> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Import clients and projects

> What you can and cannot bring into TimeTracker, and the fastest manual path to rebuild your clients, projects, rates and open tasks in one sitting.

There is no bulk file importer. You create clients and projects by hand.

That is the honest answer, and it is less painful than it sounds. Most businesses have fewer than 20 active clients, and the rebuild is an afternoon. This guide is the fast path.

<Info>
  **The example:** Northwind Studio rebuilds three clients and four projects. Maya Ellis (Owner) does the setup with Priya Raman (Project Manager).
</Info>

## What you can bring in

| Data         | Bulk import? | How you get it in                                                        |
| ------------ | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Clients      | No           | Create each one. See [Create a client](/clients/create-a-client)         |
| Projects     | No           | Create each one under its client                                         |
| People       | No           | Invite them – they need a login anyway                                   |
| Rates        | No           | Set once per person, then override where needed                          |
| Tasks        | No           | Create open tasks. Then [bulk actions](/tasks/bulk-actions) for the rest |
| Time entries | No           | Summary entries only, if you need history                                |
| Invoices     | No           | Keep the old PDFs. Continue your numbering                               |

Check [Import your data](/integrations/import-your-data) for the current options before you begin.

<Tip>
  Getting **out** is a different story. An Owner can export the whole workspace in open formats, and any report exports as CSV, Excel or PDF. See [Export your data](/data/export-your-data).
</Tip>

## The order to build in

Build top down. Each layer needs the one above it to exist first.

```
1. Workspace settings and currency
2. People and roles
3. Rates
4. Clients
5. Projects
6. Project members
7. Budgets
8. Sections
9. Open tasks
```

<Warning>
  Rates come before any hour is tracked. A time entry snapshots the rate that applied on its date, so hours logged before a rate exists have no billable value. See [Rate snapshots](/rates/rate-snapshots).
</Warning>

## Do it in one sitting

<Steps>
  <Step title="Write your list down first">
    Before you open the product, write out what you are rebuilding. A page of notes turns two hours of context-switching into forty minutes of typing.

    For each client: name, contact, currency, default rate.
    For each project: client, budget kind and amount, who works on it.

    Northwind's list:

    | Client           | Project          | Budget            |
    | ---------------- | ---------------- | ----------------- |
    | Bluebird Coffee  | Website Redesign | \$40,000 money    |
    | Bluebird Coffee  | Monthly Retainer | 40 hours, monthly |
    | Harbor Logistics | Mobile App       | 600 hours         |
    | Fenwick Legal    | Brand Refresh    | None              |

    Three clients, four projects. This is the real size of most agencies.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Only bring in what is alive">
    The strongest filter: **if nobody has tracked time against it in three months, do not recreate it.**

    A finished project belongs in your archive export, not in a fresh workspace. You will never open it, and it makes every list longer for everyone forever.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the workspace basics and invite the people">
    Currency, timezone, formats. Then invite everyone with the right role first time.

    → [General settings](/settings/general) · [Invite a member](/team/invite-a-member) · [Onboard a new employee](/guides/onboard-a-new-employee)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set every rate before anything else">
    Billable and cost, per person.

    | Person        | Billable | Cost |
    | ------------- | -------- | ---- |
    | Sarah Lin     | \$100    | \$45 |
    | Jonas Bergman | \$120    | \$60 |
    | Ana Ferreira  | \$80     | \$55 |

    → [Set a person rate](/rates/set-a-person-rate) · [Cost rates](/rates/cost-rates)

    <Tip>
      If most of your work is at one price, set that price as each person's own billing rate and only override the exceptions. The most specific rate wins: task, then project member, then person, then client. There is no workspace-wide default rate. See [How rates are chosen](/rates/how-rates-are-chosen).
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create all the clients in one pass">
    Do every client before you start on projects. Switching between the two screens is what makes this feel long.

    Set the client's default rate now if that account has a negotiated price.

    → [Create a client](/clients/create-a-client) · [Client rates](/clients/client-rates) · [Client details](/clients/client-details)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create the projects, one per engagement">
    Not one per client. **One per engagement.**

    Bluebird Coffee has a fixed price redesign and a monthly retainer. Those are two projects. Merging them means you can never tell which one pays.

    → [Create a project](/projects/create-a-project) · [Client projects](/clients/client-projects)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add project members">
    Who works on each job. This controls what people can pick when they track time.

    → [Project members](/projects/project-members) · [Project visibility](/projects/project-visibility)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the budgets">
    While the numbers are still in front of you from your list.

    Money budgets for fixed price work. Hours budgets for retainers and capacity deals.

    → [Set a project budget](/budgets/set-a-project-budget) · [Hours vs money budgets](/budgets/hours-vs-money-budgets) · [Recurring retainers](/budgets/recurring-retainers)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up sections on each project">
    Sections are the stages a task moves through, and they are defined per project. Use the same set across similar projects so people learn one pattern.

    → [Project sections](/projects/project-sections)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create only the open tasks">
    Do not recreate a year of finished tasks. Create what is genuinely still to do, put an estimate on each one, and assign it.

    Once they exist, bulk actions let you set section, assignee, tags or dates across many at once, which is much faster than editing them one by one.

    → [Create a task](/tasks/create-a-task) · [Task estimates](/tasks/task-estimates) · [Bulk actions](/tasks/bulk-actions)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create your tags, and keep the list short">
    Tags are workspace-wide. Five or six that people remember beat thirty nobody uses.

    → [Tags settings](/settings/tags) · [Task tags](/tasks/task-tags)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check it before anyone tracks an hour">
    Five minutes now saves a month of wrong numbers.

    | Check                                                       | Why                                     |
    | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
    | Every person has a billable rate                            | Otherwise their hours are worth nothing |
    | Every person has a cost rate                                | Otherwise there is no margin            |
    | Every active project has a budget, or deliberately does not | An unbudgeted project is unwatched      |
    | Every project has its members                               | Otherwise nobody can track against it   |
    | Currency is right on every client                           | It is painful to change later           |
    | Invoice numbering continues your old sequence               | Your accountant will thank you          |

    → [Invoice numbering](/invoicing/invoice-numbering)
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Bringing historical hours in

Only do this for a project that is still open and still being measured against a budget.

Add **one summary entry per person**, not every original entry.

| Person        | Hours already spent | How to record it                                 |
| ------------- | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Sarah Lin     | 40                  | One manual entry, dated the day before you start |
| Jonas Bergman | 22                  | One manual entry, same date                      |

Put a note on each entry such as "Carried forward from previous system", approve them, and the budget bar starts from the truth instead of from zero.

→ [Add time manually](/time-tracking/add-time-manually) · [Approve a timesheet](/approvals/approve-a-timesheet)

<Warning>
  Never invoice carried-forward time. It was already billed elsewhere. Note it clearly and exclude it from your first invoice.
</Warning>

## How long it takes

| You have                            | Roughly                                                         |
| ----------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Under 10 clients, under 20 projects | One hour                                                        |
| 20 to 40 clients                    | An afternoon                                                    |
| Over 40 clients                     | Split it across two sittings, and only bring in the active ones |

The slow part is deciding what to leave behind. The typing is fast.

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I upload a spreadsheet of clients?">
    No. There is no bulk file importer today. Create clients from the clients page. See [Import your data](/integrations/import-your-data) for the current options.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I copy a project instead of building it again?">
    Set up one project the way you want it – sections, members, budget shape – and use it as the pattern you follow for the rest. See [Project settings](/projects/project-settings).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Should I recreate finished projects?">
    No. Keep them in your archive export from the old tool. A fresh workspace full of dead projects makes every list slower for everyone.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if I create something wrong?">
    Almost everything is recoverable. Archiving hides finished work but keeps it reportable. Trash is a staging area you can restore from. See [Archive, trash and delete](/concepts/archive-trash-and-delete).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I get my data out again?">
    Yes. An Owner can export the whole workspace in open formats. See [Export your data](/data/export-your-data).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I need to recreate old invoices?">
    No. Keep the PDFs from your old system. What matters is that your **numbering continues** where the old sequence stopped. See [Invoice numbering](/invoicing/invoice-numbering).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Switch from another tool" icon="arrow-right-arrow-left" href="/guides/switch-from-another-tool">
    The full cutover plan this fits inside.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up a new workspace" icon="rocket" href="/guides/set-up-a-new-workspace">
    Everything that comes before the clients.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Track work for a client" icon="route" href="/guides/track-work-for-a-client">
    Run the first job on the new structure.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Onboard a new employee" icon="user-plus" href="/guides/onboard-a-new-employee">
    Adding the people.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Setup for an agency" icon="building" href="/guides/setup-for-an-agency">
    The structure most agencies land on.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>