Manual / Getting started

Most requested guide

Importing your data

Moving your association onto BUCA starts with bringing your existing records across. This guide shows you how to prepare a CSV file and upload it — BUCA will create all your households, members, car registrations and payment records in one go.

⏱ About 20 minutes Committee admin

You don't have to do this alone

If you'd rather we set it up for you, send us your existing spreadsheet and we'll handle the import together. Most committees are up and running the same day.

Before you begin

The import brings three kinds of records into BUCA at once:

Members — residents with their name, mobile number and email.
Households — the house number and street each member lives on.
Car plates (optional) — vehicles registered to each member.
Payment record (optional) — the membership fee amount and date paid.

You will need committee admin access to your association in BUCA to run an import.

One import at a time

BUCA processes imports in the background. If an import is still running, the upload form will be hidden and you will see the message "Cannot import any new data. Data is still being imported." Wait for the current import to finish before uploading a new file.

Step 1 · Download the sample CSV

Start with BUCA's sample file — it has all the column headings in the exact order BUCA expects.

Go to Settings
Log in and click Settings in the main navigation.
Open Data Import
On the Settings page, click Data Import.
Click + New Import
This opens the import screen.
Click Download Sample
Your browser will download a file called 2018.csv. Open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers. You'll use it as your template.

Understanding the columns

The sample file contains one row of headings. Do not change, delete or reorder the headings. Add your data below them, one member per row.

Column name	Required	What goes here
`Name`	Yes	The member's full name.
`No`	Yes	House or unit number, e.g. `14` or `12A`.
`Jalan`	Yes	Street name, e.g. `Jalan Melur`.
`Mobile No`	Yes	Contact number, e.g. `012-345 6789`. Spaces and dashes are fine — BUCA strips them.
`Email address`	No	Member's email. Used for receipts and login. If left blank, BUCA assigns a placeholder — the member can update it later.
`House Tel`	No	Home landline number, if any.
`Date`	Yes	Date of membership fee payment, e.g. `01/06/2026`.
`Amount`	Yes	Amount paid in RM, e.g. `50`.
`Receipt Date`	No	Date the receipt was issued, if different from payment date.
`Cheque #`	No	Cheque number, if payment was by cheque.
`3Car Sticker` – `16Car Sticker`	No	Car plate numbers, one per column, e.g. `WXY1234`. Fill left to right; leave the rest blank.
`Total Car Stickers`	No	Count of car stickers issued. Can be left blank — BUCA counts the filled car columns automatically.

The file name must be the membership year

BUCA uses your file's name to decide which membership year the data belongs to. Name the file after the year you are importing — for example, 2026.csv. A file named anything else (like members.csv or import.csv) will create a fee cycle with the wrong year.

Step 2 · Fill in your data

Copy your existing records into the file, one member per row. A few things that save trouble later:

One row per member. If two residents share the same household, give each their own row. Use the same No and Jalan values on both rows — BUCA will link them to the same house.
Be consistent with house numbers. Decide on a format — 14 or No. 14 — and use it the same way every time, so BUCA groups households correctly.
Car plates go in the numbered columns. Put the first plate in 3Car Sticker, the second in 4Car Sticker, and so on. Leave the remaining columns blank.
If you include an email, it must be unique. Two rows cannot share the same email address. If a member has no email, leave the column blank — BUCA assigns a placeholder automatically.
Save as CSV. Before uploading, save or export the file in CSV format (.csv), not as an Excel file (.xlsx).
Rename the file to the membership year. For example, if you are importing 2026 data, the file must be called 2026.csv.

2026.csv

Name	No	Jalan	Mobile No	Email address	Date	Amount	3Car Sticker
Aisyah Rahman	14	Jalan Melur	012-345 6789	aisyah@email.com	01/06/2026	50	WXY1234
Lim Wei Jie	27	Jalan Cempaka	013-998 1020	weijie@email.com	02/06/2026	50	VBA88
Suresh Kumar	3	Jalan Kenanga	011-220 4567	suresh@email.com	02/06/2026	50

A correctly filled file — headings untouched, named 2026.csv, one member per row.

Step 3 · Upload the file

Go back to Settings → Data Import → + New Import
If you navigated away, follow the same path as Step 1.
Click File and select your CSV
Choose the file you prepared — for example, 2026.csv.
Click Upload
BUCA queues your file for processing and takes you to the Members list. The import runs in the background — you do not need to stay on the page.

Import runs in the background

Large files can take a minute or two. You can keep using BUCA while it runs. Check the status any time under Settings → Data Import — the table shows when the import started, when it finished, how many records were created, and any errors.

Step 4 · Check the result

Go to Settings → Data Import
You will see a table of all imports for your association.
Check the End column
A blank End time means the import is still running. Once it shows a time, the import has finished.
Check the Created column
This shows how many payment records were created. Compare it to the number of rows in your file.
Check the Errors column
If there is an error, BUCA shows the row number and the reason — for example, Row number: 5 - Record is invalid. Fix that row in your file and import it again.

Common issues & how to fix them

What you see	What it means & the fix
Upload form is hidden; message says "Cannot import any new data. Data is still being imported."	An import is still running. Wait for it to finish — check Settings → Data Import and refresh until the End time appears.
Errors column shows "Row number: X — …"	A required field was blank or invalid on that row. Open your CSV, fix row X, save, and upload again.
Members appear but the membership year is wrong	The file was not named after the year. Rename it (e.g. `2026.csv`) and upload again. Remove the incorrectly created fee cycle from Membership Fee first.
Duplicate members appear	The same mobile number or email was used for two different rows. BUCA matches on mobile number first, then email. Make each unique and re-import.
Created count is lower than expected	Some rows may have failed silently before the error row. Check that all required columns — Name, No, Jalan, Mobile No, Email address, Date, Amount — are filled for every row.

Stuck on your import?

Send us your spreadsheet and we'll get your association set up with you — assistance is always provided, free of charge.

Get import help