How to switch CRMs without losing your data

Why do CRM switches go wrong?

Most failed switches don't lose data in one dramatic crash. They lose it quietly. A recurring customer doesn't get their spring visit because their schedule didn't come across. An invoice from last month shows as paid in the new system because the payment history was imported but the balance wasn't. A customer gets an automated welcome text they never agreed to. Each one is small, and together they cost you trust and money for months.

The fix is boring: treat the switch like a job with a scope, a checklist and an inspection at the end. The steps below work whether you are moving between two subscription products or into a custom CRM.

What should you export before you switch?

Export every type of record the old system holds, even ones you don't plan to import. Disk space is cheap, and the day you need an old invoice for a dispute you will be glad you kept it. Check your current vendor's help center for its export options. Many field-service products offer spreadsheet exports for the main record types, though the detail included varies.

Photos and attached files are often the hardest to get out in bulk. Ask the vendor how before you cancel. Also screenshot your settings pages (tax rates, message templates, automations) because those often don't export.

How do you map old fields to the new system?

Mapping means deciding where each column in the old export goes in the new system. Do it in a spreadsheet with three columns: old field, new field, and what happens to it (copied as is, reformatted, merged, or dropped).

Things that need a decision:

• Names. One "name" field or first and last? Company and contact names on commercial accounts?
• Phone numbers. Pick one format. Duplicates often hide behind different formatting.
• Statuses. The old system's "Archived" might mean "Lost" in one place and "Inactive" in another. Agree what each status becomes.
• Custom fields and tags. Decide which ones you still use. A switch is a good time to drop the ones nobody reads.
• IDs. Keep the old record number in a field on every imported record. When something looks wrong, that number lets you find the original fast.

Before importing everything, import a test batch of 20 to 50 clients with their quotes, jobs and invoices. Pick messy ones on purpose: a client with two properties, one with an open balance, one on a recurring plan, one commercial account. Open each record in both systems side by side and check it by hand.

What usually breaks when you switch CRMs?

Three areas need the most planning. Work through each one before the cutover date.

Recurring schedules. A recurring plan isn't just a row in a table. It is a rule: every other Tuesday, skip in winter, price changes in April. Exports often give you the visits that were generated, not the rule that generates them. Expect to rebuild recurring plans in the new system, ideally from a list you check with each customer's last few visits. Print the next four weeks of the old schedule and compare it, day by day, to the new one.

Open invoices. Import paid history for reference, but treat open invoices separately. List every unpaid invoice with its balance, then make sure the new system shows the same balances. A common approach is to close out old open invoices in the old system and create one opening-balance invoice per customer in the new one. Whatever you choose, the total owed to you should be identical before and after.

Saved cards. This is the one that surprises owners. Card numbers are not in your export, and they shouldn't be. Card data is held by the payment processor under PCI security rules. Stripe, for example, says it will work with your new processor to transfer card data when you leave, but only to a processor that is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant, using an encrypted export file and a secure transfer arranged with that processor (Stripe payment data export docs). Stripe also says that export does not include payment history or subscriptions, and that cards saved through its Link wallet can't be transferred.

Should you run both systems at once?

Briefly, yes. A long double-entry period wears your office out and creates two versions of the truth. No overlap at all means you find problems while customers are waiting.

A practical pattern:

1. Two to four weeks before cutover: import the test batch, fix the mapping, set up price lists, message templates and user accounts. Train the office on the new system using real past jobs.
2. Cutover week: do the full import at the end of a working day. Freeze the old system for new entries. From the next morning, all new leads, quotes and jobs go into the new system only.
3. First two weeks after: keep the old system read-only so you can look things up. Compare each day's schedule and every payment received against what you expected.
4. Thirty to sixty days after: once open invoices are collected or reconciled and recurring work has run at least one full cycle, take a final full export and cancel the old subscription.

Check your old contract before you set a date. Annual plans often renew automatically, and you don't want to pay for a year of a system you stopped using in month two.

When is the best time to cut over?

In your slowest weeks. For a lawn or exterior cleaning company that is usually winter. For a snow company it is summer. For HVAC it is the shoulder season between heating and cooling. Your crews will be less rushed, the office has time to fix records, and a missed visit costs less.

Pick a cutover day early in the week, never the day before a holiday, and not the last day of the month if you invoice monthly. You want a few calm days after the switch to catch problems.

What should you tell customers?

Most customers won't notice a switch if it goes well. A few things change from their side: the look of quotes and invoices, the payment link, maybe the portal address, and the texts they receive. Tell recurring and autopay customers ahead of time in a short message: what changes, when, and what (if anything) they need to do. Don't use the switch as an excuse to start sending marketing texts or emails to people who never agreed to them. Carry consent over exactly as it was recorded. The SMS marketing rules guide explains why that record matters. Consent rules for texts and emails come from federal and state law, so treat this as general information, not legal advice, and ask a lawyer about your own consent language.

How do you know the switch worked?

Run this check at the end of the first month:

• Total clients in the new system matches the old export, minus duplicates you merged on purpose.
• Total receivables match to the penny.
• Every recurring customer has a next visit scheduled, and the visits that should have happened did.
• Every autopay customer either has a card on file in the new system or is on invoice billing.
• Lead sources are being recorded on new leads, so you can see what marketing works.

If you are still deciding what to switch to, our field-service CRM explainer covers the options, and the Jobber alternative page compares off-the-shelf and custom side by side.

Frequently asked questions