How do I migrate from Buildertrend to JobTread?

Export your customer and vendor contacts, cost items, cost codes and cost catalog from Buildertrend, decide which active jobs to bring over and which to finish where they are, and gather your budget, schedule and document templates. Then use JobTread's onboarding call to plan the import with your Customer Success contact, spot check the imported data, and cancel the old subscription only after you are fully off it.

What data can I import into JobTread?

JobTread states that its onboarding team can import customers, vendors, cost items, cost codes, the cost catalog and schedule templates, within reason. Jobs themselves can be imported. Data inside jobs, such as budgets, documents, files and daily logs, is handled as a separate premium service. Confirm current scope and any cost with JobTread before you plan around it.

Should I move my old and closed jobs into JobTread?

Usually not all of them. JobTread's own guidance is to weigh the time and cost of bringing historical or archived jobs over, since that data often already lives in your accounting system. A common approach is to move open jobs and a small set of well-documented completed jobs, then keep the rest as exports you can search.

How long does a JobTread migration take?

JobTread says most implementations take from one week to a month depending on the complexity of your setup, and that not every step has to be finished before you start using it. Your own timeline depends mostly on how clean your cost codes and contact lists are, and how many open jobs you move.

Can I migrate from spreadsheets instead of another platform?

Yes. The work is mostly the same: clean the lists, give every cost item a consistent code and unit, and export contacts and catalog items to CSV. Spreadsheets usually need more cleanup than a platform export, because duplicates and inconsistent names are common.

Do I need to run JobTread and my old software side by side?

Often for a short period. Many companies finish their active jobs in the old system while new jobs start in JobTread, then cancel once the last open job is closed out. Check your old contract's cancellation terms before you set the date.

Does this work for landscape, plumbing, HVAC and electrical companies?

Yes. The steps are the same; what changes is the data. Remodelers and GCs focus on budgets, selections and change orders. Landscape companies focus on measured items and crew-driven costs. Service trades focus on customer and location records and recurring work. In each case, clean the catalog and contacts first.

JobTread Migration Guide: Checklist, Timeline & Data Mapping

The short answer

Export contacts, cost items, cost codes and your cost catalog from the old system, and clean them before they go anywhere.
Decide which open jobs to bring over and which to finish in the old system. Do not migrate every historical job by default.
Bring over your budget, schedule and document templates so your team starts on formats they recognize.
Spot check imported data, test with one real job, then cut over on a planned date and cancel the old subscription only after the last open job is closed out.

Numbered migration checklist

Name an owner for the migration, usually the office manager or operations lead, with the owner or a project manager reviewing decisions.
List what you rely on today: cost codes, templates, open jobs, reports, client portal use and integrations such as QuickBooks.
Export contacts: customer and vendor lists, typically as CSV files.
Export your cost items, cost codes and catalog in whatever format your current system allows.
Clean the exports: remove duplicates and dead entries, fix naming, and give each cost item one code and one unit.
Decide the job scope: which open jobs move, which finish in the old system, and which history stays as archived exports.
Collect templates: budget, schedule, proposal, purchase or work order and invoice templates your team actually uses.
Book the onboarding call with JobTread and agree what they import and what you do yourself. See JobTread's own implementation overview and its Buildertrend migration guide.
Import, then spot check a sample of customers, vendors and cost items against the source files.
Rebuild structure: cost codes, cost types, units, budget templates, schedule templates and custom fields. Our JobTread setup checklist covers this in detail.
Connect accounting if you use QuickBooks, and test before live data flows. See the QuickBooks integration guide.
Add users and permissions, then test customer and vendor portal access from an outside view.
Pilot one real job end to end: estimate, budget, schedule, purchase, bill and invoice.
Train the team in stages: estimating and budgeting first, then scheduling and client communication.
Cut over on a planned date using the cutover-day checklist below, then close out the old subscription once you are fully off it.

Phased migration timeline

JobTread states that most implementations take from one week to a month, depending on setup complexity. Use the phases below as a sequence rather than a fixed calendar; each phase ends when its completion test is true.

Migration phases, what happens in each, and how you know it is done
Phase	What happens	Who leads	Done when
1. Inventory and decisions	List what you use, choose which jobs move, name the owner	Owner and office manager	A written scope and a list of open jobs
2. Export and clean	Export contacts, cost items, codes and catalog; remove duplicates; standardize units	Office manager or bookkeeper	Clean files that a second person has reviewed
3. Onboarding and import	Onboarding call, import of core lists, rebuild of templates and structure	JobTread contact with your office manager	Sample records match the source files
4. Integrations and permissions	QuickBooks connection, users, roles, portal access	Office manager and bookkeeper	A test transaction syncs and a test user sees only what they should
5. Pilot job	Run one real job from estimate to invoice	Project manager	The pilot job's numbers reconcile with your expectations
6. Training and cutover	Train in stages, set the cutover date, start new jobs in JobTread	Owner and project managers	New jobs start in JobTread and nobody is double-entering
7. Stabilize and close out	Review problems weekly, finish old-system jobs, cancel the old subscription	Operations lead	The last old-system job is closed and records are archived

Data mapping: what moves, how, and who checks

Use this table as a working sheet. The "how" column reflects what JobTread publishes about onboarding imports; confirm current scope with JobTread, and treat anything marked for decision as a choice, not a given.

What moves into JobTread, how it usually moves, and who verifies it
Data	How it moves	Who checks	Watch for
Customers	CSV export from the old system, imported with JobTread's onboarding team	Office manager	Duplicates, missing addresses, leads mixed with customers
Vendors and subs	CSV export, imported with onboarding	Office manager and purchasing	Old vendors, missing insurance or tax details kept elsewhere
Cost codes	Export, clean, import; match to your accounting codes	Bookkeeper	Codes that differ from QuickBooks accounts
Cost items and catalog	Export, standardize units and names, import	Estimator	One item with several names, mixed units, outdated prices
Budget templates	Rebuilt in JobTread from your best past budgets	Estimator and project manager	Templates that copy old mistakes forward
Schedule templates	Imported or recreated, per JobTread's onboarding scope	Project manager	Dependencies and durations that never matched real work
Document templates	Rebuilt in JobTread's template editor	Office manager	Terms, logos, legal language and signature blocks
Open jobs	Imported as jobs, or finished in the old system	Project manager	Half-billed jobs, committed costs, unapproved changes
Data inside jobs (budgets, documents, files, daily logs)	Treated by JobTread as a separate premium service when it is requested; decide per job	Owner	Paying to move history you can already get from accounting
Closed jobs and history	Usually kept as exports or PDFs	Office manager	Losing access when the old subscription ends

Troubleshooting: symptom, cause, fix

Common migration problems with likely causes and fixes
Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Duplicate customers or vendors after import	Source list had duplicates or the same name spelled several ways	Clean the source file first; merge duplicates in JobTread, then re-check a sample
Cost items look right but budgets are inconsistent	Units or cost codes differ between items	Standardize units and codes in the catalog before building budget templates
QuickBooks sync maps to the wrong accounts	Cost codes were imported without matching to accounting	Match codes to your chart of accounts and test with one transaction; see the QuickBooks guide
Estimators avoid the new templates	Templates do not match how they estimate	Rebuild from the estimator's best recent jobs and let them edit before launch
Open jobs show wrong committed or billed amounts	Jobs were moved mid-stream without a clean starting balance	Reconcile each open job to your accounting records at the cutover date, or finish it in the old system
Team keeps using the old system	No firm cutover date and no one owns it	Set a date, start every new job in JobTread, and review weekly who is still double-entering
Client or vendor portal looks wrong	Permissions or document settings not tested from outside	Test with an outside account before announcing it to customers

Cutover-day checklist

Last export taken from the old system and saved where the office can find it.
Contacts, cost items and cost codes spot checked against that export.
Open jobs either imported and reconciled, or marked to finish in the old system.
QuickBooks connection tested with a sample transaction, if you use it.
Every user has the right role, and portal access was tested from an outside view.
Templates for proposals, purchase or work orders and invoices reviewed by the person who sends them.
A written rule posted for the team: all new jobs start in JobTread from this date.
Someone is named to answer questions in the first week, with the JobTread Customer Success contact's details handy.
Old-system cancellation terms checked, with the cancel date set after the last open job closes.

Migration notes by trade

Remodelers and GCs: prioritize budget templates, allowances and the change order process, and decide carefully which open jobs move mid-project. See our page for remodelers and general contractors. Landscape and design-build: focus on measured units, crew costs and seasonal work, and clean the catalog before anything else. Plumbing, HVAC and electrical: customer and location records, recurring work and service history matter most, so review how those will be stored before you import.

Related JobTread guides

How Trades Agent helps

Trades Agent is an independent consulting firm. We help trades companies inventory their data, clean it, rebuild templates and train their teams, whichever software they are leaving. Start with the Jobwalk, or see the JobTread implementation page for what we set up, and book a call.

JobTread migration: how to move from Buildertrend, CoConstruct or spreadsheets