Import Jobs, invoices and notes from another system

Moving from another system, you can bring your history into Tidyflow from spreadsheets: past and current Jobs, invoices with what was paid and written off, payments, and client notes. Each import lives in Settings > Import data and keeps the dates, numbers and amounts from your old system.

Workspace owners and admins can open Import data. Importing invoices and payments also needs access to billing.

Import your data in this order

Each import matches its rows to what the import before it brought in, so take them in the order Import data lists them:

1. Clients and contacts. Every other import finds clients by client ID, then by name. See Import clients from a CSV or Excel file.
2. Jobs. Invoices and notes can link to the Job they were for.
3. Invoices. Each invoice can carry what was paid and written off.
4. Payments, only when your old system exports payments separately from invoices.
5. Client notes.

Client files come across separately; see Import client folders.

How a spreadsheet import works in Tidyflow

Jobs, invoices, payments and client notes use the same three steps. Click Import next to the one you want, then:

1. Upload. Choose a CSV or Excel file of up to 100,000 rows.
2. Match columns. Each column in your file shows a sample value and what it Imports as. Tidyflow suggests a match from the column name; change any that are wrong, and set columns you don’t need to Ignore. If a required column is missing, Tidyflow says which one.
3. Review. Check the totals, the first rows as they will be created, and any rows that will be skipped with the reason. Then start the import.

The import runs in the background, so you can leave the page. Its progress shows under Recent imports.

Import Jobs from a spreadsheet

A Jobs file needs a Job name column and a client column (client ID or client name). Dates, status, service, assignee, tags and description are optional.

• Completed Jobs keep their real completion date. Map your completed date column; without one, Tidyflow uses the due date, then the start date, then the end of the year column. A completed Job is never dated as finished today.
• Under Statuses, set each value from your status column to Open or Completed, for example an “Inactive” status that means the work is finished. Values Tidyflow already recognises, such as “Complete”, can stay As written.
• Jobs already in Tidyflow for that client and name are skipped. Tick Update Jobs that are already in Tidyflow to fill in their dates and status from the file instead.
• A Job whose preparer has left imports as an unassigned Job rather than being skipped.

Import invoices from a spreadsheet

Each invoice needs its invoice number, the client, an invoice date and an amount (a total, subtotal or line amount). Tidyflow never makes up invoice numbers.

• No invoice numbers in your old system? Add your own column before importing. Placeholders such as HIST-2015-0001 are fine. Keep the same numbers if you later import payments for those invoices.
• Your file can have one row per invoice or one row per line. Rows that share an invoice number become one invoice with a line per row, in any order.
• Map Amount paid and Written off where your file has them. A column named “Discounts” isn’t matched automatically, because some systems use it for write-offs and others for real discounts.
• Map your Job column to Job. When a client has several Jobs with the same name, such as a yearly tax return, the invoice’s year picks the right one. An invoice whose Job isn’t found still imports, without a Job.
• Tax is kept exactly as your file gives it, even at rates you haven’t set up in Tidyflow.

Before you import, compare the Outstanding total on the Review step with the receivables report from your old system.

What happens to imported invoices in Tidyflow

Imported invoices are records of your past billing, not new bills:

• Each invoice is paid, partly paid, open or written off, worked out from the amounts in your file. What was paid is recorded as one payment.
• Imported invoices are never emailed to clients and never sent to Xero or QuickBooks.
• Reminders stay off for imported open invoices unless you tick Send reminders for open invoices on the Review step.
• Open and part-paid invoices show in your receivables, on client statements and in the client portal, where clients can pay them.
• Written-off invoices count in revenue reports but not in receivables, statements or the client portal.

To find them later, filter the Invoices list by Imported.

Import payments from a spreadsheet

Import payments only when your old system exports them separately from invoices. A payments file needs the invoice number, the payment date and the amount. Each payment is recorded on the imported invoice with that number, keeping its own date, so the Payments report shows when the money came in.

Payments only go onto invoices brought in by an invoices import. A payment that is already recorded, or that is more than the invoice still owes, is skipped.

Import client notes from a spreadsheet

A notes file needs the note and a client column. Each note keeps its original date, and a Job column links it to that client’s Job. Notes appear on the client’s Notes tab, newest first. A note already in Tidyflow for the same client, day and text is skipped, so importing the file again is safe.

Check, download skipped rows or undo an import

Recent imports on Import data lists your imports from the last 30 days, including ones Tidyflow Agent ran, with the file, result and status. The menu on each row has:

• View invoices, for an invoices import.
• Download skipped rows, a file of the rows that didn’t import with the reason for each. Fix them and import the file again.
• Undo import, which removes what the import added, within 30 days. A client import can’t be undone. An invoices import can’t be undone once a payment has been recorded on one of its invoices; undo that payments import first.

Import with Tidyflow Agent

Tidyflow Agent runs the same imports from a file you attach in the Agent chat, such as an export from your old system. Ask it, for example, to import the attached Jobs. It suggests how each column should be matched, asks about anything unclear, and shows a confirmation card with the totals before anything is imported.