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Creating Custom Census Export Formats

Build your own census export layout: name each column, put it in the order your recordkeeper expects, and map it to the matching value in Stax.ai CX.

Written by Andrew Flowers

Stax.ai CX exports a plan's census in several built-in formats. When the recordkeeper or compliance software you send files to expects its own column layout, you can now build that layout yourself instead of reformatting a spreadsheet by hand every time.

A custom census export format lets you name each column, put the columns in the order you need, and map each one to the matching value in CX. Once you save it, it shows up in your export options next to Standard, Legacy, and FTWilliam.com. Set it up once, and every future export for every plan is one click.

Key Benefits

  • Files that import on the first try. Match the receiving system's column headers exactly, so you stop fixing rejected uploads.

  • No more manual reformatting. If someone on your team has been renaming and reordering columns in Excel after every export, that work goes away.

  • Start from the recordkeeper's own template. Upload their sample file and CX reads the headers straight off the first row.

  • Build it once, use it every season. Formats are saved for your whole firm, so any teammate can pick the same one.

Before You Begin

  • You need access to Plan Admin settings. If you do not see the settings described below, ask an administrator at your firm.

  • It helps to have a sample file or template from the recordkeeper in front of you, so you can match their headers exactly.

Create a Custom Format

[Screenshot: the Edit Census Export Format window with the column mapping table]

  1. Click Settings in the left sidebar.

  2. Open Plan Admin.

  3. Select Custom Census Export Formats. Your saved formats appear in a table.

  4. Add a new format. The Edit Census Export Format window opens.

  5. Enter a Format name. This is the name you will pick at export time, so make it obvious, for example the recordkeeper's name.

  6. Choose a File type: xlsx for Excel or csv.

  7. Build your columns, one row at a time:

    a. Under Column header, type the header text exactly as the receiving system expects it.

    b. Under Maps to, choose the CX value that fills the column. Start typing to search the list.

    c. Use the up and down arrows to move a column, or the x to remove it.

  8. Click + Add Column for each additional column.

  9. Click Save Format.

You should now see: your new format listed in the table, ready to use.

Start From a Recordkeeper Template

If the recordkeeper gave you a blank template, you do not have to retype the headers.

  1. In the Edit Census Export Format window, click Upload Template.

  2. Choose the recordkeeper's file.

  3. CX reads the first row of headers and replaces the column list with them.

  4. Map each column to the CX value it should hold, then click Save Format.

Note: The template file itself is never uploaded or stored. CX reads the header row and nothing else.

Columns That Are Not CX Data

Some layouts include columns the receiving system needs but CX does not fill.

  • Leave a column blank. Set Maps to to Other, Leave blank. The header still appears in the file and the cells stay empty.

  • Use the same value in every row. Enter the value once and CX repeats it down the column.

Use Your Format on an Export

[Screenshot: the Configure Census Export window with a custom format selected]

  1. Click Plan Admin in the left sidebar and open the participants list for the plan.

  2. Select the plan year in the filter bar.

  3. In the top right corner, click More, then Configure Census Export.

  4. Pick your format from the list. Custom formats appear as Custom: your format name. If the list is long, type in the search box to narrow it.

  5. Check or uncheck Include employees with zero compensation, based on what the receiving system needs.

  6. Click Save & Export. The file downloads to your computer.

Note: CX remembers the format you chose for that plan. Next time you can click More then Export Census File to run the same export again in one step.

Edit or Delete a Format

Go back to Settings, Plan Admin, Custom Census Export Formats. From the table you can edit a format's name, file type, and columns, or delete it.

Important: Deleting a format does not change files you already downloaded. It does mean anyone whose saved export used that format will need to pick a new one the next time they export.

Troubleshooting

The recordkeeper rejected the file. Compare your column headers to their template character for character. Spacing, punctuation, and capitalization usually matter to an importer.

The columns are in the wrong order. Open the format and use the up and down arrows next to each row. Some importers read by position rather than by header.

A column came out empty and should not be. Check what that row maps to. A column set to leave blank stays empty on purpose.

What Success Looks Like

You pick your firm's format at export time, the file downloads in the exact layout the receiving system wants, and it imports without anyone touching a spreadsheet in between.

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