Migrating Your Data into Actionstep

Modified on Fri, 2 Aug at 11:44 AM

The data import feature has been designed to help you migrate existing matter, contact, invoicing, task, note data, and more into Actionstep. Follow the instructions below to learn how to use this feature.

Essential Best Practices

Actionstep's team cannot do the import on your behalf. While Actionstep Support can answer questions you may have, they cannot complete the import for you or walk you through every step of the process. If you need in-depth professional support with this process, consider engaging with an Actionstep Certified Consulting Partner.
Use Actionstep's templates for importing. Actionstep's data-mapping feature makes it much easier to match data from your old system with Actionstep if you use the provided templates (linked later in this article). Simply bring your data over into these templates and Actionstep will map the columns without requiring you to change much at the data mapping stage.
Import only a couple of records to begin with. If you make a mistake with the data import, it can be complicated to fix. As such, we strongly recommend that you first import with only a couple of lines of data. This way, it is much easier to delete these imported records and try again.
Data Rollbacks only work if you haven't edited the imported data. If something goes wrong with the import, Actionstep provides a "matter rollback" feature to reverse it. However, it will not work if you have edited the data in Actionstep after you have completed the import. As such, we recommend doing a check of the imported data immediately after the import to ensure that all looks correct. This way, you can perform a rollback if needed.

About the Data Import Process

The process for importing your data can be broken down into two main steps:

Part 1: Importing Matters, Contacts, and Parties:
This beginning step of the import process will form the foundation that will allow you to import other matter data. The order of the Data Import Process is as follows:

Import Contacts (using the Contact Import Template)
Import Matters (using the Matter Import Template)
Import Parties (using the Parties Import Template)

In the Import Parties step, you will link the imported contacts to their relevant matters. At this point, you will have matters and their relevant contacts in Actionstep.

Part 2: Importing Additional Data

After you have imported contacts, matters, and parties, you can import more information to these existing matters.

Click the following links to download templates for these data types.

Once you click one of these links, check the folder where your downloads are saved and access it there.

Importing Test Data

Several templates are available to assist you with the import process.

To import your data:

Download, read, and edit the import templates (Contact Import Template, Matter Import Template, and Parties Import Template).
These spreadsheet templates are preconfigured to include data that you can import as dummy data. Each file has a row which explains what these columns refer to, and how to format the data. familiarize yourself with the fields listed here, then use Save As to create another copy of this file and delete row 2 of the Excel file. This will allow you to import without the system trying to import the instruction row at the same time.
Upload the file.
Once you've read these templates, import them using the Actionstep Import tool, which you can find by going to Admin > Import Data. Each panel on this page should correspond to the templates you downloaded, and you can click Start import to select the file you want to import and choose your settings.
Field Map Page
Use this form to map the columns from the Excel file to the Actionstep database. In the right-side column, specify the format the related the fields are being imported in. Select the correct format for the data file that you are importing For example, in the image below, Company/Individual could be imported as a True/False or a Full name field. When finished, click Next.
Data Matchup
At this step, Actionstep has identified possible matches and will ask you to confirm that they are correct. Check that the data records in the two columns match. If not, adjust the right column so that the data is matched correctly. Click Next through the process.
Confirm Import
Begin the import process.
Review Completed Import
After the import is complete, it will tell you if the import was successful. If unsuccessful, you can download a .csv file to evaluate what failed in the import process. The last column on this .csv file will tell you what caused the import to fail. You can then use the data rollback feature to delete data you've just imported.

Remember, the data rollback can only be completed if you have not manually updated any of the data after an import has been completed. As such, we recommend that you check the imported data immediately by viewing your Contacts and Matters in Actionstep.