Unleashed CSV Import vs AI Order Entry: Import Sales Orders Template or a Managed Service?

Side by side

Who controls the file?

That is the deciding question. Unleashed's template is built for files you produce: every row is one order line, and five fields are required on each row: Order Number, Customer Code, Line Number, Product Code and Order Quantity. Unleashed says to use its own templates only, not to rename or remove columns, and to keep commas and other special characters out of the data. A customer's purchase order is in their layout, with their part numbers, so someone has to rebuild it before it can be imported. We cover that step in detail in how to get Excel, PDF and email purchase orders into Unleashed.

What does Unleashed's sales order import require?

• The customer exists as a customer record in Unleashed.
• Every product and service on the order exists as a product in Unleashed.
• The Order Number doesn't already exist, including on deleted sales orders. Your account's prefixes don't apply to imported orders, so the Order Number goes in exactly as you want it, up to 17 characters.
• The user has the "Import Sales Order" role permission, and "Sales Orders" too if they will edit the order afterward.
• Dates are in the format your company settings use, and long numbers aren't turned into scientific notation by Excel.

What does the import leave to you?

• Rebuilding each customer's order in the template's layout, with your Customer Code and Product Codes.
• Typing orders that arrive as PDFs, email text or messages into the template first.
• Reviewing and completing each Parked order after import.
• Adding charge lines, such as freight, in Unleashed after import; the template can't include them.
• Setting up a separate customer if an order needs a currency other than the customer's default; the import can't set one.
• Fixing and reimporting files that fail, one file at a time. An import can't be canceled once it starts uploading, and a successful one can't be undone.

What about sales quotes?

Unleashed has a separate Import Sales Quotes template under Sales > Quotes > Import Quotes. It works the same way: the customer and products must exist, the Quote Number must be new, and Unleashed recommends up to 1,000 rows per file. Sales Quotes must be enabled in your company settings, and imported quotes arrive in Draft status. Our guide to importing sales quotes into Unleashed walks through the steps. Logistify creates the sales quote in Unleashed when a customer's email asks for a quote rather than placing an order.

Where Logistify AI is stronger

• It reads orders as customers send them: their Excel layouts, PDFs, email text, EDI, WhatsApp, SMS, voicemail and paper.
• Customer part numbers and descriptions are matched to your Unleashed products, so nobody builds a column map for each customer.
• Orders it can't settle are held with the reason for your team to review.
• The buyer gets a reply with the quantity available on each line.
• It's a managed service: Logistify sets up product matching and keeps it tuned.

Where the CSV import is stronger

• It's part of Unleashed, with no separate tool to buy.
• You control every row and every field, including Unit Price, discounts, warehouse, delivery address and sales person.
• It suits bulk work: loading historical orders, moving orders from another system you run, or an order sheet your own reps fill in using the template's columns.
• Every order arrives Parked, so someone can review it before it goes further.

Using both

Many teams keep the CSV import for bulk loads and use Logistify for the daily orders that arrive by email and message. If you are comparing other tools for the daily orders, see AI order entry tools for Unleashed. The same choice on QuickBooks Desktop is covered in QuickBooks Desktop import tools vs AI order entry.

What Logistify does and doesn't do

Logistify works alongside Unleashed; it isn't an inventory system. The Sales Order Service enters orders as sales orders and quote requests as sales quotes. The Procurement Service follows up with suppliers on open Unleashed purchase orders. The Accounts Receivable Service matches payments from your bank file to open invoices and records them in Xero or QuickBooks Online, whichever you use. It doesn't choose a warehouse for an order. Logistify operates in every region where Unleashed is sold.

How to try Logistify

1. 1Forward a week of real orders, including the messy ones: Excel files, PDFs and orders typed in emails.
2. 2Logistify sets up product matching from your Unleashed catalog and each customer's past orders.
3. 3Run the 30-day pilot ($1,000, one workflow, up to 150 completed tasks) while your team keeps its current process, and compare the sales orders side by side.
4. 4Keep going on Core or Business if it works. There is no setup fee, and the full $1,000 is credited toward an annual Core or Business contract signed within 14 days of the pilot ending.

Who should choose which

• Orders arrive as customers' own Excel files, PDFs, emails or messages, and you want them entered for you: Logistify AI.
• You produce the order file yourself, in Unleashed's columns, with your own codes: the Unleashed CSV import.
• You're loading or migrating many orders at once: the Unleashed CSV import.