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What is customer import?

If you’re switching to ProBase from another app — or have an existing customer list in a CSV, a PDF, or even on paper — you can bring all of it over at once. ProBase uses AI to read your files and pull out:
  • Contact details — names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails
  • Job details — recurring schedules, pricing, service history, and open balances
Once your customers are in, ProBase walks you through attaching their services, prices, and visit days, so your route is ready to go.
You can upload CSV files, PDFs, text files, and photos or screenshots of paper notes (JPG, PNG, HEIC, and other common image types). Each file can be up to 20 MB, and you can add up to 10 files to one import.Excel workbooks (.xlsx or .xls) can’t be read yet. If your list is in Excel or Google Sheets, save or download it as a CSV first, then upload the CSV.

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Where to start an import

  • From the Customers page — tap Import customers in the page header, next to Add customer. On a narrow phone screen the two buttons shorten to Import and Add.
  • From Account Settings — open the Bulk data card and tap Import customers.
  • From HomeBase — the Import the rest of your customers setup in Make it yours, or the Finish your import row in Action needed when you have an import in progress.
The Customers page button and the Settings card open Your imports, which lists every import you’ve started. Tap Start a new import to begin a fresh one.
Importing is rolling out gradually, and it needs permission on your role. If you don’t see the Import customers button yet, you can still open your imports directly at /customers/imports.

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How to import customers

A line across the top of every import screen fills in as you go, so you always know how far along you are.
1

Upload your files

The first screen reads Bring your customer list over. Tap the dashed area to pick your files, or drag them onto it. You can add several files to one import — for example a CSV with names plus a PDF with addresses. To take a file off before uploading, tap the × beside it.Not sure what a good file looks like? Tap See an example file. A sheet lists the columns ProBase can read, with an example of each, and a Download example CSV button. A list with just names and addresses is enough to start — nothing else is required.The upload screenThe example file sheetWhen your files are in the list, tap Upload & review.
Nothing to bring over? Tap I don’t have a list to import under the button. You’re taken back to HomeBase with the message “Got it — we won’t ask you to import a list.” and HomeBase stops reminding you about importing. You can still start an import from the Customers page any time.
2

Wait while ProBase reads your files

The screen changes to Processing your files and moves through three stages on its own:
  1. Extracting text from files
  2. Analyzing content with AI
  3. Creating import records
Each stage gets a green tick as it finishes, and an estimate underneath tells you about how long is left — large lists are read in batches of about 100 rows, roughly 3 minutes per batch.The processing screenYou don’t have to keep the page open. Leave and come back whenever you like — ProBase keeps working in the background, and your import is waiting on Your imports (and in HomeBase’s Finish your import row) when you return.
Large lists are handled automatically. ProBase splits a long list into smaller pieces and reads several at once, so even lists with hundreds of customers come through reliably. If one piece of a large list can’t be read, the rest still comes through.
3

Check what we found

When reading is done, What we found in your file shows the counts: how many customers, how many properties, and how many existing schedules or balances were detected. Nothing has been saved to your account yet.Depending on what’s in your file, a few more lines can appear:
  • Balances from before — the dollar total your customers owe you that will come across, for example $1,240.00 in balances from before. This is the same total you’ll see on the summary at the end. It’s hidden when nobody owes anything.
  • Rows already paid — not imported — balance rows your file marks as already paid. They’re left out, so nobody is billed twice.
  • Visits already done — past visit dates from your file, which come across as history.
  • Customers with more than one location — noted beside the properties count, for example (1 client has 3 locations).
  • Matched customers you already have — a link to the customers who look like ones already in ProBase. Tap it to see just those on the review screen. See Customers you already have. What we found in your file
If you’ve imported a file with the same name before, a yellow warning appears below the counts, just above Confirm & continue — for example “You imported a file called “customers.csv” on Oct 2.” It reminds you that importing it again can create a second copy of any customer ProBase can’t match to one you already have. The warning doesn’t stop you from continuing.Tap Confirm & continue to review the records, or Save and exit to come back later.
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Review the records

Here’s what we’re importing shows one card per customer, with everything found for them underneath: their contact details, any notes from your file, their property, services, and visits. Tap any row to open it and correct it.The review screenA customer card with its contact, note, property, service, and visitsThings to look at. If anything needs a second look — a missing detail, something the AI couldn’t read, or a customer who matches one you already have — a yellow bar at the top says how many, for example 1 needs review. Tap it to show just those records. These never stop the import: you can bring everything in now and fix them later from each customer’s page. To fix one now, tap its row — see Fixing a record marked Needs review.The review screen filtered to records needing reviewNames come through exactly as you wrote them. ProBase never corrects a customer’s name — even one that looks like a famous person or a brand, so “Mel Gibon” stays “Mel Gibon”. If a name looks misspelled, that customer is marked as needing review with a note like “The name is written “Mel Gibon” in the file — check the spelling.” Open the contact to fix it if it’s a typo — correcting the name clears the flag — or leave it as is.Full names in one column are split for you. If your file has a single Customer or Name column holding each person’s full name, ProBase splits it into a first and last name, using the last word as the last name — “Mel Gibon” becomes first name Mel and last name Gibon. Business names that include a word like LLC, Inc, Company or HOA are kept whole. A two-word business name without one of those words — “Parts Depot”, say — may be split like a person’s name; when that happens, or whenever ProBase had to guess at a split, the customer is marked as needing review with a note like “The name “Mel Gibon” was read as first name “Mel” and last name “Gibon” — check the split.” Open the contact to adjust it if needed.Filter the list. The dropdown beside Ready to import switches between Showing all, Needs review, Unreadable, Matched existing, and Removed.Leave a customer out. Tap Remove on a customer’s card to leave them out of the import. Removed customers move to the Removed view, where Include brings them back.Long lists show 50 customers a page, with page controls at the bottom. A customer you remove stays removed as you move between pages.When you’re happy, tap Next. You can also tap Save and exit and pick up later from Your imports.
5

Your customers are imported

After Next, ProBase adds your customers. The screen reads Importing your customers while it works — this takes a moment for a large file, and you can leave the page; your imports list shows where it stands.Customers being imported
Interruptions heal themselves. Each customer is saved on their own as soon as they’re added. If the process is briefly interrupted, ProBase picks up where it left off and never adds the same customer twice.
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Set up their recurring services — or skip

Next, a banner confirms how many customers and properties are now in ProBase, and asks Set up their recurring services now?Set up their recurring services now?
  • Yes, walk me through it — attach services, prices, and visit days to your customers in a few minutes (the steps below).
  • Skip for now — your contacts are saved and you can add services any time. You go straight to the summary.
If a customer couldn’t be added. Very occasionally ProBase can’t save one customer from your file, even after trying again. When that happens the banner turns yellow and names them — for example “1 of 3 customers could not be written and is not in ProBase: Devon Quinn.” Everyone else is saved as normal. Add the named customers by hand, or import a file with just those rows.The banner naming a customer who couldn't be added
The browser’s Back button takes you to Your imports from here. Once your customers are in, the upload, processing, and review screens are finished, so they’re no longer in your browser history. Pressing Back on Set up their recurring services now? opens Your imports — tap Resume on the import to carry on. During setup itself, Back still works step by step: from Match services to your catalog, for example, it returns you to Set up their recurring services now?
Set up their recurring services now?, before pressing BackYour imports, after pressing BackBack from Match services to your catalog returns to Set up their recurring services now?This holds even if you opened records to correct them on the review screen first. Opening a record and coming back from it doesn’t add extra steps to your browser history, so Back from Set up their recurring services now? still opens Your imports — not a record you visited earlier.Correcting a record during reviewBack on the review screen with the change in placeSet up their recurring services now?Your imports, after pressing the browser's Back
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Pick the services you offer

Which services do you offer? lists your service catalog. Tick every service these customers get, use the search box to find one, or tap Create custom service to add a new one — saving it ticks it for you and brings you back here.Which services do you offer?If your file named services, you’ll see Match services to your catalog instead. Each card shows a service name from your file, how many customers it’s on, and the catalog service ProBase matched it to — marked Likely when the names are similar rather than identical.Match services to your catalog
  • Change — pick a different catalog service, or create it as a new service under the name from your file
  • Skip — don’t bring that service across
  • Add a service your file did not have — offer one more service to these customers Changing a match
Tap Next to continue, or Skip for now to keep what you’ve done so far and go to the summary.
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Check each service's settings

For each service you picked, ProBase opens its settings — name, description, frequency, billing type, time on site, and price. Make any changes and tap Next - Assign customers.A service's settings during an import
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Choose who gets each service

Who gets [service]? lists your imported customers. Tick everyone who receives it, or tick Select all at the top. Each ticked customer opens Price, Tax rate, and Frequency boxes. Price starts from the service’s usual price — change it for anyone who pays a different amount. Frequency starts from the service’s own schedule; change it for a customer you visit more or less often than everyone else.Who gets Weekly Mowing?If your file listed services for your customers, the first time you reach this screen the customers your file gave this service are already ticked for you — for example “The 2 customers your file gave this service are already ticked. Untick anyone who should not get it, or add others.” Their price and frequency come from your file too, and the Frequency box reads From your file. Check the list, untick anyone who shouldn’t get the service, and tick anyone else who should.Customers from the file already tickedYour file’s customers for this service are listed first, under From your file, with everyone else below under Everyone else — each group in name order. The headings only appear when both groups have someone in them. Ticking and unticking works the same in either group.The file's customers listed first, above everyone elseTap Next - Schedule customers. If you picked more than one service, the screen notes which one you’re on (for example Service 1 of 2).
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Set each customer's visit day

The service’s frequency sits at the top, with Change if it needs adjusting. Below it, tap a day — Mon to Sun — and Who do you visit on [day]s? lists the customers on this service. Tick everyone you visit that day; each ticked customer shows the date of their first visit, and the line above the list tells you how busy that day is now across all your services.Who do you visit on Tuesdays?A heads-up when one day gets crowded. If a weekday ends up with at least three visits and more than all your other days put together, a yellow note appears above the list — for example “Tuesday has 3 visits. Your other days have 2 between them.” It’s only a suggestion to spread your customers out; you can carry on regardless. Move a customer or two to another day and the note goes away once that day no longer outweighs the rest.A crowded day with its yellow noteThe note gone once the customers are spread outYou can tick customers as quickly as you like — even on a slow connection, every tick is saved in the order you made it, and the visit count and note always match the boxes you’ve ticked.If your file listed upcoming visits, the first time you reach this step for a service, the customers your file had a visit booked for after today are already ticked, with that date as their first visit. Check them, change any date, or untick anyone who shouldn’t be booked. A visit your file dated today or earlier isn’t carried over, so pick a first visit for that customer yourself.Move to another day and tick the next group. To give a customer a first visit on a particular date instead of a weekday, tap Custom and pick each customer’s first visit date.Services that repeat in whole weeks — weekly or every two weeks, say — and one-time services can use the weekday buttons. A service that repeats on any other number of days, such as a quarterly service that repeats every 90 days, opens straight on Custom: the weekday buttons are greyed out, with a caption underneath such as “This service repeats every 90 days — pick a date”.Picking custom datesA custom first visit has to be tomorrow or later. If you pick today or a date in the past, the date stays in that customer’s box with Pick tomorrow or a later date. underneath it, and nothing is saved for them. The message stays put while you pick dates for other customers — it only goes away once you change that customer’s date to tomorrow or later. Any date you pick from tomorrow on is booked exactly as you picked it.Today refused with Pick tomorrow or a later date.A past date refused with Pick tomorrow or a later date.If some customers on this service have their own frequency — one you set on the previous screen, or one from your file — a yellow note says so, for example “Own cadence for 1 customer (Bi-weekly: 1); the rest follow this service.” Each of those customers shows their own frequency under their name, such as Bi-weekly · set for this customer, and their visits repeat on that schedule after the first one.Customers keeping their own frequencyThe button at the bottom names what’s next: Next - Setup [service] if you have another service to set up, or Next - Review your routes after the last one. Customers you don’t tick are still saved — they simply have nothing scheduled yet.
11

Review your routes

After the last scheduling step, ProBase books your customers’ jobs and visits. For a large import this can take a moment: the screen reads Setting up your schedules with a progress bar counting customers — for example 12 of 40 customers. You can leave the page; ProBase keeps going, and Your imports shows where it stands. The screen moves on by itself once every schedule is set up.Setting up your schedulesReview your routes lets you look over the days you just booked. It opens straight on the first day your import booked a visit on, with that date and its stop count at the top — for example Thursday, Oct 22nd and 2 stops — and a line underneath such as “2 stops on your first Thursday. Drag stops to reorder.”Review your routes, opened on the first booked dayTo look at another day, tap the date to open Which day?, which lists every day your import booked a first visit on, with the day you’re looking at ticked. Each row reads on one line with its stop count — for example Tuesday, Oct 27th · 4 stops. Once you pick a later day, the line underneath names its date instead, for example “4 stops on Tuesday, Oct 27th. Drag stops to reorder.” With more than one crew, the line ends “Give them a crew.” instead.Picking a dayIf nothing was booked — say you didn’t tick anyone on a day — the screen reads “Nothing booked yet.” with a No visits booked note instead of a date.With one crew, picking a day opens that day’s route so you can drag stops into order. With more than one crew, it opens Jobs that need a crew for that day so you can assign them. Tap Next when you’re done.Reordering an imported day's route
12

See the summary

Your customers are in. sums it up: customers imported, services in your catalog, jobs scheduled, and the total of balances from before. When every booked job repeats, the jobs line reads recurring jobs scheduled (1 year of visits booked).The import summaryIf any of the booked jobs is a one-time job — for example a customer your file listed with a One time service — the line reads simply jobs scheduled, because a one-time job books just its one visit.The summary with a one-time job among the scheduled jobsCustomers with no visits booked are listed underneath, each with a badge — Unscheduled if you chose not to schedule them, or Needs a date if they’re still waiting for one. Tap a customer to open their page. If some still need a date, Schedule remaining [N] customers takes you back to the scheduling step for just them.The summary with customers still to scheduleA customer can also have one service booked and another still waiting — for example, you scheduled their mowing but never ticked them on a day for edging. They appear in the same list under the heading “[N] customers have a service with no date”, and their row names just the service that has no visits yet, with a Needs a date badge. They’re counted in Schedule remaining too, so nothing you assigned is quietly left behind.A customer with one service still needing a dateIf you reach the summary while schedules are still being set up, it shows the same Setting up your schedules progress first, and the counts appear once it’s finished.The summary while schedules are being set upIf a customer’s schedule couldn’t be set up. Very occasionally ProBase can’t book one customer’s jobs. A yellow notice names how many — for example 1 customer’s schedule couldn’t be set up — with “Their answers are saved. Schedule remaining tries again.” Everyone else is booked as normal. Those customers show Needs a date in the list below — tap Schedule remaining to try them again.If some records couldn’t be imported. Occasionally ProBase can’t save a few records on the first try — a customer, a property, or a past visit. When that happens, a yellow notice at the top of the summary says how many, for example 2 records couldn’t be imported, with “Everything else is in. Retry writes only these records.” Tap Retry 2 records to try just those again. Nothing that was already saved is added a second time, and the notice disappears once they’re in.The summary naming records that couldn't be importedThe summary after a successful retryTap Done - Go to Schedule to finish.

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After the import

Each service you assigned becomes a regular job on the customer, just like one you’d add by hand. Its page shows the service, how often it repeats, the first visit date, and the price. A job created by the import Jobs still waiting for a price. If ProBase couldn’t read a customer’s price in your file — for example *“$40-60 depending"* — and the catalog service you matched it to has no starting price, the job is created without a price rather than at $0.00. Its Price row, on the job page and on each visit’s Details tab, shows an amber No price yet tag. Open the job and set its price whenever you’re ready. Until you do, a visit you complete on that job isn’t charged anything. A customer you gave a service to but didn’t schedule gets a job with no date yet. These show up in the Needs scheduling row on HomeBase, so you can put them on the calendar when you’re ready. An unscheduled imported job waiting in Needs scheduling

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Correcting a record before you import

Tapping a row on the review screen opens it on its own page. Each change is saved as you make it; tap Back to your records (or the back arrow at the top of the screen) to return to the list.
You don’t need to tap out of a box before you leave. If you type a new price, say, and tap Back to your records — or go on to Save and exit — straight away, what you typed is saved first. When you come back to the import with Resume, the record shows your change.
A price typed on a service record, kept after tapping Back to your records The review screen after Save and exit and Resume
  • Contact details — first and last name, phone, email, whether they’ve agreed to texts, and their opening balance. A field your file didn’t have says Not in your file.
  • Property — the address plus optional property details such as lawn size, a locked gate, or a dog on the property.
  • Service — what you’re doing, what it costs, how often, and how long each visit takes (Duration (min)). If your file had a duration column, or start and end times for a visit, ProBase fills in the length for you. Tap Don’t import this service to leave it out — handy when your old app lists every service a customer ever had, including ones you no longer do.
  • Note from your file — extra details the AI found, like gate codes or access instructions. The note goes on the customer or property, not the job.
  • Visit — a past date from your file is recorded as already done · no charge, so their history comes with them. Tap Don’t import this visit to leave it out. A visit you leave out reads Not imported on the customer’s card. A date after today is filled in as the customer’s first visit when you schedule their service. A visit dated today isn’t recorded as done or booked — pick the customer’s first visit date when you schedule them.
Editing an imported contact Checking an imported property Checking an imported service A visit already worked, from the file A note from the file

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Leaving out a service

When you tap Don’t import this service, the page stays open and a Not imported notice explains that the service and its visits will stay out of the import. Nothing else about the customer changes — their contact details, property, and other services still come across. A service left out of the import Back on the review screen, the service’s row on the customer’s card reads Not imported, its visits are no longer shown, and it isn’t counted in the card’s summary line. Later in setup, a service you left out isn’t counted on Match services to your catalog, and that customer isn’t pre-ticked for it when you choose who gets each service. A customer card with one service left out Changed your mind? Open the service again and tap Include this service to bring it and its visits back.

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Fixing a record marked Needs review

A record that needs a second look shows a yellow Needs review notice at the top of its page, saying what to check — for example “The address has no ZIP code in the file — add it before scheduling.” A property marked Needs review for a missing ZIP code Correct the detail the notice names and the notice goes away as soon as your change is saved. The record’s flag on the review screen disappears too, and the needs review count in the yellow bar goes down by one. Editing a different detail — say, adding a gate code when the notice is about the address — leaves the notice in place. If the notice doesn’t point at a particular detail, any change you make to the record clears it. The value is right as it is? You don’t have to change anything. Tap the button inside the notice — Looks right on a Needs review notice, or Dismiss on an Unreadable one — and the notice goes away. The record’s flag on the review screen disappears and the count in the yellow bar goes down, just as if you’d corrected it. If the import has already run, the notice stays and a message explains that its records can no longer be changed. A service marked Needs review, with the Looks right button The same service after tapping Looks right The same property after the ZIP code is filled in A notice always sits where you can fix it. A note about an address, ZIP code, price, frequency, visit length, or visit date belongs on the property, service, or visit that holds that detail — so that’s where ProBase shows it, even if the AI first attached it to the customer. Occasionally a customer’s contact row still carries such a note — for example a missing ZIP code. Open the customer’s property and fill in the ZIP: the contact row’s flag clears too, and the needs review count goes down. A customer's contact row flagged for a missing ZIP code The contact row's flag cleared after the ZIP is added on the property
The import is the only place a past visit date can be set. Once the import is done, a visit can’t be added to a past date.

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Customers you already have

If a customer in your file has the same email, the same name and phone, or the same name and address as someone already in ProBase, their record reads Matched an existing customer and explains why — for example “Same name and phone as Marcus Hale.” Matched customers are left out until you decide. Open customer shows you the existing customer; Include brings this record in as a separate new customer. Nothing is ever merged. A record matched to an existing customer Once you tap Include, the record says “Included — it imports as a new customer, separate from the one it matched.” A matched record included as a new customer

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Balances your customers already owe

If your file has a balance column, each customer’s amount appears as their Opening balance on their contact details, where you can check or change it.
  • A positive amount (they owe you) becomes a Balance from before charge on their next invoice
  • A negative amount (you owe them) becomes a Credit carried over credit on their next invoice
  • A blank amount adds nothing
An opening balance on the review screen So a customer who owed you $85 in your old system owes you $85 in ProBase from day one, and it’s billed the next time you send them an invoice. Partly paid invoices from your old system. If your file lists an invoice as partly paid — for example an invoice amount of $170.00 with $50.00 already paid — ProBase works out what’s still owed for you, so that customer comes across owing $120.00. If your file instead has a **Balance** or **Balance due** column that already shows what's left (say $120.00), that figure is used as it is — nothing is taken off it a second time, even when a paid column sits beside it. Rows marked as fully paid are left out entirely. If the figures on a partly paid row don’t add up (say, the paid amount is as much as the invoice itself), that row is left out rather than guessed at, and the customer is marked as needing review with a note like “The row reads $120 with $120 already paid — check the figures.” Open their contact details to set the right opening balance. The balance from before on the customer's draft invoice

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Your imports

Your imports keeps everything you’ve started. Each card shows the file name, how many records it has, when you started it, and where it stands:
  • Processing — your files are still being read
  • Waiting for your review — ready for you to review
  • Importing — customers are being added
  • Setting up services — your customers are in, and service setup isn’t finished
  • Setting up schedules — your customers’ jobs and visits are being booked
  • Complete — all done
  • Failed — something went wrong
Your imports If some records couldn’t be imported, the card says so alongside its counts — for example · 2 not imported. Open the import’s summary to retry them. An import with records not imported Tap Resume to pick up where you left off, View to open a completed import’s summary, or Retry on a failed one. A completed import’s summary is for looking back only — the counts and customers are there, but Schedule remaining and Retry aren’t offered, since that import is finished. A completed import's summary If you haven’t started an import yet, the list reads No imports yet — “Upload a CSV, a PDF, a text file or a photo of your list and we will bring your customers in.” — with a Start a new import button. An empty Your imports list Discard clears an import you don’t want. ProBase asks you to confirm first. Customers an import already added stay in ProBase — discarding only removes the import from the list, and it can’t be resumed. A completed import can’t be discarded, and neither can one that’s still adding customers. Discarding an import

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Finding imported customers

On the Customers list, open the status filter and tick From an import to see only the customers that came in through an import. It works alongside the other options — tick Lead as well, for example, to see imported customers you haven’t booked work for yet. The From an import filter

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Tips for best results

Include column headers in CSV files. Headers like First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Address help the AI understand each column. Keep services and frequencies in their own columns. If your list has a Services column (with one or more services per customer) and a Frequency column such as Weekly or Every two weeks, ProBase brings in each service for that customer on that schedule, and pre-ticks them when you set up services. Past visit dates come across as history. If your list has a column like Last visit, Last service, Last mowed, Visited, Service date, or Dates worked, each date in it becomes a visit already done — one visit per date, so a cell reading “2026-10-03; 2026-10-10” brings in two visits. A date with no time is set to 9:00 AM. A Next visit or Next service column is read as the visit coming up. If ProBase had to pick a date out of the column itself, that visit is marked as needing review with a note like “The visit on Oct 3, 2026 was read from the Last visit column — check the date.” Upload related files together. If your customer data is spread across several files, add them all to one import. The AI reads them together and can match information across files. You can always edit later. Anything that needs fixing after the import can be changed from the customer’s page.

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If the import fails

Failures are rare — ProBase reports one only when it can’t read any customer data at all, for example an empty file or one it can’t open. If your file was only partly readable, the import doesn’t fail; you’ll review everything ProBase could read. When it does happen, the screen reads Import failed with a message explaining what went wrong. Tap Retry import to read the same files again — no need to upload them a second time. A failed import with Retry import If you continue to have trouble, contact support and we can help you get your data imported.