> ## 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.

# Switch from another tool

> Move to TimeTracker without losing a week of billing: pick a cutover date, decide what history to carry, rebuild your structure and run both for one week.

The clean way to switch is a **hard cutover on a date**, not a gradual migration.

Pick the first day of a month. Everything before that date stays in your old tool as an archive. Everything after it happens in TimeTracker. Nothing gets tracked twice.

<Warning>
  **Be realistic about import.** TimeTracker does not have a bulk file importer. You set up clients, projects, people and rates by hand. For a normal agency this is a couple of hours of work, and this guide is the fast path through it. Check [Import your data](/integrations/import-your-data) for the current options before you start.
</Warning>

<Info>
  **The example:** Northwind Studio moves off its old stack on 1 April. Maya Ellis (Owner) runs the switch.
</Info>

## What carries over, and what does not

| Thing                   | Carries over? | What to do                                                               |
| ----------------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Clients                 | No            | Create them by hand. Most agencies have under 20.                        |
| Projects                | No            | Create the **active** ones only. Leave dead projects behind.             |
| People                  | No            | Invite them. They need a login anyway.                                   |
| Rates                   | No            | Set them once, per person.                                               |
| Tasks                   | No            | Recreate open tasks only. Closed tasks stay in the old tool.             |
| Historical time entries | No            | Keep them as an export from the old tool.                                |
| Historical invoices     | No            | Keep the PDFs. Your accounts system already has them.                    |
| Open invoices           | No            | Either finish them in the old tool, or reissue in TimeTracker. Not both. |

The honest summary: **you rebuild your structure and you keep your history as files.**

That sounds worse than it is. Most of what people want to migrate is dead data they will never open again, and the rebuild is a good moment to close the twelve projects that finished last year.

## The switch

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a cutover date, and make it the first of a month">
    A month boundary means your reporting periods do not straddle two systems. If you switch on the 14th, every month-end report for a year needs two sources.

    Northwind picks **1 April**.

    Tell the team the date at least a week ahead.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export everything from your old tool first">
    Do this before you cancel anything. Most tools stop letting you export the moment the subscription ends.

    Get, at minimum:

    * All time entries, with person, project, date, duration and billable flag
    * All invoices, as PDFs
    * Your client list with contact details
    * Your current rate card

    Store it somewhere your accountant can reach. This is your archive for the period before the cutover.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Decide what history you genuinely need">
    Be ruthless. Ask what you would actually go looking for in two years.

    | Keep in TimeTracker | Keep as an archive file         |
    | ------------------- | ------------------------------- |
    | Open projects       | Finished projects               |
    | Unbilled time       | Time already invoiced           |
    | Unpaid invoices     | Paid invoices                   |
    | Current rates       | Historical rate changes         |
    | Active clients      | Clients you no longer work with |

    Rebuilding two years of tracked time by hand is not worth anyone's time. Rebuilding your six active projects is an afternoon.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the workspace up before the cutover date">
    Do the whole setup while the old tool is still running, so nobody is blocked on day one.

    Follow [Set up a new workspace](/guides/set-up-a-new-workspace) in order. The short version:

    1. Workspace name, slug, base currency, timezone. → [General settings](/settings/general)
    2. Turn off the apps you will not use. → [Apps settings](/settings/apps)
    3. Create a schedule for the standard week. → [Create a schedule](/schedules/create-a-schedule)
    4. Invite the team with the right roles. → [Invite a member](/team/invite-a-member)
    5. **Set every rate.** → [Set a person rate](/rates/set-a-person-rate)
    6. Create clients, then projects. → [Import clients and projects](/guides/import-clients-and-projects)
    7. Set budgets on the projects that have one. → [Set a project budget](/budgets/set-a-project-budget)
    8. Fill in the invoice sender block. → [Invoice sender details](/invoicing/invoice-sender-details)

    <Warning>
      Rates before the cutover date, always. A time entry snapshots the rate that applied on its date, so hours tracked before the rate exists carry no value. See [Rate snapshots](/rates/rate-snapshots).
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the invoice numbering to continue your sequence">
    This is the one thing people miss, and it causes a real accounting problem.

    If your last invoice in the old tool was `2026-0184`, set TimeTracker to carry on from there. Do not restart at 1.

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

  <Step title="Run both for one week, deliberately">
    For the week before the cutover, have one or two people track in both tools. Not everyone, and not for long.

    You are checking three things:

    * Do the hours match at the end of the week?
    * Does the billable value match?
    * Does anyone hit a wall doing their normal day?

    One week is enough. A month of double entry and people quietly stop doing one of them.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Cut over">
    On the cutover date:

    1. Everyone stops tracking in the old tool. Completely.
    2. Finish and send any invoice that is still open in the old tool, or void it and reissue in TimeTracker. Never both.
    3. Do a final export from the old tool.
    4. Downgrade or cancel the old subscription – after the export, not before.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Watch the first two weeks closely">
    The first month is where habits form.

    | Check                                           | Why                                                |
    | ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
    | Is everyone submitting on Friday?               | The routine either takes hold in week one or never |
    | Are hours landing on the right projects?        | People pick the wrong project when the list is new |
    | Is anything marked billable that should not be? | The default may differ from your old tool          |
    | Do budgets look sane after two weeks?           | If not, a rate or a budget is wrong                |

    → [Weekly timesheet routine](/guides/weekly-timesheet-routine) · [Time policies](/settings/time-policies)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run your first month-end close">
    The real test. If close works, the switch worked.

    → [Month-end close](/guides/month-end-close)
  </Step>
</Steps>

## If you must bring history in

Sometimes you genuinely need past hours inside TimeTracker – an open fixed price project that started in the old tool, for example.

Bring in the **summary**, not every entry.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create the project and its budget as normal">
    Full budget, as agreed with the client.

    → [Set a project budget](/budgets/set-a-project-budget)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add one manual time entry per person for the work already done">
    One entry per person, dated to the day before your cutover, with the total hours they had already spent. Put a clear note on it, such as "Carried forward from previous system".

    Sarah had 40 hours on Bluebird before the switch. That is one entry of 40 hours, not forty entries of one hour.

    → [Add time manually](/time-tracking/add-time-manually)
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve those entries so the budget reflects reality">
    Now the budget bar starts from the true position rather than from zero.

    → [Approve a timesheet](/approvals/approve-a-timesheet)
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Do not invoice carried-forward time. It was already billed in the old tool. Mark it clearly, and exclude it from the first invoice you raise.
</Warning>

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I upload a CSV of my clients or time entries?">
    There is no bulk file importer in the product. Clients, projects, people and rates are created by hand. See [Import your data](/integrations/import-your-data) for the current options, and [Import clients and projects](/guides/import-clients-and-projects) for the fastest manual path.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How long does switching actually take?">
    For an agency with about 20 clients and 10 people, a focused afternoon for setup, plus one overlap week. The setup is not the hard part. The habit change is.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Should we switch mid-project?">
    Yes, if the cutover is on a month boundary. Carry the project's hours forward as one summary entry per person and let the budget continue from there.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What about invoices we already sent that are still unpaid?">
    Leave them in the old tool and record the payment there when it arrives. Reissuing an invoice a client already has is how you get paid twice or not at all.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I get my data back out of TimeTracker later?">
    Yes. An Owner can export the whole workspace in open formats, and any report can be exported as CSV, Excel or PDF. See [Export your data](/data/export-your-data).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can we run both tools for a month to be safe?">
    You can, but do not. Double entry decays within two weeks and then you have two half-true records instead of one true one. One week of overlap, with one or two people, is the right amount.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Import clients and projects" icon="folder-plus" href="/guides/import-clients-and-projects">
    The fastest way to rebuild your structure.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Set up a new workspace" icon="rocket" href="/guides/set-up-a-new-workspace">
    The full setup order.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Track work for a client" icon="route" href="/guides/track-work-for-a-client">
    The first real job after the cutover.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Month-end close" icon="calendar-days" href="/guides/month-end-close">
    The test of whether the switch worked.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Setup for an agency" icon="building" href="/guides/setup-for-an-agency">
    The shape to rebuild into.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>