Importing a register you keep in a spreadsheet

On the Risk register page, open Import from a spreadsheet and choose your Excel (.xlsx) or CSV file. Trustees reads it in your browser and shows you what it found. The file itself isn't uploaded, and nothing is saved until you press Import.

It works out which column is which from your headings: the risk, category, description, impact and likelihood before and after controls, the controls, further actions, owner, who's responsible and the review date. Scouts' own template, with its two Impact and Likelihood columns, is read the right way round. If it gets a column wrong, change it in the list before you import. If your sheet has a title above the headings, say which row the headings are on.

Scores can be numbers or words. 1 to 4, or Scouts' words (Minor, Important, Significant, Major; Unlikely, Possible, Likely, Highly likely) and common ones like Low, Medium and High. If your sheet scores out of 5, 1 to 4 are kept as they are and 5 counts as 4, and the preview says so.

Nothing is guessed quietly. A risk with no scores is still brought in, as 2 × 2 with a review date of today, so it's at the top of the list to score properly. A category Trustees doesn't recognise uses the one you choose. An owner who isn't on The board is kept in the “responsible” column. Risks already in your register are skipped, so importing the same file twice doesn't double them up.

Older .xls files: open them in Excel and use Save As, choosing Excel Workbook (.xlsx) or CSV. Up to 300 risks at a time.