of columns were skipped (relative to the number of columns added by the wizard), cancel out of the Sponsor Import Wizard screen and try one of the other two methods described above.

For small numbers of SSN changes, it is easiest to open each individual with an SSN change and manually change them on the Basic Information screen.

When you have several SSN changes (more than 5) however, it is easier to change the SSNs using an import (existing or new Import Definition). To do this, put the prior SSN in a separate column of your import file and for those people who have an SSN change, enter the prior SSN in this column (and have the new SSN in the standard SSN column for the import).

To import data, open the Plan Sponsor, expand out the Import Definitions branch of the Sponsor tree and then right-click on the Import Definition you want to use to import. Select Import from the resulting menu to open the System Import screen

Here, you can specify the file to be imported as well as choose different import options (the default options are generally fine here). When you press OK, this will begin the import process and eventually display the Import Results screen.

Note: When import results are displayed, they have not yet been saved to the database. Instead, the results only exist in memory on the machine you are using. You must explicitly save those results to have them stored in the database.

When checking the import results, the main goal is to determine whether the results are aligned with what you were expecting to be importing.

For example, if you were importing information for existing participants and several new participants were imported this could indicate a problem. If you were updating earnings with an import but the wrong earnings amount got updated, this too could be a problem. You should check for the following:

• New People: if you are not expecting new people with the import and there are new people, you may be importing the wrong information.
  
  Also, if there are new people, scan the list and look for a warning symbol next to their name. This could indicate that this participant already exists in the database and proceeding with the import could result in double-counting this person. To find out who DB Precision thinks this person is similar to, double-click their row.
• Other Sponsors: if people are listed as being in other sponsors, check their information to see if any shared information has changed. If information has changed, you should stop the import and contact the other plan sponsor to see which information is correct unless you are confident that the changes being made with the import are correct.
• New Reported Amounts: check to see if the dates for any Reported Amounts being added line up with what you were expecting to import. If you had forgotten to update the Reported Amount effective and stop dates of an Import Definition that was already used in a prior year, the amounts will show up as changes rather than new amounts.

If the results of the import are consistent with what you expected, save the results to the database.