Moving your shop off spreadsheets or another app
Your client list comes over from a spreadsheet file (CSV), and you see a preview before anything is added. Then we set up your prices, payment terms and one of your real jobs together on a 30 minute setup call. Jobs and payment history come over only when your export carries them in a form Square Away can read, so we go over your file before you count on it.
Most shops come to us from a spreadsheet, a notebook, or an app built for some other kind of business. Here's exactly what moves over from your old app or a spreadsheet, what doesn't, and why.
What comes with you, and what doesn't.
Nothing is sent to your clients when you bring things in: no emails, no texts, no payment reminders.
Comes over
- Your client list, from a spreadsheet file (CSV). It matches the usual columns (name, email, phone, company, address, notes) and only a name is required. Up to 2,000 rows a file. Anyone already in Square Away with the same email or phone is skipped.
- Upcoming appointments on a Google calendar, copied onto the right jobs. Each is matched by the client's name, anything that doesn't match is listed for you to pick, and nothing is changed in Google.
- Your contract. Drop your Word or PDF contract into the Contract section of a proposal and it comes in as text you can edit.
- Old jobs with their invoices and payment schedules, when your old app's project export has them in a form Square Away reads. Payments already made come in as paid so balances are right, but never count as new money, and past jobs come in as history, out of your pipeline.
Doesn't come over, and why
- Email and text history. Exports don't include it. It stays in your inbox and on your phone.
- Automations. No export carries them in a form another app can read. You set up the ones you need in Square Away.
- Saved client cards. Card details can't move between payment companies. Clients enter theirs again the first time they pay you.
- Files and photos. Exports don't include them. Save the ones you need and add them to the job.
- Signed contracts as live documents. Save the signed PDFs before you cancel and attach them to the job.
- Your price list, from a file. Put your prices in your Price Book once and every estimate uses them.
What to export from your current tool.
Do this before you cancel anything, while you can still log in.
Your client list, as a CSV file.
Look for Export or Download on your client list or contacts page and pick CSV if it asks. In Excel, Save As and pick CSV. In Google Sheets, File, Download, Comma separated values.
Signed contracts, as PDFs.
Save every signed one for jobs that are still open, and any you'd want if there's ever a question later.
A list of who still owes you.
Open invoices and what's due on each, so every open balance is on a job in Square Away before your old app goes away.
Job photos and files.
Download the ones you'll want: drawings, finish samples, progress photos for your portfolio.
Any jobs or payments report.
Export it even if it doesn't come in on its own. It's your record, and we can go over it on the call.
The setup call, and what's left after it.
New shops start with a 30 minute video call with Allen. We bring in your client list, set up your payment terms, and run one of your real jobs from estimate to proposal so you see it work on your own numbers.
The part that takes longest is the Price Book, because it's every price you use. Don't wait to finish it: put in what's on your next quote and add the rest as you go.
If you're on paper, there's nothing to export. Type your clients into a spreadsheet, one per row with a name, email and phone, and bring that.
Straight answers before you move.
The contact import shows a preview and what it will skip. Nothing is added until you say so.
Bringing data in sends no emails, no texts and no payment reminders.
Jobs and money from a report spreadsheet need a look first. Bring the file to the setup call.
Bringing jobs and appointments over is limited to the shop's owner.
More on moving over.
Can I bring my clients over from a spreadsheet?
Yes. Save the spreadsheet as a CSV file and import it. It matches the usual columns, only a name is required, and anyone already in Square Away with the same email or phone is skipped.
Will my clients get emails when I move over?
No. Bringing contacts, jobs or appointments in sends nothing to your clients: no emails, no texts and no payment reminders.
Do my open jobs and invoices come over?
Only when your old app's project export has them in a form Square Away reads. A jobs or payments report spreadsheet doesn't come in on its own yet. Bring it to the setup call and we'll go over the best way.
What can't I bring with me?
Email and text history, automations, saved client cards, and files and photos. Save the files and signed contracts you need before you cancel your old app.
Bring your export to the setup call.
30 minutes on video with Allen, the woodworker who built it. We set it up on one of your real jobs.