Migration
Moving from simPRO to ServiceM8
simPRO structures costs around cost centres, a materials catalogue and multi-stage projects with progress claims, none of which ServiceM8 has a direct equivalent for, per simPRO's own feature pages. simPRO's help centre requires a customer login, so exact export steps are not publicly documented; ServiceM8 imports clients, materials and job history from CSV, so plan the field map before you request your simPRO export.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Moves cleanly
- Customer names, contacts and communication history, which simPRO structures around each customer and project
- Site records, since simPRO supports multiple sites per customer with their own notes and photos
- Catalogue and price list items, as a flat reference list into ServiceM8's Materials & Services CSV template
Moves with work
- Customers and sites, as a manual CSV once you have confirmed simPRO's exact export columns with simPRO support
- Job and project history, as text records through ServiceM8's job history import, with multi cost centre projects flattened into one job's notes
- Stock and catalogue detail, as a price reference only; minimum and maximum stock levels, locations and reorder points are not imported
- Progress claim history on multi-stage projects, carried over by hand as a running total for any project still open at cut over
Does not move
- Cost centre structure within a job (ServiceM8 has no equivalent to simPRO's cost centres)
- Multi-stage project structure and its progress claim tracking (rebuild as separate partial invoices in ServiceM8, tracked manually)
- Real time stock control: minimum and maximum stock levels, multiple storage locations, and barcode stocktakes
- The exact export format for customers, sites and jobs, since simPRO's help centre and export documentation sit behind a customer login
- Anything simPRO's Developer Center API exposes, since its scope is not documented on simPRO's public pages
How long it takes
| Business size | Realistic time |
|---|---|
| Sole trader or small operation on simPRO Base | FFP estimate: 3 to 5 days of your time, mostly confirming export format with simPRO support |
| 3 to 5 person crew with active projects | FFP estimate: 2 to 4 weeks, including flattening cost centre structures into ServiceM8 jobs |
| 10+ staff with multi-stage projects and stock control | FFP estimate: 6 to 10 weeks, driven by decisions on every open project and the stock control you are leaving behind |
simPRO is built for bigger jobs than ServiceM8 assumes
simPRO describes updating Takeoff measurements "directly into your Simpro cost centers", and its cashflow features are built around "multi-stage projects" that you "invoice after each stage via email with progress claims". ServiceM8 has jobs and partial invoices, not cost centres or staged projects with their own claim tracking, so a simPRO project with several cost centres does not become one ServiceM8 job with equivalent structure. The practical fix is to decide, for each active simPRO project, whether it becomes one ServiceM8 job with everything folded into its notes and materials, or several linked jobs, before you import anything.
Catalogue and stock control move as a reference list, not a live sync
simPRO's inventory tools let you build your own catalogue of materials, import supplier catalogues, group items by product line, and run real time stock control with minimum and maximum levels and barcode stocktakes across multiple storage locations. ServiceM8's Materials & Services import takes a flat CSV of item numbers, names and prices, so all of that structure, including stock levels, locations and reorder points, has to be left behind or tracked elsewhere. Export your simPRO catalogue as a price reference, not as a stock system, because ServiceM8 does not manage stock levels the way simPRO does.
Customers and sites carry over; the login wall is the real obstacle
simPRO maintains customer communication and job history against every project and supports multiple sites per customer with notes and photos attached, which maps reasonably well onto ServiceM8's clients and job addresses. What is harder to plan around is that simPRO's help centre (helpguide.simprogroup.com) sits behind a customer login, the same as its main product portal, so the exact CSV export columns for customers, sites and jobs are not published anywhere a prospective ServiceM8 user can check in advance. Confirm the export format with simPRO support or your account manager before you build a field map, rather than assuming it will match another vendor's CSV structure.
Field map: simPRO to ServiceM8
Exports available from simPRO: Catalogue and materials: exportable as a price reference, per simPRO's own inventory management pages (exact file format not publicly documented), Customer, site and job records: export format confirmed only inside simPRO's logged in help centre or by request from simPRO support, Developer Center: a simPRO API exists per its marketplace footer link; its scope for extracting historical data is not documented publicly.
| simPRO | ServiceM8 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| simPRO customer name and contact | ServiceM8 client name and contact | Confirm simPRO's exact export headers with support before building your import file. |
| simPRO site address (one of several per customer) | ServiceM8 job address | Multi site customers need a decision on how many ServiceM8 clients or job addresses to create before you import. |
| simPRO catalogue item code, description, price | ServiceM8 material item number, name, price | Treat this as a fresh price list build, since simPRO's catalogue groupings by product line have no ServiceM8 equivalent. |
| simPRO project with multiple cost centres | One or more ServiceM8 jobs | Decide per project whether cost centres become separate jobs or notes on a single job before you key in job history. |
| simPRO progress claim history | ServiceM8 partial invoices | Note how much of a staged project has already been claimed before creating the first ServiceM8 invoice against it. |
| simPRO stock levels and storage locations | Not imported | ServiceM8 has no stock control equivalent; keep simPRO's stocktake as a one off reference, not a live figure. |
Gotchas
- simPRO's help centre and export documentation are behind a customer login. Confirm the exact export columns with simPRO support before you plan a cut over date around them.
- Decide, project by project, whether a simPRO project with multiple cost centres becomes one ServiceM8 job or several. There is no automatic mapping.
- Do not expect ServiceM8 to inherit simPRO's stock control. Minimum and maximum levels, storage locations and stocktakes have no ServiceM8 equivalent, so export them only as a reference.
- Note the progress claimed so far on every multi-stage project you carry into the switch. ServiceM8's partial invoices do not inherit simPRO's running claim total.
- Test whatever export simPRO support provides in ServiceM8's free 14 day trial with a handful of records before committing to the full import.
- Check what simPRO's Developer Center API actually exposes with a live login before relying on it for a bulk extract; simPRO's public pages do not document its scope.
- If you are multi-company in simPRO, plan the ServiceM8 account structure (one account or several) before you import anything, since ServiceM8's client and job structure is simpler.
Sources
- simPRO's Takeoffs feature lets users count and measure materials and update these directly into simPRO cost centers. simPRO, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- simPRO supports multi-stage projects, letting users invoice after each stage via email with progress claims and track payments against them. simPRO, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- simPRO's inventory tools let users build their own catalogue of materials, import supplier catalogues, group catalogue items by product line or functional type, and run real time stock control with minimum and maximum stock level alerts and barcode stocktakes across multiple storage locations. simPRO, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- simPRO maintains detailed customer communication and job history for every project, supports multiple sites per customer, and lets staff attach notes and photos for office and field access. simPRO, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- simPRO's base plan includes quoting and estimating, field and contractor scheduling, real time inventory management and purchasing, invoicing and payments, accounting and finance, reporting, and multi-company compatibility, with pricing available only on request. simPRO, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- simPRO's help centre (helpguide.simprogroup.com) requires a customer login to view articles; it is not browsable without an account. simPRO Help Guide, 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.