Using Beacon for Data Imports

Beacon can analyze a spreadsheet and stage it as a data import without making you walk through the full wizard. Drag a CSV onto a Beacon chat, ask Beacon to take a look, and it tells you what it sees before anything is saved.

When to Use Beacon vs. the Wizard

• Use Beacon when you want a quick read on what's in the file, or when you're not sure whether it's a bill or a sales order, or whether you need to clean it up first.
• Use the wizard when you already know the file is good and want full control over the mapping and review steps. See Reusable Spreadsheet Data Imports.

Both paths end the same way: records land in your Inbox for final review. Beacon doesn't create bills or sales orders directly.

Drop a CSV into Beacon

1. Open Beacon (the chat icon in the top right, or Cmd+K → "Open Beacon").
2. Drag a CSV onto the chat, paste rows, or click the paperclip and pick a file.
3. Ask Beacon to analyze it — for example, "Can you import this?" or "Is this a bill or a sales order?"

Beacon will:

• Detect whether the file looks like bills or sales orders.
• Match it against your saved mappings so it can reuse a prior data import if one fits.
• Tell you how many rows it found, what columns it can map, and any blockers (missing required columns, unknown vendor, items it can't match).
• Ask before staging anything.

Stage from the Chat

When Beacon is confident, it offers a Stage import button under its reply. Click it (or type "Yes, stage this for review") and Beacon:

• Creates a new data import for this file under Configure > Data Imports.
• Stages each row as a pending bill or sales order in your Inbox.
• Replies with links to the new data import's review page and to the Inbox.

Nothing is final yet — staged records appear in the Inbox the same way wizard imports do. Finalize them from there.

Continue in the App

After Beacon stages an import, you usually want to:

• Review the records — click the review link Beacon sent, or open the Inbox.
• Adjust the mapping — click the data import in the sidebar and open General to set a default location or customer, or Item Mappings to relink line items.
• Upload another file later — open the same data import and click Upload another run. Peasy reuses the mapping Beacon set up.

For External Tools and Agents (API Keys)

If you use an external automation (Zapier, a custom script, an MCP-aware agent) to drop spreadsheets into Peasy, you can give it a narrow scope:

• Go to Admin → API Keys and create a new key with Allow data import staging turned on.
• The key can stage CSV imports for in-app review.
• It cannot finalize bills or sales orders. A human still has to review each staged record in the Inbox.

This is the same surface Beacon uses, just opened up to outside tools.

Good to Know

• Beacon analyzes the file in chat — your CSV isn't saved to your data imports until you click Stage import.
• If Beacon says it can't map the file, the safest next step is to open the wizard and try the mapping by hand. See Reusable Spreadsheet Data Imports.
• Beacon only stages bills and sales orders. Item, customer, and vendor imports use different paths.
• Each staged run is tied to a chat thread so you can scroll back later and see exactly what Beacon proposed before you accepted.

Related

• Reusable Spreadsheet Data Imports — the full wizard
• Using the Inbox — finalize staged records
• Integrations Overview