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All collectionsClient onboarding & CDD🛠️ How to add your clients by bulk import

🛠️ How to add your clients by bulk import

You can add your existing clients to Firmcheck in bulk using our CSV import tool

Add your whole client list to Firmcheck in one go. It takes four steps.

Before you start

Make sure your Business Units, Partners and Managers are set up in Firmcheck, with names exactly as they appear in your files. For example, if your file lists Jane Doe as a Partner, she needs to be set up in Firmcheck as Jane Doe, not Jane.

1. Download the templates

  • Companies (UK only), for companies registered at Companies House, including LLPs and LPs

  • Sole traders

  • Individuals

  • Other organisations, plus organisation related parties, for trusts, partnerships, non-profits, overseas companies, and anything else not on the Companies House register

⚠ Used the trust template before? It has been replaced by the organisation template, and old trust files won't upload. Download the new template above and copy your data across.

⚠ Got an older related parties file? The related parties template now has a Roles column, and files without it won't upload. Download the new template above, or add a Roles column to your existing file.

2. Fill them in

Add one client per row. Fill in every column marked with an asterisk (*), and don't rename or move the headers. Use dd/mm/yyyy for dates and full country names (e.g. United Kingdom, not UK). Save each file as a CSV.

Filling in the organisation template

The Organisation type column must be one of these four values, spelt exactly as shown:

  • Company for companies not on the UK Companies House register, such as overseas companies

  • Non-profit for charities, clubs, and other not-for-profit organisations

  • Trust

  • Other for anything else, including partnerships not registered at Companies House

Use the optional Organisation sub-type column to say more about what the organisation is. For example, for a partnership, put Other as the type and Partnership as the sub-type.

You can also add each organisation's Identifying number (for example, a charity number or overseas registration number) and its registered address. Address columns marked ** all need to be populated if you add an address.

Filling in the related parties template

Add one person per row, with the Organisation name matching the name in your organisation template exactly, so each person is linked to the right client.

You don't have to fill in the Roles column, and a blank cell just means no roles are added. If you do fill it in, use one or more of these, spelt exactly as shown:

  • Director

  • Shareholder

  • Beneficial owner

  • Trustee

  • Nominee

  • Person with significant control (or PSC)

  • Secretary

  • Other

To give someone more than one role, separate them with a comma or semicolon, for example Trustee, Beneficial owner.

3. Upload

Go to the Clients tab and click the Actions button.

Select Bulk import clients, choose the client type, then upload your completed CSV.

Uploading a completed template

Start with UK companies. This pulls in their related parties from Companies House, so importing them first avoids duplicate individuals.

4. Review and import

Firmcheck checks your data before anything is imported. Yellow warnings are usually small name differences with Companies House and are safe to accept. Red errors need fixing in your file and re-uploading. If you get a warning that the name doesn't match UKCH, the company number is often wrong.

Once you're happy, complete the import. Your clients will appear in the Clients tab, ready for you to start their AML and ID checks.

See examples of warnings and errors
Yellow warning exampleRed error example

💡 Got a large client list? We offer a managed import service for firms with larger client bases. Send your completed templates to [email protected] and we'll load them in for you.

For smaller imports, the steps above are the quickest way to get set up, and you can reach us via the in-app chat bubble if you get stuck.

Good to know
  • UK companies and LLPs should still go through the Companies (UK only) template, so their details and related parties come straight from Companies House.

  • Organisations need both templates. If an organisation has no related parties, upload the related parties template blank and the import will still go through.

  • You can import one email address per client, so use the main one you contact them on.

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