Reviewing your Import Spreadsheet

Introduction

This guide will help you to review and complete the import spreadsheet we have prepared for your organisation. Once you've filled it in, we'll use the information to migrate your existing customers into your Proofdesk account.

About the spreadsheet

The spreadsheet you've been given contains the data that will be imported into Proofdesk once it’s been reviewed and confirmed by your team. It’s been created using the exports you shared from your existing systems and processed through our custom-built transformation tool to convert that data into a format Proofdesk can accept.

While the structure follows our standard import template, it has also been tailored specifically to your organisation. This means it includes your organisation’s custom fields and any other configuration unique to your account.

To help ensure accuracy, many cells are validated. For example, date columns only accept valid date formats, and certain fields include dropdowns to restrict entries to the correct options. This helps prevent formatting errors and ensures the import runs smoothly.

The spreadsheet includes several tabs (sheets). Here’s what each one is for:

Entities	Information about people, companies, trusts, partnerships and foundations.
Relationships	The relationships between your organisation and each customer.
Links	The connections between entities (e.g. Directors, Shareholders, etc).
Warnings	A selection of alerts raised by the transformation tool.
Lists	A hidden sheet, used to validate the drop-down fields in the other sheets.

Check the data looks how you expect

Before we import your data into Proofdesk, please take some time to review the spreadsheet to make sure everything looks in order. Start by checking through the main sheets to confirm that the information aligns with what you expect to see.

Review the warnings sheet

You should also review the Warnings sheet, which highlights any issues or inconsistencies that were detected during the transformation process. Not every warning will require action, but it is important to confirm that there is nothing unexpected or inaccurate listed there.

Fill in (some of) the blanks

You will notice that many cells and columns are blank. This is completely normal and simply represents fields within Proofdesk that could not be inferred from your existing data. The import will still work with these blanks; it just means there will be some gaps to fill in later.

However, there are a number of fields that we strongly recommend completing before we proceed with the import. Updating these now is much faster in spreadsheet form than updating each entity or relationship individually after the import. In addition, some of these fields are required for your firm’s Statistical Return, so leaving them blank could delay your ability to generate those figures later.

We will have already let you know which fields are worth prioritising and which do not apply to your organisation.

Reference

Unique IDs

Each sheet includes an ID column, which is used to link entries across the spreadsheet. These don’t need to match any internal IDs you currently use - they are temporary and will be replaced during the import. This means you can use any format you like (e.g. 1234, PRO1, TOM_G). However, each ID must be unique within its sheet.

Entities Sheet

Every individual, company, trust, partnership and foundation should be included in the entities sheet regardless of whether they are your direct customer, a related party or an introducer.

Field Name	Description
ID	A unique identifier for the entity. Used to link to Relationships and Links.
Entity Type	NaturalPerson, LegalPerson, LegalArrangement or Foundation.
Name	The full legal name of the entity.
Jurisdiction	The Alpha-2 country code where the entity is based. (e.g. IM) Leave blank for NaturalPersons.
Legal Person Type	IncorporatedCompany, IncorporatedCellCompany, PublicLimitedCompany, ProtectedCellCompany, OtherPrivateCompany, LimitedLiabilityCompany, LimitedPartnership, or IndustrialSociety. Only complete for LegalPersons.
Legal Arrangement Type	Partnership or Trust Only complete for LegalArrangements.
Governing Act	If the entity is an Isle of Man company, which companies act is it governed by (1931 or 2006). Otherwise, select Other. Only complete for LegalPersons.
Is Registered On Foreign Companies Registry	TRUE or FALSE Only complete for LegalPersons whose jurisdiction is not IM.
Primary Nationality	The Alpha-2 country code of the individual’s primary nationality. Only complete for NaturalPersons.
Primary Country Of Residence	The Alpha-2 country code of the individual’s primary country of residence. Only complete for NaturalPersons.
Principal Activity	Which of the Statistical Return’s ‘Principal Activities’ does the entity match best? Leave blank for NaturalPersons.
PEP Status	Whether or not the entity is a PEP, and if so are they a Domestic or Foreign PEP? Only complete for NaturalPersons.
PEP Type	If the entity is a PEP, which of the Statistical Return’s ‘PEP Types’ is most relevant? Only complete for NaturalPersons.
Sanctions Status	Whether or not the entity is sanctioned.
Adverse Media Status	Whether or not the entity is subject to adverse media.
CEP Status	Whether or not the entity is commercially exposed. Only complete for NaturalPersons.
CEP Type	If the entity is commercially exposed, which of the Statistical Return’s CEP Types’ is most relevant? Only complete for NaturalPersons.
Beneficial Owner IDs	The IDs used for this entity’s beneficial owners elsewhere in the list of entities. Separate using commas (e.g. TOMG, ORSB, BENH). Beneficial owners should themselves by NaturalPersons. Leave blank for NaturalPersons.
Custom Fields	Your spreadsheet may include additional fields that begin with the prefix CustomField. - for example: CustomField.SourceOfWealth.

Relationships Sheet

Each active business relationship your organisation is engaged in should be recorded in the Relationships sheet. As a rule of thumb, one relationship = one customer risk assessment.

Field Name	Description
ID	A unique identifier for the relationship.
Internal Reference	An internal reference or client number. This is for your records only.
Entity ID	The ID of the customer entity that is the subject of the relationship (from the Entities sheet).
First Approval Date	The date you originally onboarded / approved the relationship with the customer. We’ll use this to determine whether or not this is a new or existing customer in your next Statistical Return.
Latest Review Completed Date	The date that this relationship was most recently reviewed. We’ll use this to calculate the date that the next review is due. We’ll also use this to timestamp the data that is being imported. This date must not be before the firstApprovalDate.
Source	Direct, Referred or Introduced
Introducer Entity IDs	The IDs used for this relationship’s introducer(s) in the Entities sheet. Separate using commas (eg. TOMG, ORSB, BENH).
Activities	Which of your licences does this relationship rely on (e.g. Class 4 Corporate Services, or Designated Business - Tax Advisor).
Nature Of Service	To what degree are you in control of the customer company or trust? Only complete if you are providing Class 4 Corporate Services or Class 5 Trust Services.
Face To Face	Has the customer been met by your organisation directly, by a third party or not at all?
Face To Face Participants Known	Does the organisation understand who has met the customer?
Concession Used	Which, if any, of the available concessions have been applied?
Risk Classification	The current risk level of the relationship.
Custom Fields	Your spreadsheet may include additional fields that begin with the prefix CustomField. - for example: CustomField.TypeOfTrust.

Links Sheet

The links sheet is used to describe the roles and connections between people and entities - such as directors, shareholders, trustees, or beneficial owners. These links explain how entities relate to one another within a structure.

Field Name	Description
ID	A unique identifier for the link. We don’t refer to links in other sheets so this can be left blank.
Entity 1 ID	The ID of the parent entity (from the Entities sheet). For example: Entity1 is the Director of Entity2
Entity 2 ID	The ID of the child entity (from the Entities sheet). For example: Entity1 is the Director of Entity2
Role	The role that Entity1 holds in relation to Entity2. If there are multiple roles (such as Entity1 is both a Director AND Shareholder of Entity2) then use multiple rows in the sheet.
Start Date	The date that Entity1 took up this role.
End Date	The date that Entity1 ceased this role.
Notes	Any additional notes you wish to store about the connection such as the shareholding percentage.

Need Help?

If you have any questions while completing the spreadsheet or if you’d like us to walk through it with you, just let us know. We’re happy to arrange a quick call, or you can email us any time at [email protected].

What Happens Next?

Send your completed spreadsheet back to us via our secure WeTransfer portal (https://proofdesk.wetransfer.com).
We’ll validate the file using our internal tool, which will flag any issues like missing fields, duplicated IDs, or inconsistent entries.
We’ll import the data into a test Proofdesk account so you can review how it looks in the system.
We can repeat the process as many times as needed to make sure everything is complete and accurate before we import the final version into your live account.