Migration Templates for Importing Into Clio Manage

Migration templates are spreadsheet templates with pre-filled headers that help you bulk import your data into Clio Manage. Using these templates streamlines the process of getting your existing contacts, matters, activities, and other crucial information into your Clio Manage. 

General import workflow

To import data into Clio Manage:

1. Download a template: Get the specific import template you need from the relevant section in this Help Center article.
2. Populate the template: Add your data to the downloaded template. This usually involves exporting data from your current software or Clio, then copying it into the template.
3. Upload the template: Go to Clio Manage's secure Imports page and upload your completed CSV file. This page is only accessible within your Clio Manage account.

Import contacts

When you import contacts into Clio Manage, the required fields are the first name and last name for a person, or the company name for a company contact. If your import includes both person and company contacts, Clio Manage first creates the person contact and then links them to the company contact. If the company doesn't exist yet, an empty company contact is created. The person contact will then contain all other contact information, like their address.

1. Download the template:
   • Contacts import template (North America).
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. This information is required if company is blank.
   • last_name: Enter the contact's last name. This information is required if company is blank.
   • company: Enter the company's name. This information is 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. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Contacts from Outlook CSV.
   • Click Choose File and select your saved CSV file.
   • Click Upload File.

Import matters

1. Download the template:
   • Matters import template (North America).
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your matter information. Required fields are indicated in red.
   • status: This must be either Open, Closed, or Pending. This information is required.
   • location: This populates the Location field inside the matter in Clio Manage.
   • client_reference: This populates the Client Reference field inside the matter in Clio Manage. This can be any information your firm needs, such as a court file number or office file number, unless your firm uses LEDES billing.
   • description: Enter your specific case information. This information is required.
   • open_date, close_date, and pending_date: Enter dates in MM/DD/YYYY format.
   • custom_number: This is the matter number that displays if your account uses a manual numbering system. Otherwise, you can leave this blank, and matters will use Clio Manage’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 the first/last/company names listed in your Contacts import or existing contacts in Clio Manage.  This information is 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. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Matters from CSV.
   • Click Choose File and select your saved CSV file.
   • Click Upload File.

Import activities

You can import activities (time and expense entries) along with relevant activity information. Once imported, activities will be unbilled. You can specify whether expenses are hard costs or soft costs, or choose to import all expenses as soft costs. If you distinguish between hard and soft costs, make sure to enable the hard and soft cost entries feature in your Clio Manage bill settings. If your firm uses UTBMS codes, you can also import UTBMS codes for activities. Make sure to enable UTBMS codes in Clio Manage.

Import all expenses as soft costs

If your firm does not distinguish between hard and soft costs, all ExpenseEntry activities will be created as soft cost entries.

1. Download the template:
   • Activities (soft costs) import template (North America).

2. Populate the spreadsheet with your activities information.

   Template content

   • 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). This information is required.
   • date: Enter the date in MM/DD/YYYY format. This information is 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: Leave activity_description blank if your firm uses UTBMS codes and the row contains values for utbms_activity_code and utbms_task_code. Otherwise, a validation error will occur for the row.

   • note: This corresponds to the Description field in Clio.
   • price: This is the rate or value of each expense.  This information is 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 (if left blank, the entry type TimeEntry will be used).
   • activity_user: Enter the firm user (first name and last name) associated with the activity. The name entered should be an exact match to the firm user’s name in Clio Manage. Refer to Settings > Manage Users to find exact user names. If a value is not specified for this column or you make a typo in the name of the firm user, your name (i.e., the logged in individual doing the import) will be added to the entry (unless a different firm user is selected later in step 8).
   • non_billable: This is only for time entries and must be “yes,” “true,” “y,” or “1” to mark an activity as non-billable. If this is left blank or other text is entered, the activity will be marked as billable.
   • utbms_activity_code: Include this column if your firm uses UTBMS codes. Add the activity code for the time entry. If your firm does not use UTBMS codes you can delete this column from the template.
   • utbms_task_code: Include this column if your firm uses UTBMS codes. Add the task code for the time entry. If your firm does not use UTBMS codes you can delete this column from the template.
   • utbms_expense_code: Include this column if your firm uses UTBMS codes. Add the expense code for the expense. If your firm does not use UTBMS codes you can delete this column from the template.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports

6. Click Add.

   • Under Import, select Activities from CSV.
   • Optional: In the User dropdown menu, select the firm user responsible for the imported entries.

   Important: If you select a firm member, the information in the activity_user column will be overwritten with the selected firm user.

   • Click Choose File and select your saved CSV file.
   • Click Upload File.

Import hard cost and soft cost entries separately

If you want to import hard cost entries and soft cost entries separately, add an expense_type column to the activities template. In this column, enter SoftCostEntry for soft cost entries or HardCostEntry for hard cost entries. You can also add a vendor_name column and a reference column to import the vendor and reference fields for hard cost entries.

To import activities with separate hard/soft costs:

1. Download the template:
   • Activities (hard & soft costs) import template (North America).

2. Populate the spreadsheet with your activities information according to the following information:

   Template content

   • 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). This information is required.
   • date: Enter the date in MM/DD/YYYY format. This information is 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: Leave activity_description blank if your firm uses UTBMS codes and the row contains values for utbms_activity_code and utbms_task_code. Otherwise, a validation error will occur for the row.

   • note: This corresponds to the Description field in Clio.
   • price: This is the rate or value of each expense. This information is 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). Any value other than 1 for hard costs will result in an error.
   • type: This must be either TimeEntry or ExpenseEntry (if left blank, the entry type TimeEntry will be used).
   • expense_type: Enter either SoftCostEntry or HardCostEntry. If you do not enter a value, the importer will import all expense entries as soft cost entries.
   • activity_user: Enter the firm user (first name and last name) associated with the activity. The name entered should be an exact match to the firm user’s name in Clio Manage. Refer to Settings > Manage Users for user names. If a value is not specified for this column or you make a typo in the name of the firm user, your name (i.e., the firm user doing the import) will be added to the entry (unless a different firm user is selected in step 8).
   • non_billable: This is only for time entries and must be “yes,” “true,” “y,” or “1” to mark an activity as non-billable. If this is left blank or other text is entered, the activity will be marked as billable.
   • vendor_name: This is an optional column for hard costs entries. Add the name of the vendor associated with the hard cost. If the vendor name is not found as a contact in Clio, a new company contact matching the vendor name will be created as part of the import process.
   • reference: This is an optional column for hard cost entries. Add any relevant reference information such as an invoice or other reference number associated with the vendor.
   • utbms_activity_code: Include this column if you use UTBMS codes. Add the activity code for the time entry.
   • utbms_task_code: Include this column if you use UTBMS codes. Add the task code for the time entry.
   • utbms_expense_code: Include this column if you use UTBMS codes. Add the expense code for the expense.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add
   • Under Import, select Activities from CSV.

   • Optional: In the User dropdown menu, select the firm user who will be responsible for the imported entries.

     Important: If you select a firm member, the information in the activity_user column will be overwritten with the selected firm user.

   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
   • Click Upload File.

Import calendar events

You will need to import calendar entries on a per-calendar basis into Clio Manage. This might require breaking up calendar entries into separate CSVs for each user or calendar. The user whose calendar events are being imported must have an active user license.

1. Download the template:
   • Calendar events import template (North America).
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your appointment information.
   • start_date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format. This information is required.
   • end_date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format. This information is required.
   • start_time: Enter in H:MM:SS AM/PM format. This information is required.
   • end_time: Enter in H:MM:SS AM/PM format. This information is required.
   • subject: This field can store a line of text and maps to the Summary field of calendar entries. This information is 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:
   • Clio Manage Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Calendar from CSV.
   • Under Destination Calendar, select the calendar that should contain the events.
   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
   • Click Upload File.

Import contact notes

1. Download the template:
   • Contact notes import template (North America).
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your notes information.
   • date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format. This information is required.
   • subject: Enter the subject of the note.
   • detail: Enter the details of the note. This information is required.
   • first_name, last_name and company_name: These should match exactly to the first/last/company names listed in the Contacts section. This information is required.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Notes from CSV.
   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
   • Click Upload File.

Import matter notes

1. Download the template:
   • Matter notes import template (North America).
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your notes information.
   • date: Enter in MM/DD/YYYY format. This information is required.
   • subject: Enter the subject of the note.
   • detail: Enter the details of the note. This information is 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). This information is required.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Notes from CSV.
   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
   • Click Upload File.

Import contact custom fields

If you are importing custom fields into many existing contacts, export your contact list first, then copy and paste the first and last names into their respective columns for added accuracy.

1. Create the relevant custom fields in Clio Manage.
2. Download the template:
   • Contact custom fields import template (North America).
3. Populate the spreadsheet with your contact custom fields information.
   • first_name, last_name and company_name: These should match exactly to the first/last/company names listed in the Contacts section. This information is required.
   • Edit the custom field column headers to exactly match the name of each custom field that you created in step 1, and then enter each column with their respective data. This information is required.
   • Dates need to be in MM/DD/YYYY format.
   • Values should be True (checked) or False (unchecked).
   • Pre-enter all possible picklist options from your spreadsheet into Clio prior to importing.
4. Delete any unused row cells.
5. Save the file in CSV format.
6. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
7. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Notes from CSV.
   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 5.
   • Click Upload File.

Import matter custom fields

The matter must be an exact match to the matter display number. If you are importing custom fields into a large number of existing matters, export your matter list first, then copy and paste the matter display numbers into column A for added accuracy.

1. Create the relevant custom fields in Clio Manage.
2. Download the template:
   • Matter custom fields import template (North America).
3. Populate the spreadsheet with your matter custom fields 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).This information is required.
   • Edit the custom field column headers to exactly match the name of each custom field that you created in step 1, and then populate each column with their respective data. This information is required.
   • Dates need to be in MM/DD/YYYY format.
   • Values should be True (checked) or False (unchecked).
   • Pre-enter all possible picklist options from your spreadsheet into Clio prior to importing.
4. Delete any unused row cells.
5. Save the file in CSV format.
6. Upload the file to Clio Manage:
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports.
7. Click Add.
   • Under Import select Notes from CSV.
   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 5.
   • Click Upload File.

Import related contacts

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

1. Download the template:
   • Related contacts import template (North America).
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your related contacts information.
   • matter: This must be an exact match to a matter display number in Clio Manage. 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). This information is required.
   • relationship: Enter the relationship label that connects this related contact to the contact. This information is required.
   • company, first_name, last_name: These link the related contact themselves and should match exactly with the first/last/company names in your contact import or existing contacts in Clio Manage. This information is required.
3. Delete any unused row cells.
4. Save the file in CSV format.
5. Upload the file to Clio Manage
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Matter/Contact relationship from CSV.
   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
   • Click Upload File.

Import tasks

Tasks must be imported into Clio per user. 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. Download the template:
   • Tasks import template (North America).
2. Populate the spreadsheet with your tasks information.
   • subject: Enter the subject of the task. This information is required.
   • due_date: Enter the task due date in MM/DD/YYYY format. This information is required.
   • complete: Enter "1" for completed tasks, and "0" for incomplete tasks. This information is 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. Upload the file to Clio Manage.
   • Go to Clio Manage's Imports page: https://app.clio.com/imports
6. Click Add.
   • Under Import, select Tasks from CSV.
   • In the User dropdown menu, select the firm user who will be responsible for the imported entries.
   • Click Choose File and select the CSV file you saved in step 4.
   • 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 Manage Importer: https://app.clio.com/imports
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 column.