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Asset import & export

Enterprise feature

Asset management is available on the Enterprise plan. Compare plans to find the right fit for your business.

When you manage hundreds or thousands of assets, entering them one at a time is not practical. FSM Navigator® supports bulk import from CSV files so you can load your entire asset inventory in minutes. You can also export your asset data and apply status changes to multiple assets at once.

Import assets from CSV

Step 1: Download the template

  1. Navigate to the Assets page.
  2. Click Import in the top-right corner.
  3. Click Download Template to get the CSV template file.

The template includes all supported columns with sample data and instructions.

Step 2: Prepare your CSV file

Fill in the template with your asset data. Each row represents one asset.

Required columns:

Column Description Example
name Descriptive name for the asset Carrier 24ACC636A003
asset_type Must match an existing asset type HVAC Unit

Optional columns:

Column Description Example
serial_number Manufacturer serial number SN-2024-00891
make Manufacturer Carrier
model Model designation WeatherExpert 3000
status Initial lifecycle status; defaults to Pending Install when blank Active
purchase_date Date of purchase (YYYY-MM-DD) 2024-03-15
purchase_cost Original cost 8500.00
salvage_value Estimated end-of-life value 500.00
useful_life_months Expected service life in months (e.g., 60 for a 5-year life) 60
depreciation_method straight_line (Straight Line), declining_balance (Declining Balance), sum_of_years (Sum of Years' Digits), or none (None) straight_line
description Additional information Primary cooling unit for server room

Service location is not an import column

Assets are imported without a service location. Set the customer and location afterwards from the asset record, or with a bulk transfer. The Location column that appears in an export is a read-only display of the location currently linked to each asset — importing that file back does not move any asset.

Match asset types exactly

The Asset type column (asset_type) must match the name of an asset type you have already created. If the type does not exist, the row will fail validation. Create your asset types before importing.

Step 3: Upload the file

  1. Click Import on the assets page.
  2. Select your prepared CSV file.
  3. Click Upload.

Step 4: Review validation results

After uploading, FSM Navigator validates every row against your configuration:

Validation check What it verifies
Required fields name and asset_type are filled in on every row
Asset type match The asset type exists in your account
Status validity The status is a recognized lifecycle status
Date formats purchase_date follows the YYYY-MM-DD format
Numeric values Purchase cost and salvage value are non-negative numbers, and useful life is a positive whole number
Depreciation method The method is one of the four recognized values
Duplicate detection No duplicate serial numbers within the file, and none that already exist on your assets

Rows that pass validation are marked with . Rows with errors are marked with and display the specific issue.

Step 5: Process the import

  1. Review the validation summary.
  2. Fix any errors in your CSV and re-upload if needed.
  3. Click Process Import to create the assets.

Import cannot be undone in bulk

Once processed, each imported asset is created as an individual record. To remove imported assets, you must delete them one at a time. Double-check your data before processing.

Export assets to CSV

  1. Navigate to the Assets page.
  2. Apply any filters you want (by type, status, location, etc.).
  3. Click Export.
  4. Choose CSV as the format.
  5. The file downloads with all visible columns and applied filters.

The export includes:

  • Identity and classification: asset tag, name, asset type, serial number, manufacturer, model, model number, status.
  • Placement: location, building, floor, area.
  • Financial data: purchase date, purchase cost, salvage value, depreciation method, useful life.
  • Warranty start and end dates, installed date, barcode, notes and description.
  • Created and updated timestamps, each labelled with your company's time zone.

Export filtered data for targeted reports

Apply filters before exporting to get exactly the data you need. For example, export only assets with status Active and type HVAC Unit for a focused equipment list.

Export, edit, re-import

An exported CSV can be edited in a spreadsheet and uploaded straight back through Import. The importer reads the export's column headings, so you do not need to rename anything first.

A few columns are export-only and are ignored on import: Asset Tag (tags are issued when the asset is created, so re-importing one would create a duplicate), Model Number, Building, Floor, Area, Warranty Start, Warranty End, Installed Date, Barcode and the two timestamp columns. Set those on the asset itself after importing.

Bulk status updates

You can change the status of multiple assets at once — for example, marking a batch of decommissioned equipment as Retired.

  1. Navigate to the Assets page and open the List tab.
  2. Tick the checkbox on each asset you want to change. The checkbox in the table header selects every asset on the current page.
  3. In the bulk actions bar that appears, click Change Status.
  4. Choose the new status from the dropdown.
  5. Review the list of assets that will be affected, then confirm.

Selection covers the current page only

Bulk actions apply to the assets you ticked on the page you are looking at — never to every asset matching your filters. The bar tells you how many are selected, and selecting everything on a page says so explicitly when more assets match your filters on other pages. Narrow your filters, or raise the rows-per-page setting, to bring more assets onto one page. A single bulk action covers at most 100 assets.

Status transition rules apply

Bulk status changes follow the same lifecycle transition rules as individual updates. If any selected asset cannot transition to the chosen status, that asset is left untouched and listed back to you by asset tag with the reason. Assets already in the status you chose are counted as Unchanged.

Bulk delete

You can remove several assets from your active views in one action.

  1. Select the assets on the List tab as above.
  2. Click Delete in the bulk actions bar.
  3. Type DELETE to confirm.

Deleted assets disappear from lists, search and reporting immediately. Their history, maintenance records and meter readings are all preserved, and an administrator can restore them afterwards.

Active assets are never deleted in bulk

Assets currently Active or In Maintenance cannot be deleted. They are left untouched and reported back to you individually — change their status first, then delete them. A bulk delete that partly fails always tells you exactly which assets were kept and why; it never reports a silent success.

Who can run bulk actions

Bulk status changes and bulk deletes require asset administrator permissions. If you do not have them, the selection checkboxes and the bulk actions bar are not shown.

Import tips and best practices

  • Start with a small test — import 5-10 rows first to verify your format before uploading the full file.
  • Use UTF-8 encoding — save your CSV with UTF-8 encoding to avoid character issues.
  • One asset per row — do not combine multiple assets into a single row.
  • Trim whitespace — leading or trailing spaces in column values can cause validation failures.
  • Check asset type names — the value in the Asset type column (asset_type) must match one of your existing asset types. The validation error lists the types available in your account.
What file formats are supported?

Currently, only CSV (comma-separated values) is supported for import. Export is available in CSV format.

Is there a row limit for imports?

There is no hard row limit, but very large files (over 10,000 rows) may take longer to process. For large imports, consider splitting your file into batches of a few thousand rows each.

Can I update existing assets via import?

The import feature creates new asset records only. To update existing assets, edit them individually through the asset detail view or use the Enterprise API for programmatic updates.

Can I import custom field values?

Custom field columns appear in the template based on the asset types you have configured. Fill in the appropriate columns for each asset type. Custom field values are validated against the field type (text, number, date, etc.).