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Importing your clients

Bring your client list in from a spreadsheet, such as your tax software's client list or your QuickBooks Online customers. Nothing is saved until you've checked what each row will do.

Prepare the file

  • A .csv or .xlsx file, up to 5 MB and 2,000 rows. Save an older .xls file as .xlsx or .csv first.
  • One row per client, with the column names in the first row, in any wording. Exports from QuickBooks Online (customers), TaxDome, Karbon and most Excel lists work as they are.
  • Take social insurance numbers out. A column named SIN or NAS is never imported.

The import page lists the fields Firmdesk reads, and has a template: Download the template.

Import your client list

  1. Go to Clients, open More actions (⋯) and select Import clients from a spreadsheet.
  2. Choose the file and select Read the file.
  3. On Match the columns, check the field Firmdesk guessed for each column from its name, in English or French. Set a column to Not imported to leave it out, then select Check what it will do.
  4. On Check before importing, each row says what will happen: New, Update, Adds a contact, Already here or Not imported, with any warnings. Correct a row's Type if needed, then select Show the effect of my choices.
  5. Select the Import button, for example Import 120 rows.

Imported then shows what it did. Download these rows gives you the rows not imported as a spreadsheet, with why: fix them there and import that file. Set up their services takes your new clients straight to their services.

Tip

A client with no year-end in the file gets December 31. Deadlines are worked out from the year-end, so correct any that differ before you set up services.

How rows are read

  • Type: from a type column, or else guessed from the name: "Inc.", "Ltd.", "Corp." or a numbered company makes a corporation, "LLP" a partnership, "Trust" a trust, "Foundation" a non-profit, and any other name an individual. Guesses say Guessed from the name.
  • Business number: its 9 digits. An individual's is left out, so a social insurance number never gets in.
  • Year-end: "Dec 31", "31/12", "2024-12-31" or a month alone (its last day). An individual's is always December 31.
  • Contacts: each row's person is added as a contact, or matched to one already in Firmdesk. Two rows with the same client make one client with both contacts. A business row with no contact person keeps its email, phone and address in the client's notes.

Households

Individuals in the file who share a last name and a street address are suggested under Households?. Tick the ones that are right: the first becomes the main client, billed for the household's work, the next their spouse and any others family. You can change this on each client's page.

Import the same list again

Importing again updates clients instead of adding them twice. Rows are matched to your clients by business number, then an individual's email, then name. Untick Change the clients already in Firmdesk to the file's details to fill in only their empty fields. If two of your clients have the row's name, the row isn't imported: add business numbers to the file.

Import contacts only

Go to Contacts, open More actions (⋯) and select Import contacts from a spreadsheet. Each person is linked to a client already in Firmdesk by the client's name or business number, or added without one. A contacts import never adds or changes clients.

Send us your files instead

Go to Settings › Send files to Firmdesk. Choose your client list (.csv or .xlsx) and other exports (PDF), say where each comes from in Note for Firmdesk, and select Send to Firmdesk. We'll be in touch about importing them.

  • Up to 25 MB a file, and 10 files at a time. Keep client information out of the note.
  • Take social insurance numbers out, from PDFs too: a spreadsheet with a SIN or NAS column is refused, and PDFs aren't checked.
  • They're kept on Firmdesk's servers in Canada, never in backups, and deleted 30 days after you send them, or sooner if you or we delete them. Only Firmdesk's staff open them, to import them, and Settings › Activity shows each time.

Good to know

  • Only owners and admins can import or send files, and neither works in a sample firm.
  • A file can have up to 60 columns. In an Excel file, Firmdesk reads the first sheet with something on it.
  • After an import, only its summary and the rows not imported are kept, under Earlier imports, for a week.