Import bookings from a spreadsheet

Do you have past bookings in a spreadsheet, or are you starting out with dozens of future stays already booked? Instead of entering them one by one, you fill in Operent’s template, check a preview and confirm. The bookings come in all at once, each on the right property, with its amounts and, if it’s already been paid, the payment recorded.

Using Airbnb? New bookings can come in on their own: see the guide Connect your Airbnb booking emails. The spreadsheet is for the bookings you already had before connecting.

Step 1 · Always download a new template

In Bookings, click the more-actions button (⋯) and choose “Import spreadsheet”. Under “1. Download a new template”, click “Download XLSX template”.

The file has two tabs:

• Bookings: where you fill things in, starting on row 7. Columns with blue headers are required; grey ones are optional.
• Instructions: how to fill in the template, plus the list of channels and payment methods active in your Operent at the time of download.

Step 2 · One row per booking

BB · Property

Exactly as registered in Operent. The property must already exist: the import doesn’t create properties.

EFE, F · Check-in and Check-out

Actual Excel dates, in dd/mm/yyyy format. Text that looks like a date won’t work.

GG · Channel

Exactly as registered: Airbnb, Booking.com, Direct… The list is on the Instructions tab.

HH · Accommodation price

The total for the nights.

IJI, J · Cleaning and commission

Required. If there was no charge, or you’d rather not enter it, type 0. Don’t leave them blank.

KLK, L · Shares

Depend on the property’s management model. See below.

MNM, N · Payment received

Only for a past booking that’s already been paid: the date it was received and the payment method, exactly as registered.

ACDOA, C, D, O · Optional

External code (the Airbnb confirmation code, for example), guest name, guest count (blank means 1) and notes.

Amounts can be number cells or text in the 1,000.00 format, with up to two decimal places. Don’t use formulas in any cell: if you do, the whole file is rejected.

Columns K and L depend on the property’s model

Here’s an example: an Airbnb booking with a £6,970.00 accommodation price, a £200.00 cleaning fee and £1,305.87 in platform commission. Pick your property’s model to see what to fill in:

Past, today or future: each booking is imported differently

A past booking’s payment is recorded at the amount Operent calculates (see the example above); there’s no “amount paid” column. The months of the stay and of the payment must still be open in Month-end close.

Step 3 · Send it for preview

Back on the import screen, under “2. Send for preview”, click “Choose spreadsheet”. Operent checks the file and shows “Preview complete — nothing was imported.” along with how many rows are error-free and how many have errors. Nothing has been saved yet.

• Errors are grouped by column, with the affected rows (for example, “Rows 5–7”) and what that cell should contain.
• If a property, channel or payment method isn’t found, you’ll see “Match spreadsheet labels”: pick the matching item registered in Operent and click “Refresh preview”. Property matches are remembered for future imports.
• Under “Plan by row”, each row shows how it will be imported (future, today or past), whether it will be marked as paid, and the amount.

Step 4 · Review and confirm

Once every row is ready, you’ll see “Preview ready for confirmation”. Click “Confirm import”. Operent checks everything again and creates all the bookings in one go, then shows “Import confirmed.” along with the number of bookings created.

Duplicate bookings

• Same property, overlapping dates: the row is blocked, whether it clashes with an existing booking or with another row in the file.
• The same file uploaded again after it was confirmed: it’s rejected, and nothing is created twice.
• An external code that was already imported: if the row is identical, it’s skipped; if anything changed, it’s blocked. The import never changes existing bookings: to change one, edit it in Operent.

Common problems