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Switching

How do I migrate jobs, customers and photos off my current field service software?

Move it in layers: first the reference data (customers, sites, contacts, equipment, price book), then open work (quotes not yet won, jobs not yet finished, recurring contracts), and keep closed history and photos as a linked archive rather than live records. Most field service tools export customers and items to CSV from a menu, but job history usually needs a report, an add-on or the API, and photos and PDFs are almost never in the CSV, so ask your vendor in writing for a full export, including attachments, before you give notice. Then run both systems for one to two weeks, finish old jobs in the old tool, and start every new job in the new one.

  • Export in this order: customers and sites, equipment, price book, open quotes and jobs, recurring contracts, then closed history and files.
  • CSV exports rarely include photos or PDFs: ServiceM8 says its job CSV excludes them, so plan a separate route through the API or the vendor.
  • Do not migrate in-progress jobs half done: finish them in the old system or re-create them as new jobs on cutover day.
  • Leave open invoices in your accounting system (QuickBooks or Xero) as the source of truth, not in the field service tool.
  • Get the export before you give notice, and keep read access to the old account until the first month closes.

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60 minute video call

Menus and limits below are from each vendor's help pages as of November 2026. They change, so check your own account, and your contract's data clause, before you plan dates.

Facts checked as of November 2026. Sources at the end of the page.

Step by step

How a field service migration works, step by step

The order matters because every later record points at an earlier one: a job needs a customer and a site, a recurring visit needs an asset, and a quote line needs a price book item.

1. Read your contract and request a full export in writing

Find the data and termination clauses: how long the vendor keeps your data after you cancel and in what format they hand it over. Then ask support for a complete export of customers, sites, jobs, quotes, invoices, assets, forms and attachments, with a date. In the UK and EU, people's personal data you gave a vendor under a contract can be requested in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format such as CSV, XML or JSON, usually within one month and in most cases without a fee; that right belongs to individuals, but it sets a fair benchmark for what to expect.

2. Export the reference data yourself

Customers, contacts, sites and items are the easiest. In Jobber, Clients, More Actions, Export Clients gives a CSV (emailed, up to 1,500 rows per file, admins only). In Simpro Premium, Utilities, Export, Customers gives a CSV or tab-delimited file with optional tags and custom fields. In ServiceM8, Settings, Materials, Export Items downloads the price list.

3. Clean and map before you import

Merge duplicate customers, split one address column into street, city and postcode, decide which old custom fields become fields in the new system, and give every row the old system's ID. Keeping the old ID on each customer, site and job is what lets you match photos and history later.

4. Load the price book and equipment

Import items with cost, sell price and tax code, and assets with serial number, make, model and install date against the right site. Check 20 quotes priced in both systems give the same totals before anyone quotes from the new one.

5. Handle open work separately

List every quote sent but not won, every job scheduled or in progress, and every recurring contract with its next due date. Re-create these as live records in the new system, linked to the old job number. Do not import them as history, or they will never reach a technician's phone.

6. Archive closed history and files

Closed jobs, signed forms and photos rarely need to be editable. Bring the job list in as read-only history on each customer or site, and attach photos and PDFs by old job ID, or store them in a folder per site and link it. Decide how many years you need: in the US, the IRS ties record keeping to the tax return's limitation period, usually 3 years.

7. Cut over on a set date

From the cutover date, every new job starts in the new system. Old in-progress jobs finish in the old one for one to two weeks, then the old account goes read-only. Reconnect accounting last, so invoices are never created twice.

Failure modes

Why field service migrations go wrong

These are the worries buyers raised on our sales calls, by trade and size.

The tool runs the whole business

A multi-trade electrical and air conditioning business doing 600 to 700 jobs a month asked how to de-risk leaving the system that runs 95% of the company. The risk is real when everything moves on one weekend. It shrinks when reference data moves first, staff test on real jobs for a week, and the old system stays readable.

Jobs caught mid-flight

A commercial electrical contractor doing 30 to 40 visits a day asked how in-progress jobs and their photos move. A job half done in one tool and finished in another loses its timeline. Pick a rule per job: finish in the old tool, or close it there and open a fresh job in the new one that links back.

Photos and reports are not in the export

Buyers assume the CSV is everything. It is usually only the text. ServiceM8 states its Job List CSV does not include PDFs, photos or videos. An engineering inspection firm with about 30,000 historic PDF reports needed a plan for files on day one, not after go-live.

The price book is locked

A small plumbing and HVAC shop could not export the flat-rate price book it licensed from a third party. If your prices live in a licensed catalog, ask that provider, not only the FSM vendor, what you can take with you.

Calculated fields do not survive

A lawn care company with 55 to 60 staff at peak wanted to import a Service Autopilot export and rerun the calculations its spreadsheets did. Exports hold values, not formulas: rebuild the pricing or scheduling rules in the new system and test them against last season's numbers.

Nobody knows what the old vendor will hand over

A consultant moving a UK racking inspection firm off WorkEver could not say how easy the export would be, and a risk inspection firm forced off GeoOp had weeks of silence from the replacement vendor. Ask the question in writing on day one; the answer sets your timeline.

By vendor

What you can export from common field service tools

From each vendor's own help pages, November 2026. Where a page did not say, the cell says so.

ToolCustomers and itemsJobs and historyPhotos and files
JobberClients, More Actions, Export Clients: CSV or vCard, emailed, 1,500 rows per file, admins only, on select plansInsights, Reports gives CSV reports; the Clients report exports summary columns (quotes, jobs, invoices in dollars)No export described on the help pages we read; ask support
ServiceM8Client List CSV with the Advanced Reporting Pack add-on (Business Owner role only); Settings, Materials, Export Items for the price listJob List CSV with the same add-on; not all job dataNot in the CSV. The API's Attachment endpoint covers photos, PDFs and other attached files
Simpro PremiumUtilities, Export: customers, contacts, contractors, catalogues, prebuilds, labour rates, assets, sites; CSV or tab-delimitedNo jobs export in the help guide's export permissions; jobs come through the API (API Applications) or SimproNot covered by the CSV exports; ask Simpro
ServiceTitanThe General CSV integration sends customers, locations, equipment, materials and services files to your SFTP folder; set up through supportJobs, projects, invoices and payments in the same one-way files; fixed format, not usable alongside another accounting integrationNot in the file list
BuildOpsNo self-serve export page found; customers often originate in the accounting system (for example Spectrum) and are imported into BuildOpsJobs are sent to Spectrum job costing; updates in Spectrum do not sync backNo public documentation found; ask your account manager
Service Autopilot, WorkEverService Autopilot says exporting is turned off by default, for data safety. WorkEver's help centre covers Excel imports and Xero, QuickBooks and Sage syncNot stated on the pages we readNot stated; ask in writing

If your accounting is connected, your customers and invoices are also in QuickBooks or Xero, which is often the cleanest source for them.

Four ways to run the move itself.

ApproachGood forWatch out for
Do it yourself with CSV exports and a spreadsheetUnder a few thousand customers, little history neededPhotos left behind; duplicate customers; time from the office manager during the busiest weeks
A migration service or consultantLarge histories, many custom fields, an API exportPaid by the hour or project; still needs you to decide what maps where
The new vendor's onboarding teamMost switches: they know their own import formatAsk exactly which records and how many years are included, and whether files are
FieldproxyTeams whose process does not fit a templateWe move your data over as part of setup; the import is dry-run before anything is applied

Worked example

A worked example: a 25-technician HVAC company leaving its current tool

Say you have 4,200 customers, 5,100 sites, 3,800 pieces of equipment, a 900-item price book, 310 maintenance contracts, 140 open quotes, 85 jobs scheduled or in progress, and six years of closed jobs with photos.

RecordCountHow it movesWhen
Customers and sites4,200 and 5,100CSV export, cleaned, imported with the old IDWeek 1
Equipment3,800CSV or API, matched to sites by old site IDWeek 1
Price book900 itemsCSV export, checked against 20 priced quotesWeek 1
Maintenance contracts310Re-created live with next due date, so visits keep generatingWeek 2
Open quotes140Re-created live, linked to the old quote numberCutover day
Scheduled and in-progress jobs85Scheduled jobs re-created; in-progress jobs finish in the old toolCutover day
Closed jobsSix yearsRead-only history on each site, photos attached by old job IDWeeks 2 to 4
Open invoicesAllStay in QuickBooks or Xero; not re-createdNever moved

If your new system imports in batches, size them up front. QuickBooks Online, for example, recommends no more than 100 transactions per invoice import, and Jobber's client import takes about 5,000 rows per file under 2.5 MB. 4,200 customers fit in one Jobber-sized file. Re-creating, say, 600 open invoices in QuickBooks would take 6 batches and risk double counting, which is one more reason to leave invoices where they are.

The 85 live jobs are where the risk sits. Finishing the in-progress ones in the old tool, and only re-creating what has not started, means no technician arrives on site with half a record.

Buying checklist

What to check before you buy (and before you give notice)

Good signs

  • The new vendor tells you, in writing, which records and how many years of history they move, and whether photos and PDFs are included.
  • Imports run as a preview first, showing what will be added, what updated and which rows are flagged.
  • Existing records are matched and updated, not duplicated, when you re-run an import.
  • Old IDs are kept on every imported record so history and files can be linked.
  • Recurring contracts are re-created with their next due date, not just listed.
  • You can export your own data from the new system as easily as you import it.

Red flags

  • The old vendor's export needs an add-on, a support ticket or an SFTP setup you only discover after giving notice.
  • Photos and signed forms have no stated route out.
  • The plan moves everything in one weekend with no parallel run.
  • Open invoices are re-created in the new tool while still open in accounting.
  • Custom fields that hold real data (gate codes, permit numbers) are dropped because the template has nowhere to put them.

Fieldproxy

Migrating into Fieldproxy

Fieldproxy replaces your current tool rather than syncing with it. It is one price per company with unlimited users; see /pricing for the plans.

We build around your data first

We set up your stages, job forms, checklists and statuses to match how you work, and add fields for the data your old system held, (e.g. gate codes or permit numbers), so nothing is dropped for lack of a column.

Your exports are mapped and imported

Customers, sites, equipment, open jobs, recurring contracts and price lists come across from your exports. Imports through the MCP server (/mcp/imports-and-data-migration) are dry-run first, update matched rows instead of duplicating them, take up to 1,000 rows per confirmed change, and can be undone.

Old IDs kept for history and photos

Each imported record keeps its old system ID (e.g. as a custom field), so closed job history and photos can be attached to the right customer, site and asset.

Open work goes live, not into history

Open quotes, scheduled jobs and maintenance contracts are created as live records, so they reach the technician app and recurring visits keep generating. Historic PDF work orders and reports can be read by the Document intelligence agent (/agents/document-intelligence-agent).

Accounting reconnected once

QuickBooks or Xero is connected after cutover, so invoices are created once. Ask Command Center (/agents/command-center) which imported customers have no email or phone and fix the gaps before go-live.

How switching works

How switching to Fieldproxy works

We move your data over and set the system up to the way you already work. Fieldproxy replaces the old tool; it does not run alongside it.

  1. Send us your exports and contract

    Whatever your current tool gives you: customer, item and job CSVs, an API export or a vendor dump. We tell you what is missing and what to ask for.

  2. We set up around your process

    Stages, forms, checklists, statuses and the fields your data needs, so the import has somewhere to land.

  3. Reference data in, then a test week

    Customers, sites, equipment and the price book are imported with their old IDs, and your team runs real jobs side by side.

  4. Cutover day

    Open quotes, scheduled jobs and contracts go live, accounting is reconnected, and the old tool finishes its last jobs and goes read-only.
How long field service software takes to implementImports and data migration through MCPPricing

FAQ

Questions people ask

How do I migrate in-progress jobs to new field service software?
Don't move them mid-flight. Finish jobs already started in the old system, and re-create only jobs that are scheduled but not started as new jobs, linked to the old job number.
Will my job photos come across?
Only if you plan for it. CSV exports usually carry text only; ServiceM8 says its job CSV excludes photos, PDFs and videos. Files come out through the vendor's API or a support request, then attach to records by old job ID.
How do I de-risk leaving a system that runs most of the business?
Move reference data first, run real jobs in both systems for one to two weeks, keep the old account read-only for at least a month, and reconnect accounting last.
Can I import a CSV export and run calculations on it?
The export holds values, not formulas. Import the data, then rebuild the pricing or scheduling rules in the new system and check them against last season's results.
Should I move open invoices?
Usually not. If QuickBooks or Xero is connected, it already holds open invoices and payments. Collect them there and start new invoicing in the new system from cutover.
How much history should I bring over?
Enough to serve customers and meet record-keeping rules. For example, 3 years as read-only history with the rest archived; the IRS ties most US tax records to a 3-year limitation period.
What if my old vendor won't give me a full export?
Ask in writing and quote the data clause in your contract. In the UK and EU, individuals can request their personal data in a machine-readable format, usually within one month. Meanwhile, export everything you can from reports and accounting.

Sources

Competitor details on this page come from the vendors' own pages and documentation, checked as of November 2026. Plans and prices change, so check the vendor's current page before you decide.

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