Looking to officially close out your year and start fresh? Would you like to delete your database and begin a new one? No problem! The inFlow support team can help you with that. But first, you may want to archive your current inFlow Inventory database in case you ever need to reference it.  Since inFlow Inventory backups aren’t available to download, archiving will be done by exporting your current data into .csv files in Excel.

Although you can export much of your data from inFlow, the process of archiving your data is complex – we recommend that you DON’T archive, but continue with your current data as it is.   

Tip: Consider generating all the reports you might need from your current database before archiving, and store them for reference.

Creating your archive and starting over

The steps to archive your database consist of storing your information in the form of .csv files and deleting your inFlow Inventory database. Keep in mind that deleting your inFlow Inventory database will remove all of your preferences and settings, as well as any customization that will need to be re-entered/re-selected in your new database.

Before proceeding, note the following:

• Work Orders can’t be exported, so complete any open work order before archiving. You can also write down the details to recreate them as open work orders in the new database.
• Sales Quotes can be exported but currently can’t be imported.
• Attachments can’t be exported.
• The Billing and Shipping addresses in your account can be exported, but any other addresses you may have created won’t be available for export.
• Resetting your data wipes ALL system settings, so you’ll have to set them up again (e.g., company, print, and personal settings).

Export your data to CSV file

Some data can be exported to Excel, so we’ll save these files first.

1. Go to Main Menu > General > Export Data.
2. Choose your data type (each will have to be exported separately).
3. Click to export.

The data types you’ll need to export are Product Details, Stock Levels, Customer, Vendor, Sales Orders, and Purchase Orders (as well as Bill of Materials if you use it).

NOTE: This only exports active entries. Anything that has been deactivated or canceled will not be exported. If you would like to export deactivated entries, go to the appropriate listing (e.g., product list for products, customer list for customers) and change the “Show” filter to show “Inactive” (click here for detailed steps). This will refresh the list to show all inactive entries. Right-click to export these entries.

Save your other information manually

1. Go to Main Menu > Options > Settings and note down the following information:
   • costing method
   • company settings (home currency, taxing scheme)
   • references (payment terms, payment methods, sales reps, receiving addresses)
   • custom fields
2. You may also want to write down your print settings and export your custom documents if you’ve not retained copies elsewhere. Go to Main Menu > Settings > Print Settings.
   • Write down your document footers (if you have any).
   • Click the Custom Docs icon.
   • Select the template you’d like to export, click the Export button on the right, and choose where to save it.

Resetting your database

If you’d like to start over in inFlow Inventory by uploading an inFlow On-Premise backup or starting fresh with a blank database, take a look at this article for steps.

Importing your information

To import your data into your new database, read on to the next section of this guide.

You can update your exported files in Excel before importing them back into inFlow if you’d like to make changes to your data (be sure to save your updated import files as a .csv file type).  

Saving the CSV file

1. Once you have your list open in Excel, Choose Save As from the drop-down menu.
2. At the bottom of this window, you’ll see a field “Save as Type.” Choose .csv (comma delimited) from the drop-down.
3. Click Save.
4. Excel will warn you about the loss of formatting, this is not a problem, please click Yes to complete your save.

Ready to begin? See below:

Set up your company information and settings. It’s important to do this first, as some settings, such as your costing method, need to be selected before importing data.

NOTE: If your costing method is set to FIFO/LIFO, you will need to import your stock levels in as an “Initial” purchase order because these costing methods rely solely on purchase orders to calculate your cost. Please see here for how to quickly convert your stock level file into a purchase order file.

When you’ve set up your company information, you can import all your information back into inFlow from the files you exported earlier.

To save as a CSV file

Once you have your list open in Excel,

1. Choose Save As from the drop-down menu.
2. At the bottom of this window, you’ll see a field “Save as Type.” Choose .csv (comma delimited) from the drop-down.
3. Click Save.
4. Excel will warn you about the loss of formatting; this is not a problem; click Yes to complete your save.

Tips to improve your imports

• Review your sales and purchase order files and remove any orders that have already been completed so that you don’t import them
• Always import your stock levels LAST. Assuming that your stock levels were correct when the export was done, importing it before orders and other information may cause changes to those levels.

Importing to inFlow

1. Go to Main Menu > General > Import Data.
2. Choose your data type and import using the updated files (each will have to be imported separately).
3. Click Next and map the fields if need be, though inFlow should do this automatically.
4. Click to import.

Once you’ve done all your imports, you’re all set!

Contact the inFlow team if you have any questions about this process!