Migrate one client at a time, and finish each one completely before starting the next. The whole sequence below runs from a single chat conversation, and takes a few minutes per client. A client left half-moved — service set up here, invoicing still over there — is the state that actually costs you money, because visits fall into the gap between two systems.
What does "completely" mean?
Seven things, in this order:
- Confirm the legal entity. Look the business up on the business register before you create anything. The trading name on your old CRM is frequently not the entity that should appear on a tax invoice — a shopfront trading name often sits over a company or a family trust. Getting this right at creation avoids voiding and reissuing invoices later.
- Create the client, site and contacts. Set the billing cadence and payment terms now, while you're thinking about the relationship. Set each contact's notification flags deliberately: who receives proposals, who receives invoices and statements, who receives nothing.
- Build the recurring service line. Price, cadence, and — critically — the method notes: how the work is actually done at that site. Where to park, where the water comes from, which glass is excluded, who to ask for. This is the knowledge that currently lives in your head.
- Assign the contractor and send the work order. Assignment is bookkeeping; the work order is the commitment. See dispatching and triage.
- Send the proposal. See how to send a proposal.
- Backfill completed work. Any visit you performed but never billed — see backfilling work you already did.
- Close the old system down for that client. Cancel the recurring schedule there, so nothing double-books.
Why capture method notes during the migration?
Because this is the only moment you are guaranteed to think about every client in turn. Site knowledge — the fire hydrant you take water from, the auto-doors that need switching to manual, the film on the glass that a squeegee would ruin — is the difference between a contractor who does the job right and one who phones you. Written onto the service line, it flows automatically onto every work order that line ever spawns.
A useful sequencing trick: put method notes on the proposal line rather than waiting. When the client accepts, the proposal stands up the service line and carries the notes across with it — so the knowledge is captured once, before any work is scheduled, and never re-keyed.
What about a client who owes you money in the old system?
Bring the debt across rather than chasing it in a system you're switching off. Backfill the unbilled and unpaid visits, issue them, and send the client a statement covering the period with the invoices attached and a single payment link. Tell them plainly to disregard the old system's invoice number. They get one clear document and one link; you collect old money and finish the migration in the same move.
How long does one client take?
In practice, a few minutes for a straightforward single-site client, and longer only where you need to research the entity or reconstruct payment history. The rate limit is your decisions, not the software — every step above is a single instruction in chat.