Bring Your Business With You: A Guided Import & Export Workspace

Monday morning is a poor time to discover that “all our data” means six spreadsheets, three naming systems, and a folder called FINAL-FINAL. Local Business Pro's Import & Export workspace gives supported operational records a controlled route in or out: review the files, map the columns, validate or dry-run the transfer, run it, and inspect what was created, updated, skipped, or failed. It is the broad data-movement workspace. The separate relationship-aware Jobber migration goes deeper on Jobber report recognition and connected history.

One workspace for supported operational records

Import & Export brings file analysis, field mapping, review, processing, history, and retained downloads into one workspace. It supports a single file when the job is straightforward and multi-file batches when records depend on one another.

This is controlled data movement, not a promise to absorb any spreadsheet from any platform. Supported file types, record packages, permissions, required fields, source evidence, and review decisions all matter. That is a feature, not fine print. Guessing is how “123 Main Street” ends up attached to the wrong Smith family.

The visible process moves from upload and record-type review through mappings, required fields, existing-record choices, validation, and row outcomes. Exports follow the other direction: choose a supported dataset, create the CSV, and use history to retrieve the retained file while it remains available.

What can you import into Local Business Pro?

The Import & Export workspace supports reviewed packages for:

• contacts and contact locations;
• appointments, jobs, and estimates;
• invoices and transactions;
• inventory and equipment;
• subscription plans;
• business offerings; and
• custom records.

Those packages do not imply identical fields or relationships. A jobs file with a stable source customer ID is different from a spreadsheet that identifies a customer only as “Mike.” A supported package can still contain rows that need review, get skipped, or fail validation.

The same major groups are available as supported export datasets: contacts, contact locations, appointments, jobs, estimates, invoices, transactions, inventory, equipment, subscription plans, business offerings, and custom records. Exports are CSV files. They are useful operational artifacts, but they are not permanent backups; retained downloads can expire, at which point the operator creates a fresh export.

Does Local Business Pro map the columns for you?

Local Business Pro can recommend how source columns align with supported business fields. The recommendations still require review. “Customer,” “client name,” and “account” may look similar, but IDs, locations, and relationships determine what they mean.

Where the source provides stable record IDs, those identities are preferred for connecting records. Names, phone numbers, email addresses, job numbers, and familiar labels can help with review, but none is treated as a universally safe relationship key.

For eligible packages, the operator can also choose how existing records are treated:

• Skip existing leaves an already matched record unchanged.
• Fill empty fields adds reviewed values without replacing richer information already present.
• Overwrite reviewed fields replaces only the fields included in the reviewed mapping.

An HVAC shop might import equipment, inventory, and service offerings with fill-empty behavior to preserve richer records already refined in Local Business Pro.

Can you preview an import before it changes records?

Yes. The workspace supports validation and reviewed dry runs before a batch writes business records. This is where missing required values, unresolved relationships, unsupported mappings, and other warnings should earn attention instead of optimism.

For multi-file work, parent records stay ahead of dependent records. Contacts and locations may need to be established before jobs; jobs or estimates may need to exist before downstream invoices and transactions can connect. Source IDs provide the strongest evidence for that chain.

A plumbing office can start with customers and service locations, then review jobs and invoices that refer back to those stable identities. If one location cannot be resolved, the honest result is to stop or surface that row—not attach it to the first similar address and hope nobody notices until February.

Created, updated, skipped, and failed mean different things

An import is not simply “successful” or “unsuccessful.” Its row outcomes can include:

• Created: a new supported record was added.
• Updated: an eligible existing record received reviewed changes.
• Skipped: the row was deliberately left unchanged or could not proceed under the chosen rules.
• Failed: the row encountered a blocking problem that prevented completion.

A completed run can contain more than one of those outcomes. History keeps the summary and row-level evidence available for follow-up, so the office can separate clean records from items that need correction. No confetti cannon required.

What happens with a large file?

Larger imports can run in the background. The workspace shows queued and in-progress states, preserves progress, and lets the operator return after a page reload to inspect status and history. Terminal results remain tied to the reviewed run.

That recovery path does not mean every interrupted or failed import automatically retries. The operator uses retained status, row evidence, and history to decide what needs correction and whether a reviewed rerun is appropriate. That boundary prevents a non-repeatable transfer from quietly running twice.

An electrical company can use the same history for an export review, redownloading a retained artifact while it is available or creating a fresh export after it expires.

Permissions and file boundaries stay in force

Import and export require data-management access plus applicable permissions for the record areas involved. Contact access does not automatically include invoices or transactions, and business isolation remains in force.

Accepted uploads are CSV and XLSX. Older .xls files, arbitrary binaries, unrestricted sizes, and unlimited batches are outside the promise. Provider-specific structures need recognized evidence; a generic column match does not make every CRM export supported.

For a narrower customer-only move, the guides to importing contacts and exporting contacts keep that smaller workflow focused. For the destination records, see how Local Business Pro organizes connected customers and locations, jobs, and invoices.

Four practical ways home-service shops can use the workspace

Plumbing: move customers before revenue records

Import contacts and service locations first. Confirm source identities, then bring across supported jobs and invoices that reference those records. Stop unresolved locations for review instead of guessing which property belongs to which customer.

HVAC: preserve richer records already entered

Review equipment, inventory, and service-offering columns, then use the appropriate existing-record mode. Fill-empty behavior can add reviewed values while leaving more complete Local Business Pro records intact.

Electrical: prepare an internal operations review

Export supported jobs, estimates, invoices, and transactions as CSV files. Use export history to retrieve retained artifacts during the review window, and create a fresh export after a file expires.

Pest control: process a connected batch in order

Review contacts, recurring plans, appointments, invoices, and transactions together. Parent-first ordering and source IDs help preserve relationships, while queued progress and row outcomes show where follow-up is still required.

Frequently asked questions

Can any spreadsheet or CRM export be imported?

No. The file must use a supported format and match an advertised record package with reviewed mappings and sufficient source evidence. Provider-specific migrations may have additional recognition and review rules.

What happens when one row cannot be imported?

The run can preserve created and updated records while showing the affected row as skipped or failed, depending on the reason and package behavior. Inspect the row evidence before correcting and rerunning anything.

Can multi-file imports preserve relationships?

Supported batches use parent-first ordering and source identities to connect dependent records where the evidence is sufficient. Ambiguous or missing relationships are surfaced rather than guaranteed. The Jobber import update shows the provider-specific version in detail.

Is an export a permanent backup?

No. Export history can provide redownload access while the generated file is retained. Retained files expire, so a new export may be required.

Start with the records you can verify

Choose a representative batch, identify stable IDs, review mappings, dry-run it, and inspect every outcome before expanding. The goal is supported records with enough evidence that the next person can trust what arrived—and see what did not.