In this article, you will learn about the process of migrating your firm’s data from your previous practice management software into Clio Manage. You will learn what can and cannot be migrated, what the data migration process generally looks like, and how to prepare your data for import into Clio Manage.
Overview of the data migration process
The data migration process involves several key steps to ensure a smooth transition of your information into Clio Manage.
We start with a consultation call for firms with complex data or questions about the migration process. During your consultation, you will discuss your migration plan, review data limitations, establish timelines, and confirm the selection of the correct migration options for your needs. This is a strategic planning session.
After planning your migration, you can export your data in one of two ways:
- Guided export: Our team will schedule a separate export call. During this call, our team will provide live, step-by-step guidance as you export data from your practice management software.
- Self-serve export: You can self-serve your data export using resources in the Help Center for popular programs. This approach removes the need to schedule an export call and can speed up the migration process.
Important: Do not modify the imported data during the three-day review period to prevent potential data loss if the import requires reversion for corrections. Further, it is essential that you do not enable any Clio integrations until the review period is complete.
After the data is processed, we will work with you to import it into your Clio Manage account. Once the import is complete, you have three business days to review the data in your account and assess its accuracy. Please notify us immediately if any corrections are needed.
What can and cannot be migrated
The following tables outline data that our Data Migrations Team can and cannot migrate to Clio Manage as part of your one complimentary migration. Additional restrictions or exceptions may apply depending on the software system you are migrating from.
Migratable data
- Contacts
- Matters
- Related Contacts
- Tasks
- Notes
- Calendars
- Emails
- Phone Logs
- Unbilled Activities: Only unbilled activities migrate.
- A/R Balances: A single line item representing the summative balance at the time of export for a Matter will be migrated.
- Client Funds Balances: A single line item representing the summative balance at the time of export for a Matter will be migrated.
- Documents: Document migrations require scoping for feasibility and may be subject to an extra fee based on size.
Non-migratable data
- Accounting and financial history: This includes client funds account transactions, client account requests, client account payments, operating account transactions, invoices, A/R ledgers, bill payments, and historical bills. None of these will be migrated.
- Billable Rates: For example, User Rate, Client Rate, Matter Rate.
- Reports
- User permissions
- Settings
Prepare your data for migration
Clio's Migrations team will not clean your data or remove duplicate data. Review your data before sending your data to the Clio Migrations team. If the data was wrongly entered in the previous system, it will appear in Clio in that format. This list details key areas you should look for in your data.
Contacts:
Verify that the proper data is in the right column. For example, phone numbers should not be in an email address field. Include the following fields:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Company Name
Matters:
The Matter Description should not be blank, otherwise your matter will be assigned a description during the import. Matters should have an assigned client, otherwise matters will be assigned to an unknown client during the import process. Include the following fields:
- Matter Status (Open, Pending, Closed)
- Matter Custom Number
- Matter Description
- Client
Activities:
Time entries need an assigned user, otherwise they will not import. If you would like to import data for a user who will not be added to the Clio account, your Migrations representative can help you with this. Include the following fields:
- Date
- Quantity
- Rate
- User
Calendar events:
We highly recommend making sure that your events have been exported correctly by picking four or five events in the past and in the future to make sure court dates and scheduled meetings are all included. Include the following fields:
- Calendar Summary
- Start Date
- Start Time
- End Date
- End Time
- Destination/ User Calendar
Contact notes:
Contact notes will not import without a contact or company name. Include the following fields:
- Date
- Subject
- Note Description
Matter notes:
Matter notes will not import without a matter number. Include the following fields:
- Date
- Subject
- Note Description
Related contacts:
Each related contact requires a matter. Include the following fields:
- Matter
- First Name
- Last Name
- Company Name
Tasks:
Tasks must have an assigned user. If your tasks do not have an assigned user, you can choose to remove them from the data set. You can also confirm this with your Migrations representative, and they can remove this information for you. Include the following fields:
- Status (Pending, In-Progress, Complete)
- Task Name
- Due Date
- Assigned User
Balances forward (outstanding balances):
It is very important to make sure that you review the balances that were exported from your previous system to make sure they are the correct values. If there are multiple columns with outstanding amounts, identify which amount is to be imported and inform your Migrations representative. Include the following fields:
- Balance
- User
- Date
Manage your firm data during migration
Once your export is scheduled with a Clio data migrations specialist, set a cut-off time for your firm. Any data added to your previous software after the export session will not be migrated to Clio and will need to be manually transferred after the migration has been completed. Additionally, you can follow the steps below to manage your firm during the data migration transition period. Once migration is complete, refer to Manage your account data after migration.
- Generate bills for any outstanding time and expense entries in your previous software to obtain the most up-to-date outstanding balances for your clients.
- Apply credits and client funds payments to outstanding bills in your previous software. Credits and client funds balances will not be migrated.
- Export historical banking and client funds reports that you want to back up in Clio.
- Do not turn on contact or calendar syncs until after the migration has been completed in order to reduce the possibility of duplicate contacts being created.
- Do not turn on any integrations before the migration process is complete.
- Add new clients, matters, time entries, and all other data in Clio.
- Track activities for your historical clients in one of two ways:
-
Placeholder matter: This is a temporary matter that you can add time to while waiting for a data migration to complete. Once your migration is complete and you have confirmed that the data is free of errors, an administrator can move the time entries in bulk from the placeholder matter to the respective matters.
- Create a new company contact with your firm's name.
- Create a new matter for this contact. Enter "Placeholder—Migrations" for the matter's Description.
- Add time entries and use the Description field to specify which matter the time entry belongs to.
- Repeat step 3 for all time entries incurred during the data migration process.
- Once migration has been completed, move the time entries in bulk to their respective matters.
- Import templates: Use Clio's migration import templates to track activities and matter notes. Then, upload the spreadsheet data into Clio and link the time and expense entries and matter notes to their respective matters.
-
Placeholder matter: This is a temporary matter that you can add time to while waiting for a data migration to complete. Once your migration is complete and you have confirmed that the data is free of errors, an administrator can move the time entries in bulk from the placeholder matter to the respective matters.
- Upload reports that you exported from your previous system into Clio under the Documents tab. You can create a folder called "Historical data" for future reference. Learn more about creating folders and uploading documents here.
- Get started with Clio's Quick Start training webinars.
Manage your account data after migration
Once your data migration is complete, and before you begin using Clio normally, you will need to go through the steps listed below.
- Contacts: Choose five contacts and check that their addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses are correct.
- Matters: Choose a mix of 5-10 open and closed matters and verify that each has the appropriate client assigned, the correct matter number, the appropriate responsible attorney (if applicable), and any requested custom fields.
- Unbilled time and expense activities and accounts receivable balances: Choose 20 entries and review the rate or price assigned to each entry, the total value of the entry, and that the entry is assigned to the correct user and matter.
- Calendar: Choose a mix of 20-30 past and future calendar entries and check that the date and time values are correct and that each event is assigned to the appropriate calendar. Migrated time entries only include the user that the calendar entry is assigned to, not any invited users.
- Tasks: Choose a mix of 10-20 past and future tasks that you know are coming up soon, such as filing deadlines. Once selected, check that the task name, due date (if assigned), and task assignee are correct.
- Contact and matter notes: Choose 2-3 contact and matter notes and check that they are connected to the correct contact and/or matter. Learn more about how to find contact notes here and how to find matter notes here.
- Related contacts: Choose 5-10 matters and verify that the contact's name is correct and that their relationship between the matter and contact is correctly labeled. Learn more about finding related contacts here.
After migration, outstanding balances appear as draft bills in Clio Manage. Each of these draft bills consists of a single time entry with outstanding balances for a specific matter. Since each matter's draft bill only contains one time entry, you will not be able to view details of all time and expense activities associated with a previous invoice. You can process the outstanding balances and apply payments by following the steps below:
- Add operating and client funds accounts. Learn more about adding bank accounts here.
- Add transactions to each matter's Transactions subtab. Learn more about sending client fund requests to clients for payment here and recording client funds payment transactions without generating client funds requests here.
- Make any necessary changes to each draft bill, including reviewing all outstanding balances for accuracy, then approve the bill for payment, or approve and apply client funds to the bill. Learn more about editing draft bills here, approving bills here, and approving and applying client funds to bills here.
- Reviewing outstanding balances before approving bills is recommended to ensure that the outstanding balances are accurate.
- Optional: Provide your clients with printed copies of their bills. Learn more about downloading and printing bills here.
Export your data from Clio
The success of any data migration depends primarily on the quality of the data set provided to us. Before attempting to migrate your information into Clio, you should ensure that your data is consistently formatted, well organised, sufficiently backed up, and stored securely. If you are not certain, consult with your Clio representative before proceeding. Follow the steps below to export your data from Clio and prepare it for importing back into Clio.
Note: Only users with administrator permissions can export data in bulk for migration.
- Log in to Clio Manage.
- Go to the exports page.
- For European and UK accounts: https://eu.app.clio.com/export
- Click Excel ready CSV next to the following:
- Calendar Entries
- Communications
- Contact Notes
- Contact Related Matters
- Contacts
- Expense Entries
- Matter Notes
- Matters
- Tasks
- Time Entries
- For outstanding balances, you will need to download the accounts receivable report.
- Go to Reports > Reports > Accounts receivable.
- Change the Output Format to CSV.
- Click Generate Report.