Google Sheets Add-On - ITEM ERROR: Ambiguous Item Name.

flyingbynight

I follow the template exactly, but when I validate I get "ITEM ERROR: Ambiguous Item Name. Make Item (Product) Name unique in Wave."

When I download old invoices, the layout is exactly the same.

I am using only the drop down item name options - not typing in new ones.

What gives?

KieronB

Hi @flyingbynight ,
Sorry to hear that you're having trouble with Wave Connect. This error normally pops up when uploading a Product with a name that already exists in Wave. If you can provide a little more detail about what you're doing and the steps you're taking, I can help narrow down the source of the problem in this case.

Thanks,
Kieron

PaulC

Hi @flyingbynight,
Just as @KieronB says, the problem is related to Product Name.
You mention that you are downloading invoices and "the layout is exactly the same", so I guess you are trying to download invoices and use them as a template to create more invoices?
The problem here is that Wave is happy to let you create multiple Products with the same name, but when Wave Connect uploads invoices it looks for an identical match on Product Name for the line items.
If you have multiple Products in your Wave account with the same Name, then Wave Connect doesn't know which one to use - this is why it says the Product Name you have entered in your upload sheet is "ambiguous".
The solution is to go and edit the Product Names in Wave, then refresh your google sheet data. For example, if you have 2 products called "Service", you need to call one of them something else, like "Service 2".
Hope that helps!

flyingbynight

@PaulC Not sure I understand the use of this feature then. I thought the whole point is to be able to upload, say, line items from a time tracking tool directly to create a new invoice. Why would I need to create new products for services that are standard each month?

For example, I have a line item classified as "consulting" and select it from the dropdown. This category would apply to many line items. Why would that not work?

And yes, I was downloading an invoice to use as a template, but then switched to the method where the app builds it for you. In my case, it gave me items to select from in that column as dropdowns.

KieronB

Hi @flyingbynight ,

Wave Connect will work in the way that you've described, there is just one issue which must be addressed, first. It sounds like you have more than 1 Product named "consulting" in Wave. (You can check for this in Wave by going to Sales -> Products & Services). If so, then you'll need to follow @PaulC's advice and rename the one that you don't intend to use.

Wave Connect must be able to relate the name of the Product in your spreadsheet to exactly 1 Product in Wave; otherwise, it can't tell which one you mean, and this leads to the "ambiguous" error message on the validation step.

flyingbynight

@KieronB ahh I understand what you mean now. Looks like I cannot remove duplicate products since they are associated with previous invoices. There was a point we would create more than one main service the same name since we could also have unique descriptions for them.

PaulC

You're perfectly correct, @flyingbynight. Wave itself does not force Product Name to be unique, knowing that you as a human user can distinguish which "consulting" you want to pick. Wave Connect, however, insists on there being only a single Product in Wave with the name you choose; this prevents it uploading with the 'wrong' product.

Although you cannot delete an existing Product that has been used in invoices, you can re-name it. This is the recommended solution.

Note that you may need to refresh Wave Connect's lookup data after you rename the Product. You can do this on the 'Verify' step by clicking the 'Refresh' link at the bottom of the panel.

Hope that helps!