File Conversion Select the Encoding that makes your document readable dialog box appears when Merging Fund Statements

The file conversion box typically means that there are special characters in the data file that Word cannot determine.It can also occur if the merge template is not configured correctly.

To resolve, try the following:

1. Open the text file referenced in the message in Excel and see if there are characters that do not belong. Notepad will not be able to display the characters which is why you have to open in Excel.

• Commonly, these errors occur on letters with accents, or when text has been pasted into FIMS such as in the grant description area or profile name and that text contains symbols or accented letters.
• Once you identify the records that have an issue, go into FIMS, edit the records in question to remove any foreign characters or symbols, and re-do the database export.
• Once you have found the problem records in Excel you can open the file in question in Notepad, fix the records and then close the file. 

2. Be sure that the merge template is saved as a .docx document if working in a newer version of Word. You would click File > Save As > Word Document .docx

3. Ensure that the Word template is set up correctly, see the following: