Help with Gift Aid schedule uploads

Plain English answers to the problems treasurers most often hit with HMRC's Gift Aid schedule. Useful whether or not you use Donor Schedule.

• Error message beginning "ASM"
  What HMRC says causes ASM errors when you upload a Gift Aid schedule, and how to fix them.
• Charities Online cannot read the schedule: check the worksheet name
  The worksheet inside HMRC's template has a special name. If it changes, the upload can fail.
• Save as .ods, not .xlsx or .csv, and which template to use
  Charities Online expects HMRC's template saved in OpenDocument format. Here is how to get that right in Excel and LibreOffice.
• More than 1,000 donations in one claim
  Each schedule holds up to 1,000 lines. If you go over, the extra lines are not included in your claim.
• Postcode errors, overseas donors and BFPO addresses
  How HMRC wants postcodes written, and what to do for donors outside the UK.
• Date errors, DD/MM/YY and the earliest donation date
  How to enter donation dates so Charities Online accepts them, including the earliest date box at the top of the schedule.
• Other system errors: blank spaces and hidden characters
  HMRC's first suggestion for most other upload errors is to check for stray spaces before or after donor details.
• Titles, names and hyphens
  The small rules about titles and names that cause a surprising number of rejected rows.
• Aggregated donations and sponsored events
  How to group small donations, how to enter sponsored events, and the £20, £500 and £1,000 limits.
• Exporting your donations from Stripe, PayPal, SumUp and your bank
  How to get a CSV file out of the places donations usually arrive, and what columns to look for.

Still stuck? Email [email protected], but please do not send donor details. For questions about your charity's Gift Aid position, contact the HMRC Charities helpline.