How Prophet 21 mass update consumes files
A Prophet 21 mass update reads a structured file of item changes and applies them to your price data. The import expects your tenant's column layout, your identifiers, and your effective-date conventions. Files that deviate get rejected or, worse, load partially. The staging discipline below exists so the file your team imports is already known good.
Prepare the staging file
Start from the supplier's new prices, not from your live data. Match each supplier row to your catalog by stable identifier, carry list price, multiplier, unit of measure, pack quantity, and effective date per line, and normalize every change to cost per each before judging it. A clean starting layout is the supplier price list template, and the comparison method behind it is covered in how to compare two supplier price lists in Excel.
Validation limits you must check
RowTune validates structure, identifiers, units, packs, and date formats before export. It does not know your tenant's custom fields, approval rules, or import configuration. That boundary is fixed and non-negotiable:
Always check the staging file against your own tenant mass update template and run a test import first when your process allows it. The export is a proposal until your Prophet 21 process accepts it.
The pre-import checklist
Print this, or copy it into your runbook. Every line gets a yes before the file goes anywhere near your Prophet 21 process:
- File columns match your tenant mass-update template exactly, in order.
- Every identifier exists in your item master, with leading zeros intact.
- Pack quantity and unit of measure confirmed on both sides of each change.
- Multiplier-only moves identified, not just list-price moves.
- Effective dates explicit and unambiguous on every line.
- Only approved lines in the file. No pending, no unresolved, no guesses.
- Test import run first where your process allows it, then the real one.
Effective dates
Supplier increases take effect on specific dates, and applying them early or late moves real money. Every staged line carries an explicit ISO date. Ambiguous dates are left out of the export with a warning instead of being guessed, because a held line your team clarifies beats a wrong date nobody catches.
Frequently asked questions
Can RowTune write prices directly into Prophet 21?
No. RowTune prepares a reviewed staging file that your team checks against your tenant template and imports through your own Prophet 21 process. Direct write-back is not offered. Anything that promises hands-free ERP updates without a tenant check should be treated with skepticism.
What must I check before importing a staging file?
Confirm the file layout matches your tenant mass-update template column for column, verify identifiers against your item master including leading zeros, confirm effective dates, and run the import in a test path first when your process allows it. Only then import for real.
How are effective dates handled?
Every price change carries an explicit ISO effective date such as 2026-09-01. Ambiguous formats like 01/07/2026 are ignored until clarified, because applying a price change on the wrong date is worse than not applying it.
What if my supplier file is a PDF price book?
PDF rows go through document extraction and land in the same review queue as spreadsheet rows, each flagged for confirmation. Expect to correct some values during review. CSV and XLSX files with stable columns review faster.