Switching field service tools sounds scary because your customer and job history is your business. Done in the right order, a migration is low-risk and often free — most vendors will help you move your data. Here is the process that avoids lost records and downtime.
Step 1: Export and clean your current data
Export customers, job history, and your price list from the old system. Before importing anywhere, clean it: merge duplicate customers, fix inconsistent names and addresses, and standardize your service item names. Importing mess just moves the mess.
Step 2: Use free migration help
Many vendors — GorillaDesk and others — offer free data migration as part of onboarding. Ask before you do it yourself; a guided import of customers and history removes most of the risk.
Step 3: Rebuild your price book and settings
Recreate your services, rates, flat-rate options, tax settings, and dispatch rules in the new tool. This is a good moment to tidy up pricing you have been meaning to update anyway.
Step 4: Connect accounting and payments
Reconnect QuickBooks and your payment processor, and test a single invoice and payment end-to-end before going live. See the QuickBooks integration guide for a clean sync setup.
Step 5: Run both systems briefly in parallel
For a short overlap, keep the old system available (read-only) while the new one becomes your system of record. This safety net lets you check anything that looks off without scrambling.
Migrate in a slow week
Like any rollout, do not migrate during peak season. Pick a quiet stretch so the team can adjust without the pressure of full schedules.
Step 6: Train, then cut over
Train the office first, then the field, then set a clear cut-over date after which all new jobs go into the new system only. A firm date prevents the half-in-half-out limbo that causes errors. For the full rollout plan, see the implementation guide.
Migration checklist
- Customers and contact details imported and de-duplicated.
- Job history and notes preserved.
- Price book, services, and tax settings rebuilt.
- QuickBooks and payment processing reconnected and tested.
- Old system kept read-only during the overlap.
- Team trained and a firm cut-over date set.