SimplePractice Data Export Checklist for Migration

SimplePractice Data Export Checklist for Migration (2026 Guide)

Migrating away from SimplePractice requires extracting a complete, clean dataset before you can begin importing into a new system. The quality of your export determines the quality of your migration. Missing data, broken references, or incomplete records discovered after go-live — when the old system is no longer accessible — are costly to reconstruct and sometimes impossible to recover in full.

This checklist covers every data category that SimplePractice stores, the specific export steps for each, the validation you need to run before treating the export as complete, and the archiving approach that protects you regardless of what happens next.

Before You Start: Export Timing

Do not export once. Export twice: a complete first export for planning and import testing, and a final export as close as possible to your go-live cutover date — typically 24–48 hours before — to capture any records added or modified since the first export.

Between your first and final export, document all changes made in SimplePractice. Any client added, any appointment booked, any note completed, any invoice raised during this period needs to be in the final export.

Checklist by Data Category

1. Client and Contact Records

What to export:

• Full client list with legal name, preferred name, date of birth, gender (where recorded)
• All contact information: email addresses, phone numbers, addresses
• Emergency contact details
• Insurance information (where applicable)
• Client-specific notes and flags (do not contact, special access requirements, etc.)
• Referring provider information

SimplePractice export path: Settings → Billing and Payments → Export client list; or use the full data export under Settings → My Account → Export data.

Validation:

• Count: total clients exported matches total active + archived clients in SimplePractice dashboard
• Spot-check 10 randomly selected clients: name, email, phone number — do they match what's in SimplePractice?
• Check that archived/inactive clients are included if you need their history (they are often excluded from default exports)

Common omission: Insurance details and authorisation data are sometimes in a separate export; check that they are linked to the correct client records in the final import file.

2. Appointment History and Statuses

What to export:

• All appointments (completed, cancelled, no-show, rescheduled) for a defined historical period — minimum 2 years, ideally full account history
• Appointment date, time, duration, type
• Assigned clinician
• Client linked to each appointment
• Appointment status
• Any appointment-level notes

Export path: Reporting → Client portal reports; or the full data export.

Validation:

• Compare appointment count by month against SimplePractice's own reporting view
• Verify that cancelled and no-show appointments are included (not just completed appointments)
• Check that appointment types match your internal taxonomy — SimplePractice may use different naming conventions from your new system

Common omission: Telehealth appointments may be stored differently from in-person appointments. Confirm both are captured.

3. Invoices, Balances, and Payments

What to export:

• All invoices with status (draft, sent, paid, overdue, void)
• Invoice line items (service codes, descriptions, amounts)
• Payments applied to each invoice (date, amount, payment method)
• Outstanding balances by client
• Credit notes and adjustments
• Insurance claims and payment records where applicable

Export path: Billing → Export invoices; or full data export.

Validation:

• Total outstanding balances in export matches the aged receivables report in SimplePractice
• Spot-check 5 recent invoices: items, amounts, payment status — consistent with SimplePractice view?
• Verify that void or adjusted invoices are in the export (you need the historical record, not just open invoices)

Critical: Outstanding balances must be imported correctly to your new system. Any discrepancy between the exported balance and what you import means clients receive incorrect billing statements after migration.

4. Clinical Notes and SOAP Records

What to export:

• All progress notes, treatment summaries, and SOAP records
• Session dates and clinician linked to each note
• Note status (draft vs. signed)
• Attachments linked to notes (where applicable)

Export path: Notes are typically exportable as PDF per client, or via the full data export as structured data. Check whether your target system can accept structured note data or requires PDF import.

Validation:

• Count of exported notes matches the notes count in SimplePractice
• Check that unsigned/draft notes are exported if they contain clinical information you need to retain
• Verify that notes maintain their link to the correct client and appointment date after export

Important: Clinical notes may be subject to retention requirements under applicable health regulation and professional registration body standards. Export and archive all notes regardless of whether you plan to import them into the new system. Retain the archive.

5. Consent Forms, Intake Forms, and Signed Documents

What to export:

• All signed consent forms with client name, date signed, and document version
• Completed intake forms and questionnaire responses
• Any signed agreements or authorisations

Export path: Forms are often exported as PDFs per client; check whether a batch export is available under the full data export.

Validation:

• Spot-check 10 client records to confirm that all consent forms visible in SimplePractice are present in the export
• Verify that form metadata (signed date, document version) is captured, not just the form text
• Check HIPAA/GDPR compliance: consent records must be retained for the required period; export them all regardless of how old

6. Communication History

What to export (where available):

• Portal message history per client
• Secure message threads (if SimplePractice's portal was used for clinical communication)
• Email or SMS communication logs (where stored)

SimplePractice limitation: Not all communication history is fully exportable. Secure messages through the SimplePractice client portal may only be available as PDF exports per client, not as structured data.

Validation:

• Identify which communication types are exportable and which are not
• For non-exportable communication, decide whether PDF archives per client are sufficient or whether you need to manually copy critical communication threads

7. Staff and Clinician Records

What to export:

• All active and former clinician profiles
• Role and speciality information
• License/credential information if stored in SimplePractice
• Assignment of clients to clinicians (for continuity mapping)

Validation:

• Confirm all clinicians (active and inactive) are in the export
• Verify that client-clinician assignments are preserved — this is critical for continuity of care mapping in the new system

Post-Export Validation Checklist

After completing all category exports:

• Total client count confirmed
• Appointment count verified against SimplePractice reporting
• Outstanding balance totals match aged receivables report
• Note count confirmed
• All consent and intake forms exported
• Cross-references intact: appointments link to clients, notes link to appointments, invoices link to clients
• Archived/inactive records included where required
• Late-added records captured in final export

Archive and Retention

Create an immutable archive of the complete export before beginning any import or transformation:

• Store the raw export files in a location that won't be modified during the migration process
• Record the export date and time on each file
• Keep the archive for a minimum of 7 years (or the applicable healthcare records retention period in your jurisdiction)

The archive serves as the rollback point: if the migration introduces errors, the original export is the reference data. It also serves as the legal record of what the data contained at the point of migration.

Migrating to Tregovia

Tregovia's Data Import module (included in the base plan) includes a guided CSV import wizard for:

• Client records (with contact details, notes, and custom fields)
• Appointment history
• Invoice and payment history
• Staff records

Process: Export SimplePractice data in CSV format → map columns to Tregovia's schema using the import wizard → validate import counts against export source → confirm and go live.

14-day free trial: You can test the full import process during the trial before committing — no credit card required. Import your exported data and verify that records, appointments, and billing history transfer correctly.

Privacy controls: Configure access roles, consent records, exports, deletion requests, and retention rules before publishing this workflow.

FAQ

What gets missed most often in SimplePractice exports?

Linked metadata required for record continuity: appointment statuses (cancelled vs. no-show vs. completed are stored differently), insurance authorisation linkages, and form version numbers. Missing status information means historical appointments import as a flat list with no context. Missing authorisation links means billing records are disconnected from the authorisations that justified them. Always check the metadata fields in every export file, not just the main data columns.

Should the export be done once before migration?

No. Export twice: once for planning and testing, and once as close to the go-live cutover as practical — 24–48 hours before. The period between your first and final export is your gap: any new client, appointment, or note created in SimplePractice during that period needs to be in the final export or manually added after go-live. Keep a log of everything that changes between exports.

Who validates export completeness?

Both the operational owner (who knows what the data should contain — typically the practice manager or clinical administrator) and the technical migration lead (who is responsible for the import process). The operational owner validates counts and spot-checks content accuracy; the technical lead validates file structure, encoding, and cross-reference integrity. Both must sign off before the go-live proceeds.

Why keep the original export archive if the data is already imported?

For rollback capability, audit defensibility, and dispute resolution. If a record is discovered to be missing or incorrect after go-live, the original export is the reference for what was in SimplePractice at cutover. If a client disputes a historical balance, the export archive contains the original billing record. If a regulatory body requests records from the pre-migration period, the archive provides them. Treat the export archive as a legal record, not a temporary file.

Can SimplePractice data be exported with the account still active?

Yes. Export while the account is still active, with full access to all historical data. Do not cancel the SimplePractice subscription until the migration is complete and validated — the final export, import, and post-migration validation should all happen with the SimplePractice account still accessible. Cancelling before confirming the migration is complete removes your fallback access to the original data.