Plan availability: Core Medium+ and Visitors Essentials+
Role permissions: Team Admin, Site Admin, or Front desk & security
If you are onboarding a large inventory of physical items or migrating from scan & track to Assets, importing via CSV allows you to add hundreds of items—such as access cards, master keys, radios, and safety gear—all at once rather than creating them individually.
Need to export or track your inventory after importing?
See our companion guide: Tracking and reporting on your assets. For full setup instructions and issuing items to guests, visit Getting started with Assets.
Preparing your CSV file
To ensure your inventory imports seamlessly, your CSV file must contain the correct column headers. We recommend downloading the sample template directly from the upload window in Sine.
How to download the sample CSV template'To get a pre-formatted spreadsheet ready for your inventory:
In the Sine Web Dashboard, click Assets from the left-hand menu.
In the right corner of the Assets page, click the three dots (
...) next to Add asset and select Import CSV.
[Screenshot: Assets page with the top-right three dots menu open and Upload CSV selected]
In the pop-up window that appears, click the Download template link.
[Screenshot: Upload CSV pop-up window showing the Download template link]
A blank template will download to your computer, pre-filled with the exact column headings you need.
Required and optional column headersNickname — An optional friendly label. A friendly, human-readable label to help staff identify the item quickly (e.g. Master Key Suite A, Security Radio 04). If left blank, Sine defaults to displaying the identifier.
Identifier (required) — A unique ID, barcode, or serial number for each item.
Uniqueness: Each identifier must be unique across your organization's entire register
Case-insensitivity: Identifiers are case-insensitive. For example, CARD01, Card01, and card01 are treated as the same item. If your CSV includes duplicates in different cases, the first processed row will succeed, and subsequent matches will fail validation as duplicates.
Asset Type (required) — The category the item belongs to (e.g. Access Cards, Master Keys, Radios).If the asset type already exists in Sine, enter the exact name.
If the category is new, you can have Sine create it automatically during upload (see Auto-create Asset Types below).
Uploading your CSV into Sine
Once your spreadsheet is ready and saved as a .csv file, upload it via the Sine Web Dashboard:
In the Sine Web Dashboard, navigate to Assets from the left-hand navigation sidebar.
On the Assets tab, click the context menu (...) in the top right corner and select Import CSV.
[Screenshot: Assets register page with the top-right context menu open and Upload CSV highlighted]
In the upload window, click browse files or drag and drop your .csv file into the upload area.
[Screenshot: Upload CSV modal showing the Download template link and file upload area]
Auto-create Asset Types: If your CSV introduces new categories that do not yet exist in your register, check the box:
☑ Create asset types if they don't exist
(If this is left unchecked and your file contains an unrecognised asset type, those rows will fail import validation).
Click Add assets.
Sine validates your file in the background and updates your register immediately upon completion.
Validation and error handling
During the upload process, Sine validates both the file structure and the individual records:
Formatting issues (on screen): Any structural errors—such as missing required column headers, invalid delimiter characters, or unsupported file formats—will display immediately on screen in the upload window so you can rectify your file before proceeding.
Data issues (email report): If individual rows encounter validation errors (such as duplicate identifiers already present in your register, duplicate identifiers within the same file, or unrecognised asset types when auto-creation is disabled), Sine will import all valid rows and automatically email a detailed error report to your account email address outlining the specific row numbers and causes.