When you switch to Bas, you have ongoing matters: outstanding quotes and scheduled removals that haven't taken place yet. These all need to go into the new system. In this article, you'll learn how to do that.
The very first rule: turn OFF ALL customer notifications before you enter even a single existing case file. Otherwise, your customers will receive unexpected messages such as "your removal has been scheduled" for case files that have been running for a while.
Step 1 - Turning off notifications
Before you start transferring data, go to Settings > Workflow > Customer notifications and turn off all notifications. Yes, all of them. Including the quote and invoice notifications.
Why? If you enter an existing case file and accidentally send a quote, the customer will receive a quote from a new system even though they've already agreed to it. This causes confusion.
When do you turn the notifications back on? Only after you've finished entering all the existing data. Then, first re-enable just quote sent and invoice sent.
Note: This is the most critical step of the entire migration. If you forget to turn off notifications and you enter 30 case files, 30 unwanted emails could go out to customers.
Step 2 - Transferring outstanding quotes
Outstanding quotes are quotes you've already sent to customers, but which the customer hasn't yet responded to. How you handle these depends on whether you still have access to your old system.
Situation 1 - No access to the old system (for example, licence expired):
If you no longer have access to your old system, you need to transfer all outstanding quotes to Bas:
Create a new case file with the customer's details (name, address, email, phone)
Create a job and link it to the case file
Create a quote with the same lines as the original quote
Save it as a draft - do NOT send the quote again. The customer has already received the quote via your old system.
Set the status to "quote sent"
If the customer agrees later, process the agreement in Bas and continue with the normal flow.
Situation 2 - Access to the old system still available:
If you still have access to your old system, you can choose to only transfer quotes that are going ahead. You can handle outstanding quotes that aren't going ahead in the old system. This avoids duplicate work.
Note: Don't send the quote again from Bas. The customer has already received the quote. If they suddenly get a new quote from a different system, this causes confusion.
Step 3 - Transferring ongoing case files
Ongoing case files are jobs that have already been sold but haven't been carried out yet. You might have removals scheduled for the coming weeks or months. These need to go into Bas so you can schedule and invoice them.
Existing jobs follow a different flow than new jobs, because there's already an agreement in place:
Create the case file with the customer's details (name, address, email, phone)
Skip the quote step - there's already an agreement, so you don't need to create a new quote
Add invoice lines manually - because there's no quote behind the case file, the system doesn't fill in the invoice lines automatically
Add the old quote as an attachment under Documents - this way your removal crew still has all the information (inventory list, special notes). Make sure the "Share with employees" setting is turned on, otherwise they won't see it in the app.
Schedule the removal if it already has a date (assign vehicle and employees)
Tip: Because there's been no quote flow, the removal crew won't have an inventory list. Adding the old quote as an attachment ensures they still have all the job information.
Step 4 - Use fixed amounts (IMPORTANT)
This is a common mistake when transferring case files. Because there's no quote behind the case file, percentage-based invoice lines don't work. The system can't calculate a percentage of a quote that doesn't exist.
So always use fixed amounts for migration case files. If the original quote was EUR 2,500, enter EUR 2,500 as a fixed amount on the invoice line.
Situation | What works | What doesn't work |
Case file with a quote (new jobs) | Fixed amounts and percentages | -- |
Case file without a quote (migration) | Fixed amounts only | Percentage-based lines |
Note: After entering each case file, check that the invoice lines are correct. Open the case file, go to the invoice, and compare the amounts with your old system. A mistake here means an incorrect invoice later.
Step 5 - How many case files can you expect?
The amount of work depends on the size of your company:
Company type | Typical number of ongoing case files |
Small (sole trader) | 5-10 case files |
Medium | 15-30 case files |
Large | 30-50+ case files |
Each case file takes about 5 minutes. Plan enough time: with 30 case files, you'll be busy for around 2.5 hours.
Step 6 - Checking after entry
After you've entered all the case files, go through them one by one:
Are the customer details correct? (name, address, email, phone)
Are the invoice lines correct? (amounts, VAT)
Is the status set correctly? (quote sent, scheduled, etc.)
Is the schedule correct? (date, vehicle, employees)
Tip: Make an Excel list of all the case files you need to transfer. Tick them off one by one as you enter and check them. This way you won't forget any.
The right order for transferring data
Follow this order when migrating your data:
Step | What | Why this order |
1 | Turning off notifications | Prevents unwanted emails to customers |
2 | Entering outstanding quotes | Least complex, a good warm-up |
3 | Entering ongoing case files | Requires manual invoice lines |
4 | Checking | Go through all the case files you've entered |
5 | Turning notifications back on | Only quote and invoice, the rest later |
Tips
Start by turning off notifications. This is the very first step, before everything else.
Do this during a quiet period. Entering case files takes about 5 minutes each. Schedule this for a time when you won't be disturbed.
Validate your customer data in advance. Check email addresses, phone numbers and addresses. Errors in the source data lead to errors in Bas.
Make a copy of your old records. Keep an export or backup of your old system. If you forget to transfer something, you can always still find it.
Please note
Not turning off notifications before the import is the most common mistake. Every case file you enter can trigger a message to the customer.
Percentage-based invoice lines don't work without a quote. Use fixed amounts for all migration case files.
Not validating data leads to phone numbers ending up where email addresses should be, missing initials and duplicate customer records. Take the time to clean up your source data.
Next article: Migrating storage customers