Clover Menu Import Template: Columns, Modifiers & Common Errors

Clover's bulk import will take a spreadsheet and turn it into a working menu in minutes, but only if the spreadsheet is built right. Most of the support tickets and re-imports people run into come down to a handful of columns that get filled in wrong, or a modifier group that didn't exist yet when the items tried to reference it. Here's what every column actually does, and where the format breaks.

What is the Clover inventory CSV format?

Clover's item import is a spreadsheet, usually downloaded as an Excel file or CSV from Inventory, Items, Export/Import inside the web Dashboard. Each row is one item, or one variant of an item if you're splitting sizes into separate rows. Clover reads the file by matching column headers, not by column position, so renaming or reordering headers from the template can make a whole column get ignored.

Download the template fresh from your own account rather than reusing one from a different Clover setup. Tax rate names, category names, and modifier group names are account-specific, so a template built for one restaurant won't line up with another's settings.

Column by column: what goes where

How do modifier groups attach to items?

Modifier groups are usually a separate template or a separate tab from the item file itself, with its own set of columns: group name, minimum and maximum selections, and the individual modifiers inside that group along with any price add-on. The item file then references the group by its exact name in the Modifier Group column.

The order matters. If you import items before the modifier groups exist, the items come in clean but with nothing attached, and there's no error message warning you. The first sign is usually a server telling you they can't ring in a topping. Build or import the modifier groups first, confirm they show up correctly in Inventory, then run the item import.

Common errors in the Clover import format

• Price stored as text. Usually caused by Excel autoformatting a cell with a dollar sign or a currency style. Clover needs a plain number.
• Category name mismatches. A trailing space or a different capitalization creates a second category that looks identical in a quick glance at the list.
• Modifier group typos. "Toppings" and "Topping" are two different names to Clover. If the item file references a name that's off by even a letter, the modifier group doesn't attach.
• Encoding problems with special characters. Curly quotes from Word, accented letters in words like jalapeño or crème, can turn into garbled symbols if the file isn't saved in the right encoding.
• Duplicate SKUs. Two rows with the same item code confuses whatever matching Clover uses on re-import, sometimes overwriting the wrong item.
• Blank required cells. A market-price item left with an empty Price field usually fails that row silently rather than importing at zero.
• Oversized files. Very large menus, a few hundred items or more, are more likely to time out or partially import. Split into smaller batches and confirm each one.
• Reusing a template from a different account. Category and tax rate names won't match, so half the rows fail to attach correctly even though the file itself looks fine.

How do you avoid rebuilding the file after every mistake?

Keep a master copy of the spreadsheet on your own computer, not just inside Clover, and make small test batches before running the full menu. Import ten items first, check that pricing, category, and modifiers all landed the way you expected, then run the rest. It costs a few extra minutes and saves you from finding forty mispriced items during Friday dinner service.

FAQ