How a switch-in works

The short version

A switch-in moves your records into a Lockstock workspace in four steps: pick the source, add the files or pull, match the columns, and read a dry run. The dry run lists every create, update and skip next to your own totals. You approve it once, and then it is written.

Only the owner can switch in. It is the Switch in link at the foot of the sidebar.

Sources

Matching columns

Lockstock reads each file's header row and proposes which Lockstock field each column fills, with a mark for how sure it is (high, medium or low). You can change any pair before you build the dry run. A file that holds more than one kind of record gets one group per kind.

If the owner has allowed AI help, the assistant helps with columns it does not recognise. If AI help is off, unavailable, or used up for the day (20 column-matching calls per workspace), columns are matched by header name and the screen says so. Your file is not changed either way.

The dry run

• Totals first: item count, stock value and open purchase order value, your file or source against what Lockstock staged. A match shows a green check. If they differ, the screen says by how much, and you tick I accept the difference to go on.
• Then the changes, grouped by record type (items, units, bills of materials, price lists, vendors, customers, locations and bins, stock on hand, serial numbers, costs, open purchase orders, open sales orders). A type the source did not bring is listed in grey as not in file.
• Every row is a create (+), an update (~), a skip (=) or a conflict (!). A change shows the current value and the incoming value.
• A conflict is a row Lockstock will not guess about. Open it to read the reason. If the same record appears more than once in your file, you choose Skip or Use incoming. Any other conflict (for example stock for an item that is in neither the file nor Lockstock) stays out of the import until you fix the source and build a new run. You can leave a note on any row.
• Rows that could not be read are listed with their line numbers and reasons, and you can continue without them.

Approving

• Approve and import writes everything in one transaction. If anything fails, the whole import is rolled back and the reason shows above the button.
• A run commits once. A second click, a retry or a second tab does not import it twice.
• Discard throws the run away. Nothing in your workspace changes, because nothing had been written.
• After the import, the run shows the counts and links to Inventory and the activity log, which names who imported.
• Running another switch-in later is safe: items are matched on SKU, vendors and customers on name, and a row that is already the same is skipped.

Limits

• Up to 4 MB of files per run on the demo.
• A units file creates custom units only. Conversion factors (cases to each) are not imported. Add them afterwards on Units, where each item's buy and use units get their factors.
• Live pulls are read-only and, for QuickBooks and Shopify, are for the Intuit sandbox company and a Shopify development store only.
• The demo holds synthetic data. Do not upload real customer data.