Troubleshooting Census Upload

Census upload is one of the most important steps in creating a Proposal. This guide covers the most common issues and how to resolve them.

Supported File Formats

Monark accepts the following census formats:

| Format | Extensions | Notes | | ------ | ----------------- | ------------------ | | Excel | .xlsx, .xls | Recommended | | CSV | .csv | Widely supported | | PDF | .pdf | AI extraction used | | Images | .png, .jpg, .jpeg | AI extraction used |

If your file is in a different format (e.g., .numbers, .ods), export it to Excel or CSV first.

Census Template Changes (July 2026)

The official Monark census template has been updated:

Tier columns removed — Rate tier columns have been removed from the template. Existing census files that contain tier columns can still be uploaded; Monark will prompt you to map or ignore those columns during the review step.
Critical Illness per-unit rating — CI plans now use per-unit benefit rating. If your group includes CI coverage, the census accepts a per-unit benefit amount for enrolled members rather than a tier designation.

Census Template Changes (August 2026)

The Monark census template has been redesigned with plain-English column headers and clearer guidance for groups with dependents:

Readable column headers — Columns are now labeled the way you'd say them (First Name, ZIP Code, Medical Plan Name) instead of database-style names (first_name, zip_code, current_medical_plan_name).
Columns grouped by importance — The template groups columns into four bands so it's obvious what you actually have to fill in:
- Required — Employee ID, First Name, Last Name, ZIP Code, Date of Birth, Gender, Relationship. The file can't be processed without these.
- Recommended — Tobacco User, Job Class. Not required, but they make returned rates more accurate.
- Conditional — Salary Amount plus the plan-name and benefit-amount columns. Fill these in only for the lines of coverage the group currently has. Salary Amount is only needed if the group offers disability (STD or LTD) or salary-based life, because those premiums are calculated from it. Otherwise leave it blank.
- Optional — Job Title, Email, COBRA, Retiree. Administrative detail only; these never affect rating.
Dependent guidance — The template states explicitly that Monark reads every row on its own. A dependent enrolled in a plan needs that plan's name in their own row — nothing carries down from the employee's row above.
Tier banner row — The first row of the template labels each column's tier (Required, Recommended, Conditional or Optional). Monark reads the second row as your column headers. If your own tools object to two header rows, you can delete the banner row.
Header-only file — The template has no sample rows, so there's nothing to clear out before you start. Fill in one row per person, dependents included. The Excel version also has a Start Here sheet that explains the tiers.
A downloadable README accompanies the template. It covers the same column groupings, a worked example (one row per person, each dependent repeating their own plan name, and waived marking a declined line) and formatting tips: use one date format throughout, enter gender as M or F, and enter waived in a plan column to show someone declined that line.

Note:

The template still contains no rate tier columns, consistent with the July 2026 change. Enrollment tier is derived from the relationships in your file — you do not enter it.

The template is a fallback. Normally you can upload a census in any format and Monark's AI maps it for you; use the template only if that didn't work. Existing census files in the previous template format remain fully supported. The redesigned template and its README are available for download from the census upload screen.

Life Benefit Amounts Written as Labels

Life benefit columns often say how the benefit is set rather than giving a plain number. Monark now reads these labels when you upload the census:

Flat amounts with K or M — Flat 50K or 50K becomes $50,000, and 1M becomes $1,000,000.
Salary multiples — 2x Salary (or 1.5x) becomes the member's salary multiplied by that number. If the member has no salary in the file, the amount is left blank rather than guessed, so add a Salary Amount for those members.
Plain numbers — $50,000 or 50000 is taken as written.

Previously only the digits were read, so Flat 50K could come through as $50 and 2x Salary as $2. You can edit the Basic Life and Voluntary Life cells as text in the census table.

Reviewing Your Census

After upload, the census review has up to three tabs:

Families — appears only when some households need your confirmation: families Monark grouped from the order of your file, families with a problem, or enrollment suggested from coverage tiers. Employee-only families don't need confirming. Confirm each family, or use Confirm all families. Pending family confirmations are not counted as errors.
Everyone — every person in the census, where you can edit any cell.
Issues — the errors that must be fixed before saving. When you fix an error it leaves the list and the next one stays in view, so nothing is skipped. When nothing is left, the review says so and shows the next step.

Include in quotes

The census has an Include in quotes column. Yes follows the person's benefit selections, including Waived. No leaves the person out of every quote without changing their benefit selections. Use it for someone who stays on the census but shouldn't be priced. It is separate from waiving a single line of coverage.

Former spouses

If your file lists someone as an ex-spouse or former spouse, the Families tab asks "Is [name] still covered on an employee's plan?". Choose Yes, add as spouse to keep them covered under that employee, or No, remove from census. You need to answer for each former spouse before the census can be saved.

Salaries below $10,000

A salary below $10,000 is usually a weekly, biweekly or hourly amount rather than an annual one. Monark doesn't convert these automatically. A Verify pay periods panel lists them: choose how often each person is paid (and their weekly hours if hourly), check the annual salary Monark works out, then click Apply all pay periods. You can also correct the amount directly in Everyone. These salaries must be corrected or confirmed before the census can be saved, because disability and salary-based life premiums are calculated from them.

Excel files with dropdown lists

Some census workbooks keep the values for their dropdown menus on a hidden sheet. Monark ignores hidden sheets when it looks for the census table, so these files upload normally.

Common Issues & Fixes

"Some rows were skipped" or validation errors

Monark validates every row during upload. Rows with errors are flagged but don't block the rest of the upload.

Most common causes:

Missing required fields — Family ID, First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Gender, ZIP Code, and Relationship are all required
Date of birth format — must be MM/DD/YYYY (e.g., 04/15/1985, not 1985-04-15)
Invalid gender values — must be M or F
Invalid ZIP code — must be a 5-digit U.S. ZIP. ZIP codes that lost their leading zero in Excel (for example 2134 for 02134) are restored automatically, and ZIP+4 extensions are dropped
Unrecognized relationship type — valid values are: employee, spouse, child, domestic_partner

Fix: After upload, review the preview table. Rows with errors are highlighted in red. You can edit them inline before saving.

Surnames with suffixes or multiple words are truncated

Fixed. When your file has separate, dedicated first name and last name columns, those values are now taken exactly as written. Previously, multi-word and suffixed surnames could be reduced to their final token — Canchola III became III, and Acevedo Zapata became Zapata.

Name splitting is now applied only where it's genuinely needed: when a single column carries a combined full name, or when the same source column feeds both the first name and last name fields.

If you previously uploaded a census with compound surnames, it's worth re-checking those members in the census preview table — corrections made before this fix were not applied retroactively.

Messy or inconsistent column headers

Monark automatically maps column headers to the correct fields, even if they don't match exactly. You don't need to rename columns or use a specific template.

If Monark can't confidently map a column, it will ask you to confirm the mapping before proceeding.

Unrecognized columns are now blocked, not silently dropped. If your file contains columns Monark can't map, they are flagged before you can advance. You'll need to either assign them to a known field or confirm they should be ignored. This prevents census data from disappearing during upload without your knowledge.

File exported from an AMS (e.g., PACOM, Applied, Ease)

AMS exports often include extra rows, merged cells, or non-standard formatting. Monark is built to handle these — just upload the file as-is. The AI extraction layer will clean and map the data.

If specific rows are still failing after upload, edit them inline in the census preview table.

PDF or image census isn't extracting correctly

For PDF and image uploads, Monark uses AI to extract member data. Results are shown for review before saving — always review the extracted data carefully.

If extraction is incomplete or inaccurate:

Check that the document is legible and not heavily compressed
Try uploading a higher-quality scan if available
Manually correct any misread fields in the preview table
As a fallback, manually enter members using + Add Member

Dependent plan names don't match available plans

When your census includes a Current Plan Name column for dependents, Monark validates that those plan names match the plans configured in the RFP. If a dependent's plan name doesn't match any recognized plan, the affected rows are flagged with a plan mismatch warning before you can proceed.

What to do:

Review the flagged rows in the census preview table
Update the plan name to match an available plan option, or clear the field if the plan name isn't needed
If the plan isn't listed yet, configure it in the coverage settings before re-uploading the census

I uploaded the wrong file

You can re-upload the census at any time from the Census tab of your Proposal. Uploading a new file will replace the existing census data — review carefully before confirming.

I need to add or edit individual members after upload

Open the Census tab from your Proposal
Click any member to edit their details
To add a new member, click + Add Member
Make sure new dependents share the same Family ID as their employee

Family groupings look wrong

Each employee and their dependents should share the same Family ID. If dependents are appearing as separate employees, or families are split:

Open the Census tab
Locate the affected members
Update the Family ID so that dependents match their employee's ID

No Family ID column in your file? If your census doesn't include a Family ID column at all, Monark automatically derives family groupings from the subscriber/dependent relationship structure in the file. Employees are treated as the primary subscriber and their dependents are grouped under them. You do not need to add a Family ID column — Monark handles this during census processing.

Family IDs renumber after a delete (Monark-generated IDs only). When Monark created the Family IDs because your file had none, deleting a member renumbers the families in order (1, 2, 3 …) so no gaps are left. Members of the same family keep sharing one ID. Family IDs that came from your own file are never renumbered.

Sort order. By default, the Census member list sorts Family IDs numerically, so family 2 comes before family 10. Members without a Family ID are listed last. Clicking a column header cycles through ascending, descending, and back to the default order.

The census sheet in exports lists households A to Z by the employee's last name, then first name. Within each household the employee comes first, then the spouse, then children by name. Ties fall back to the numeric Family ID.

Relationship column missing

If your census has a Family ID column but no Relationship column, Monark fills in relationships within each family instead of leaving them blank:

The subscriber is set to employee.
The oldest adult dependent (18 or older) is set to spouse. Each family gets at most one, and none is added if the family already has a spouse.
Every other dependent is set to child.

Each inferred relationship is listed in the review panel described below. Check them before saving, especially for domestic partners or adult children, and correct any that are wrong in the preview table.

Blank fields on dependent rows

Monark automatically fills in missing values for dependents when the same field is populated on the subscriber (employee) row. For example, if a dependent row is missing a ZIP code but the employee's ZIP code is present, Monark will inherit that value during upload.

When this happens, a panel titled Inherited from the employee row appears during census review. It shows how many dependents were affected and which fields were filled, and the affected cells are highlighted in the table. Review it carefully — if an inherited value isn't accurate for a specific dependent, correct it in the preview table before saving. You can Dismiss the panel once you've checked it.

Blank plan selections on dependents are treated as waived

If a dependent's plan selection field is blank, Monark treats this as the dependent waiving that coverage — it is not inherited from the subscriber row. Plan enrollment is an explicit decision and is not assumed from the employee.

If a dependent should be enrolled in the same plan as the employee, ensure their plan field is populated before saving the census.

Can I Skip Census Upload?

No. A census is required during Proposal setup. Continue: Select Coverage stays unavailable until a census has been uploaded and reviewed, and there's no option to continue without one. If an upload fails, use Try Again to upload the file again. You can still add or edit members afterwards from the Census tab.

Still Having Trouble?

Start a chat at monarkhq.com and the Monark team can help walk through your specific file. You're also welcome to book a time for a live walkthrough.