Importing Your Existing Data

Importing Your Existing Data

Switching from another tool, a spreadsheet, or paper records? You can pull most of it into HandyBook in a few minutes using a CSV import.

What you can import

• Customers — names, addresses, phones, emails, notes, lead source
• Jobs — past and upcoming work tied to customers
• Quotes and invoices — historical records (mostly used for reporting continuity)
• Expenses — past spending, useful for year-end tax reports
• Items / service catalog — your standard line items with prices

How to import customers

1. Go to Customers → Import
2. Download the CSV template
3. Open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers
4. Paste your data into the matching columns (you don't need to fill every column — just the ones you have)
5. Save as CSV
6. Drag it into the import box, or click Choose File
7. Review the column-mapping screen — HandyBook auto-matches most fields, you confirm any it's unsure about
8. Click Import

Common field mappings:

• name or full_name → Customer name
• email → Email
• phone or mobile → Phone
• address or street → Service address
• notes → Customer notes
• source → Lead source

Coming from a specific tool

• QuickBooks — export the Customer list as CSV, then import. Fields map cleanly.
• Jobber / Housecall Pro / ServiceTitan — export customers and jobs separately. Import customers first, then jobs (jobs need to reference an existing customer).
• Google Contacts — export as CSV, rename Given Name/Family Name to name (combined), then import.
• A spreadsheet — just match the columns to the template. Anything not mapped is ignored.

Importing jobs

After customers are in:

1. Go to Jobs → Import
2. Use the template — required fields are customer_email (or customer_name), title, status, and date
3. Statuses must be one of: lead, quoted, scheduled, in_progress, complete, invoiced, paid
4. Upload and confirm

What if the import fails?

If a row can't be imported, you'll see it on the Errors tab with a reason — usually a missing customer reference or an invalid date format. Fix those rows in your CSV and reimport just that file (existing rows won't be duplicated; HandyBook matches on email).

FAQ

Will importing duplicate my customers? No. We match on email (or phone if no email). If a customer already exists, we update their record instead of creating a new one.

My customer addresses are split across multiple columns. What do I do? Combine them into one address column in your CSV before importing. A simple formula in Sheets — =A2&", "&B2&", "&C2 — does the trick.

Can I undo an import? Yes — within 24 hours, go to Settings → Data → Recent Imports and click Undo on the import. After 24 hours, you'd need to delete records manually.

Can I bring in photos and files? Photos can't come in via CSV. After importing, attach photos to individual customers/jobs as needed. For bulk photo migration, contact support.

How big can my CSV be? Up to 10,000 rows per file. Larger? Split it into multiple files.