Importing data

Settings → Imports brings records into your current Arbour organisation. Choose the guide for your previous CRM, or use Custom CSV to match your own spreadsheet columns to contacts and jobs. CRM exports contain different information, and some require several downloads.

The Import from another tool step in organisation setup shows the same list. There the importer opens in place, and All tools takes you back to the list.

Choose your export guide

The source-specific export and import guide link stays available throughout each importer. It opens separately so you can follow the export steps while keeping your place.

Prepare a CRM export

1. 01

   Export from the correct business in your previous CRM. Clear searches and filters, include the required contact types and choose dates covering your history and future bookings.

2. 02

   Follow the source guide to collect every required CSV and PDF. Check that downloads finished and open a copy of each file to check it is readable. Preserve the original contents and column headings.

3. 03

   For Dubsado, Pixieset or Sprout Studio, put the downloads in one folder. In Finder, select the folder and choose Compress. In Windows, use Compress to ZIP file. Upload that ZIP. Studio Ninja already supplies a ZIP, so keep it as downloaded.

4. 04

   Keep a copy of your export until you have checked the imported records. An export only contains what the previous CRM makes available, so keep access to anything its export omits.

Review a CRM archive

1. 01

   Check the organisation shown in Arbour, open Settings → Imports, and choose your previous CRM.

2. 02

   Upload the ZIP. Arbour reads the archive and shows a preview before creating records. Compare its counts with your exports and read every warning.

3. 03

   With more than one workflow, first choose the Workflow the records land in. Then choose its stages for imported records and review the source's invoice or package options. A missing date or document cannot be recovered by choosing a different stage.

4. 04

   Start the import and keep the page open until it finishes. Progress and individual failures appear on the page.

5. 05

   Open a few imported contacts and jobs. Compare dates, documents, invoice totals and paid balances with the original CRM, including a partially paid and an unpaid invoice if you have them.

Imported history does not send invoices or other documents to clients. A downloaded contract remains an attached document; importing it does not request a new signature. The source guides explain which financial records can be reconstructed and which files remain attachments.

Inventory after an import

CRM and Custom CSV imports do not bring across inventory items, individual units, stock counts or gear assignments. Add your stock in Inventory items. Importing a booking does not reserve stock for it, so review upcoming jobs and add their booking inventory separately.

Custom CSV

Choose Custom CSV for your own spreadsheet, or an export that does not match one of the CRM guides above. Save it as a UTF-8 CSV with one row per enquiry or booking, then match its columns to Arbour fields, review every record and import. Importing from a CSV covers the limits, column matching, validation and recovering an interrupted run.

Custom fields and export differences

Dubsado, Pixieset and Sprout Studio columns are matched by their headings, so their order can vary. Optional columns can be absent. Required columns, duplicate headings and incomplete rows are checked before the import starts. Keep the original headings even when your export differs from an example screenshot.

Read the preview's field notes. Extra contact or project columns can be retained as text fields or labelled notes, depending on the CRM and Arbour's field limits. A date, choice list or number retained as text keeps its exported value, but does not become an editable field of that original type. The source guide explains where to find it after importing.

An unfamiliar financial column may require review before reconstruction. Arbour checks supported amounts and payment records rather than guessing how an extra amount changes an invoice. A PDF whose layout cannot be read safely may need the source's document-only import path.

If two source records cannot be distinguished, correct their identifying details in the original CRM and export again. Do not delete a row simply to make the import pass. Keep the complete export and attach unmatched documents manually when needed.

Stop, retry or return later

Large imports may pause briefly when the request limit is reached. Keep the tab open. The countdown shows when importing will continue automatically.

To stop a CRM import, press Cancel and confirm Stop importing. In Custom CSV, press Stop import. Either way, Arbour waits for requests already in progress, and records that have finished remain in Arbour. For a CRM import, choose Import remaining to continue, or Retry failed after checking the errors. Custom CSV offers Retry failed and remaining records.

If Retry finishing import (or Retry completion in Custom CSV) appears, use it to close the existing run. Past imports on the imports page shows recent runs. A stopped run can show records as not imported. After a page reload or interrupted session, stop a stranded run there before uploading again.

Re-importing an unchanged export skips records already imported from that source while their linked records still exist. It does not update those existing records with changes from a later export. Review source-specific identity limitations before renaming records or changing an export.

Common problems

Imports add records as they progress. Stopping a run does not undo the records already written.