How to move client records off spreadsheets without losing anything
Export to CSV, decide which columns actually matter, preview how they map into the new system, and only then import. Keep the spreadsheet unchanged until the new system has run one full billing or booking cycle — that is your rollback, and it costs nothing.
Most migrations lose data at the mapping step, not the export step. A column called “Notes” can hold three different things in the same sheet: an address, a preference, and a warning about a client. Decide what each column means before it becomes a field, because after the import everything looks tidy and the ambiguity is invisible.
The order that avoids losing data
Export first, then leave the original alone
Take a CSV copy and do the cleaning in a duplicate. The untouched original is the rollback for the whole migration, and it stops being one the moment you start editing it in place.
Preview the column mapping before committing
The step worth insisting on is a preview: which spreadsheet column becomes which field, shown on real rows, before anything is written. A tool that imports straight from upload is asking you to find the mistakes afterwards.
Run both for one full cycle
Keep the sheet current alongside the new system for one billing or booking cycle. It is the only reliable way to find the field you forgot — usually something that lived in a header, a cell colour, or somebody’s memory rather than in a column.
What ClientFlow does here
Client import runs in two steps: a preview showing how each column maps and what would be created, then the import itself. A template is downloadable if you would rather start from the shape the system expects. Expenses and products import the same way. Everything can be exported again afterwards, so moving in does not mean being stuck.
What to know before you plan the weekend
Import requires a paid plan and is switched off during the free trial. It is available from Starter upward; trial accounts can export but not import, and the free plan can do neither. That is a deliberate anti-abuse limit rather than an oversight, and it is worth knowing before you set aside a Saturday for the migration.
Import, check, and still be able to leave
Two-step client import with a mapping preview, a downloadable template, expense and product import, and export on every paid plan. Custom fields catch the columns that do not fit a standard shape, so the spreadsheet’s odd corners have somewhere to go.
Common questions
Can I import during the free trial?
No — import is available from the Starter plan upward and is switched off for trial accounts. Trials can export. If the migration is the thing you want to test, plan it for after you subscribe, or enter a small sample by hand first.
What happens to columns that do not fit?
Map them to custom fields rather than dropping them. A column you cannot place is usually the one someone relies on, and it is far easier to keep it than to reconstruct it later.
Can I get my data back out?
Yes, on any paid plan. Export runs from the dashboard and produces a file. It is worth testing the export before you finish the migration rather than after.