Migration Templates for Importing Into Clio Manage

Migration templates are spreadsheet templates with pre-filled headers that can be used to bulk-import data into Clio using the Imports page.

Import contacts

When importing contacts into Clio, the required fields are the first and last name of the person contact or the company contact’s name. If there are both person and company contacts, a person contact is created and then can be linked to the company contact. If the company does not yet exist in the system, then an empty company contact is created. The person contact will then have all the other contact information (address, etc.).

1. Open this template. 
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your contacts information.
   • title: Enter the contact's title (i.e. Mr, Ms, Mrs).
   • job_title: Enter the contact's job title.
   • first_name: Enter the contact's first name. Required if “company” is blank
   • last_name: Enter the contact's last name.  Required if “company” is blank
   • company: Enter the company's name. Required if “first_name” and “last_name” are blank
   • business_street: Enter the contact's street address.
   • business_city: Enter the contact's city.
   • business_state: Enter the contact's state. You can also enter the country.
   • business_postal_code: Enter the contact's postal code.
   • email_address: Enter the contact's primary email address.
   • primary_phone: Enter the contact's primary phone number.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Open Clio's Imports page:
   • For North American accounts, click here
   • For European accounts, click here
   • For Australian accounts, click here
6. Click Add.
7. Under Import select Contacts from Outlook CSV.
8. Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
9. Click Upload File.

Import matters

1. Open this template. 
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your matter information (required fields in red are mandatory when filling out this spreadsheet). 
   • status: This must be either Open, Closed or Pending. Required
   • location: This is the location of the matter. This populates the Location field inside the matter in Clio.
   • client_reference: This populates the Client reference field inside the matter in Clio. This can be any information that your firm need, such as court file number or office file number, unless your firm engages in LEDES billing.
   • description: Your specific case information. Required
   • open_date, close_date, and pending_date: Enter dates in MM/DD/YYYY format.
   • custom_number: This is the matter number that will display if the account is set to a manual numbering system, otherwise this can be left blank and matters will use Clio’s automated matter numbering.
   • note: This will create an entry in the Notes subtab of the matter using the subject “Matter import notes.”
   • client_first_name, client_last_name and/or client_company_name: These are for linking the matters to their contacts. They should match exactly to the first/last/company names listed in the Contacts section. Required
   • responsible_attorney: This must be an exact match for an attorney user on your account. You can also set this in the import.
   • practice_area: This refers to the general type of law for the matter.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Open Clio's Imports page:
   • For North American accounts, click here
   • For European accounts, click here
   • For Australian accounts, click here
6. Click Add.
7. Under Import select Matters from CSV.
8. Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
9. Click Upload File.

Import activities

Activities must be imported on a per user basis into Clio. This may require breaking up activities into separate CSVs for each user with an active license. Once imported, activities will appear as unbilled. 

1. Open this template.
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your activities information.
   • matter: This must be an exact match to a matter display number in Clio. The matter display number is the full matter name, not including what comes after the colon on the Matters page (i.e. not the matter description). Required
   • date: Enter the date in MM/DD/YYYY format.Required
   • activity_description: This must be an exact match for an activity category (for time entries) or expense category (for expenses) in Clio or a new one will be created. It can be left blank.
   • note: This corresponds to the Description field in Clio.
   • price: This is the rate or value of each expense. Required
   • quantity: For time entries, this is the duration in decimal hours. For expenses, this is the quantity (if left blank, “1” unit is assumed).
   • type: This must be either TimeEntry or ExpenseEntry.
   • activity_user: Enter the firm user associated with the activity.
   • non_billable: This is only for time entries and must be “yes,” “true,” “y,” or “1” to mark an activity as non-billable. The activity will be marked as billable if this is left blank or other text is entered. 
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Open Clio's Imports page:
   • For North American accounts, click here
   • For European accounts, click here
   • For Australian accounts, click here
6. Click Add.
7. Under Import select Activities from CSV.
8. In the User dropdown menu, select the firm user who will be responsible for the imported entries.
9. Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
10. Click Upload File.

Import calendar events

Calendar entries must be imported on a per-calendar basis into Clio. This may require breaking up calendar entries into separate CSVs for each user/calendar. The user whose calendar events are being imported must have an active user license. 

1. Open this template.
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your appointment information.
   • start_date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format. Required.
   • end_date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format. Required.
   • start_time: Enter in H:MM:SS AM/PM format. Required
   • end_time: Enter in H:MM:SS AM/PM format. Required
   • subject: This field can store a line of text and maps to the Summary field of calendar entries. Required
   • matter: This must be an exact match to a matter display number in Clio. The matter display number is the full matter name, not including what comes after the colon on the Matters page (i.e. not the matter description). 
   • location: This field can store a line of text and maps to the Location field of calendar entries.
   • description: This field can store multiple lines of text and maps to the Description field of calendar entries.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Open Clio's Imports page:
   • For North American accounts, click here
   • For European accounts, click here
   • For Australian accounts, click here
6. Click Add.
7. Under Import select Calendar from CSV.
8. Under Destination Calendar, select the calendar that should contain the events.
9. Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
10. Click Upload File.

Import contact and matter notes

Import contact and matter custom fields

Custom fields created in Clio must NOT be set as Default or Required before importing custom field data, otherwise the import will fail. You can set your custom fields as Default and/or Required after the import is complete.

Import related contacts

Once the import begins, the CSV will match related contacts with existing contacts in Clio and will then create a contact if there is no exact match.

1. Open this template.
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your related contacts information.
   • matter: This must be an exact match to a matter display number in Clio. The matter display number is the full matter name, not including what comes after the colon on the Matters page (i.e. not the matter description). Required
   • relationship: Enter the relationship label that connects this related contact to the contact. Required
   • company, first_name, last_name: These are used to link the related contact themselves and should match exactly with the first/last/company names in your contact import or existing contacts in Clio. Required
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Open Clio's Imports page:
   • For North American accounts, click here
   • For European accounts, click here
   • For Australian accounts, click here
6. Click Add.
7. Under Import select Matter/Contact relationship from CSV.
8. Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
9. Click Upload File.

Import tasks

Tasks must be imported on a per user basis into Clio. This may require breaking up tasks into separate CSVs for each user. The user for whom tasks are being imported must have an active license on the account.

1. Open this template.
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your tasks information.
   • subject: Enter the subject of the task. Required
   • due_date: Enter the task due date in MM/DD/YYYY format. Required
   • complete: Enter "1" for completed tasks, and "0" for incomplete tasks. Required
   • description: Enter the description of the task.
   • matter: This must be an exact match to a matter display number in Clio. The matter display number is the full matter name, not including what comes after the colon on the Matters page (i.e. not the matter description). 
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Open Clio's Imports page:
   • For North American accounts, click here
   • For European accounts, click here
   • For Australian accounts, click here
6. Click Add.
7. Under Import select Tasks from CSV.
8. In the User dropdown menu, select the firm user who will be responsible for the imported entries.
9. Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
10. Click Upload File.

Import balances forward (outstanding balances)

If you are importing outstanding balances, you can complete the attached template and outstanding balances as a one-hour unbilled time entry. Do not include commas in the “price” column. You can also use the manual method for importing balances forward.

Review migration import errors

Once your data is imported, you can review and fix any migration import errors using the importer functionality. 

1. Go to Clio Importer.
2. Click the underlined errors.
3. Change the file that downloads to a .CSV file and open the file in excel.
4. Read the errors in the left hand side column.