An investment database application is configured to perform a download process and an upload process. During the download process, the investment database application creates a spreadsheet out of a customized spreadsheet template, receives XML data from a database on a server system, converts the XML data, loads the spreadsheet with the converted data, and saves the populated spreadsheet template to a location specified by the user. During the upload process, the investment database application may convert a populated spreadsheet template created during the download process into an XML formatted file and transmit the XML file to a secure server system that loads the XML data into a Relational Database Management System (RDMS).