Migration
Moving from Fergus to ServiceM8
Fergus has no single bulk data export, per its own help centre; customers, quotes and invoices come out through its CSV reports (the WIP report, Customer Invoice report and others) or by request from Fergus support before you cancel. ServiceM8 imports clients, materials and job history from CSV, and pulls contacts and items automatically when you connect the same Xero organisation.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Moves cleanly
- Xero contacts, items and tax rates, which ServiceM8 imports automatically when you connect the same Xero organisation Fergus already uses
- Customer and job financial detail, via Fergus's downloadable CSV reports (WIP report, Customer Invoice report)
- Price book items, if you have used Fergus's custom CSV price book upload as your reference for rebuilding ServiceM8's Materials & Services list
Moves with work
- Customers, as a manual CSV built from Fergus's Customer Invoice report or customer list if you are not relying on Xero
- Job history, as text records through ServiceM8's job history import once you have compiled a CSV of past Job Cards, dates and addresses
- Staged and progress invoice history, as a percentage billed figure you carry over by hand for jobs part way through at cut over
- Cost report detail (labour, materials, purchase orders per job), pulled from Fergus's WIP and cost reports before cancelling
Does not move
- Job notes, photos and files attached through the Job Card (not covered by Fergus's report exports; ask Fergus support for a copy)
- Fergus's running percentage billed tracking on a job (recalculate this manually for any job still open at cut over)
- Forms, checklists and sign off documents created in Fergus (rebuild your most used ones in ServiceM8 Forms)
- Data older than three years that Fergus has moved to its archive (check this before cancelling; Fergus's own article does not say whether archived data can be exported)
- The two way Fergus to Xero invoice sync (settle every open invoice in Xero before disconnecting Fergus)
How long it takes
| Business size | Realistic time |
|---|---|
| Sole trader | FFP estimate: 1 to 2 days of your time, mostly pulling reports before cancelling |
| 3 to 5 person crew | FFP estimate: 1 to 2 weeks, including a cut over week running both systems for open jobs |
| 10+ staff with multi phase jobs | FFP estimate: 3 to 5 weeks, driven by recalculating percentage billed on open staged jobs and rebuilding forms |
There is no single export button in Fergus
Fergus's cancellation article tells users to "make sure to export any data you need before cancelling" but does not point to one bulk export tool. In practice that means pulling your customer, job and financial history out through Fergus's reports, which its help centre confirms can be downloaded as CSV files, most usefully the WIP report and the Customer Invoice report. Anything a report does not cover, including job notes, photos and files attached through the Job Card, is not addressed in Fergus's public documentation as an export, so treat those as a support request rather than a self-serve download.
Fergus also archives log trails, job emails and notifications older than three years to secondary storage, though quotes and invoices themselves stay accessible outside that window. If your business has been on Fergus for years, check what has already moved into that archive before you plan your cut over.
The Job Card maps onto a ServiceM8 job, and staged invoicing maps onto partial invoices
A Fergus Job Card holds the job summary, financial summary, cost report, phases, scheduling, labour, purchase orders and invoicing tools in one place, which is a reasonable match for what a ServiceM8 job holds once materials, tasks and invoices are attached to it. The part that needs the most thought is staged invoicing: Fergus lets you invoice a percentage of a quote, bill the automatically calculated remainder, or invoice by quote section, and tracks the running percentage billed against the job. ServiceM8's equivalent is issuing multiple partial invoices against a job, but it does not carry over Fergus's percentage billed tracking, so rebuild that running total by hand for any job you are part way through when you switch.
Xero continuity is the easiest part of this move
Most Fergus users already run Xero, and Fergus's own help centre describes syncing invoices, credits and imported customers to Xero using account codes you configure. Because ServiceM8 connects to Xero the same way, pulling contacts and items in automatically, the cleanest cut over is to keep Xero as your single source of customers through the switch rather than exporting a customer list from Fergus at all. Just settle every open Fergus invoice in Xero first, since a Fergus job disconnected mid cycle leaves its Xero invoice in whatever state it was last synced.
Field map: Fergus to ServiceM8
Exports available from Fergus: CSV: most Fergus reports, including the WIP report and Customer Invoice report, download as CSV, CSV: custom price book upload format (the same format Fergus accepts for its price book, useful as a reference for your ServiceM8 material list), PDF: individual quotes and invoices, downloaded or printed one at a time, Full data copy: not described in Fergus's public help centre; request one from Fergus support before cancelling.
| Fergus | ServiceM8 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fergus customer name and main contact | ServiceM8 client name and contact | Skip this entirely if you are relying on the Xero connection instead of a CSV. |
| Fergus customer physical and postal address | ServiceM8 client billing address | If Xero is connected, Xero's contact address wins; clean it there first. |
| Job Card job number, description, phases, dates | Job history text record | Searchable history only, not a reopenable job with materials, phases and payments. |
| WIP report cost lines (labour, materials, purchase orders) | Reference document, not imported | ServiceM8 has no bulk import for historical cost detail; keep the report as your record. |
| Percentage billed on a staged job | Running total you track manually | Note the percentage already invoiced before you create the first ServiceM8 partial invoice on that job. |
| Price book CSV item code and price | Material item number and price | Set Price Includes Taxes correctly in ServiceM8 to match whether your Fergus price includes GST. |
Gotchas
- There is no single Fergus export button. Pull the WIP report and Customer Invoice report as CSV, and request anything else, including job notes and photos, from Fergus support before you cancel.
- Keep Xero as your one source of customers if you already connect Fergus to it. A CSV import on top creates duplicates ServiceM8 will not merge for you.
- Settle every open Fergus invoice in Xero before disconnecting Fergus. A job left mid sync stays wherever Fergus last left it.
- Recalculate the percentage billed on any staged or progress invoiced job that is still open when you switch. ServiceM8 does not inherit that running total.
- Check whether any of your history has already moved into Fergus's data archive (anything older than three years). Fergus's own article does not confirm archived data can still be exported.
- Rebuild your most used Job Card forms and sign off documents in ServiceM8 Forms before go live. Fergus's forms do not convert automatically.
- Test your job history CSV in ServiceM8's free trial with a handful of jobs before importing everything.
Sources
- Fergus's account cancellation article instructs users to export any data they need before cancelling, and states that once an account is locked at month end the data can no longer be accessed unless the subscription is reactivated. Fergus Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Fergus reports, including the WIP report, can be downloaded as a CSV file for further analysis. Fergus Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- A Fergus Job Card includes a job summary, financial summary, cost report, notes and history, invoicing, tasks, certificates, sign off forms, checklists, phases, scheduling, labour, supplier documents and purchase orders. Fergus Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Fergus supports three ways to invoice a quoted job in stages: a percentage of the original quote, an automatically calculated remainder, or by individual quote section, with the job's financial summary tracking the percentage billed. Fergus Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Fergus's Xero integration syncs invoices and supplier credits using configured account codes, and can import customers directly from Xero. Fergus Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Fergus archives log trails of user actions, job specific emails and notifications older than three years to secondary storage on an automated monthly schedule, though quotes and invoices remain accessible outside the archived Notes & History section. Fergus Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- ServiceM8 bulk imports clients and materials from a CSV template with a field mapping and preview step, and accounts connected to Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB get clients and items imported automatically on connection. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- ServiceM8 can import text records of job history from a CSV export, started from the green notice on the Online Dashboard Home screen, at no charge, and it can be tried during the free 14 day trial. ServiceM8, checked 25 Sep 2026.