How to export your data from ServiceM8 (step by step)

ServiceM8 gives you five ways to get data out: a Client List CSV, a Job List CSV, an Excel file of your materials and services, your accounting package (which ServiceM8 syncs invoices and payments to), and a full account backup. The catch is timing. ServiceM8's help center says that once you cancel, all your data is removed and can't be recovered.¹ So every export below happens before you cancel, never after.

This guide is written by TradesWork. We don't have a ServiceM8 account, so we don't show ServiceM8's own screens. Each animated diagram below redraws the click path from ServiceM8's help center in plain boxes, with a link to the article it comes from. Checked October 15, 2026.

What you'll end up with

Five files, and a sixth set from your accounting package. Here's what each one is for if your next system is TradesWork. Other systems will treat them much the same way: client and price files import, history stays as your archive.

Before you start: role, device and add-on

• Role. The Reports tab of the Online Dashboard is only open to users with the Business Owner security role.² Only the account owner can cancel, and only in the web interface on a Mac or PC, not the mobile app.¹
• Device. Use a computer on a reliable connection that won't sleep. The backup can take hours.³
• Add-on. Client and job list CSVs come with the Advanced Reporting Pack.² Check whether turning it on changes your bill before you do.

1. Export the Client List

With the add-on on, open the Reports tab of the Online Dashboard and download the Client List.² ServiceM8's help center doesn't name the download button, so look for the Client List entry in the Reports tab.

What's in it. ServiceM8 lists the fields as name, contact first and last name, company address, billing address, telephone, mobile, email, and other details where they've been entered.⁴ It's your entire client list.⁴

Gotchas.

• Two addresses. Each client can have a company address and a billing address.⁴ Decide which one is where you do the work before you import anywhere.
• Multi-site clients. One row is one client. If a commercial client has several sites, list them separately.
• Check the count. Compare the row count with the number of active clients you expect, and spot-check a few you know well.

2. Export the Job List

From the same tab, download the Job List.²

ServiceM8 is plain about the limits: the CSV reports are text-only, they don't include all job-related data, and they don't include files such as PDFs, photos or videos.² The Reports tab also has Custom Reports on jobs and job revenue, filtered by status, category, badge or staff member.² Print or screenshot the ones you'll want for year-over-year comparisons.

3. Export materials and services

Your price list doesn't need the add-on.

Go to Settings › Materials, click Export Items, then click the Material/Service Items Excel file to download it.² This is the file most new systems can import as a price book.

Gotcha: items your techs typed straight onto a job card, without saving them to Materials, won't be in this file. Ask your techs which ones they use and add them to the spreadsheet.

4. Export invoices and payments from your accounting package

ServiceM8 says every plan syncs clients, items, invoices and payments with Xero, QuickBooks Online or MYOB.⁵ If you've used that sync, your accounting file already holds your invoice and payment history, and it's the best place to export it from. Run and save:

• Invoices for every year you used ServiceM8.
• Payments received.
• Aged receivables on the day you stop invoicing in ServiceM8.

Compare totals against ServiceM8's own revenue reports for a month or two. If some invoices never synced, you'll find them here, while you can still look them up.

5. Download the account backup

Go to Settings › ServiceM8 Account and click Download account backup at the bottom of the page, then Create Backup.³ What ServiceM8 says about it:

• It gathers your jobs, clients, materials and documents into a single file.³
• It can take from a few minutes to several hours; you get an email when it's ready, so you can leave the page.³
• You can create one at most once every 24 hours.³
• It's for reference only and can't be imported into a new or separate ServiceM8 account.³

Download it, open it, and check it holds what you expect. The help center doesn't say whether job photos are included, so if photos matter (warranty work, certificates, disputes), download the important ones from their job cards too.

What doesn't come out, and how to keep it

• Photos and videos in the CSVs. ServiceM8 says the CSV reports exclude them.² Download the ones you need from job cards.
• Stored cards. Card details live with the payment processor, not in any export. Plan to re-collect cards from customers who pay automatically.
• Assets. ServiceM8 added bulk asset import with QR code labels in 2025.⁶ We didn't find a documented asset export in its help center. If asset records matter, ask support in writing before you cancel and save the reply.
• Forms, automations and templates. List the ones you rely on and rebuild them.

Permissions and plan limits

Two billing details. ServiceM8 plans are paid by credit or debit card online, or through In-App Purchase with your Apple ID.⁵ If you pay through Apple, check how that subscription ends as well. And ServiceM8 says there are no lock-ins and you can change plans at any time.⁵

Plan the timing

Because cancelling deletes everything, run the exports twice:

1. About a month before you switch: the full set. Add-on, Client List, Job List, materials, accounting exports and the backup. Open every file. This is your dress rehearsal, and it gives your new system something to test with.
2. On your last working day in ServiceM8: the files that change daily. Client List, Job List, aged receivables, and a fresh backup the day before, since it only runs once every 24 hours.³

Then cancel: Settings › ServiceM8 Account › Cancel Account, follow the prompts, answer the survey, then log out to finish.¹ If your trial has expired and Settings is locked, ServiceM8 says to use Manage my ServiceM8 Account under the pricing plans.¹

Where to take the files

The Client List and the materials file are the two that almost any new system can import. Job history usually stays as an archive.

If you're moving to TradesWork, there's no dedicated ServiceM8 importer. Its spreadsheet importer reads the Client List and the materials file, lets you match the columns on screen, previews the first 20 rows and can import into a separate sandbox company first. Job history stays in your Job List, backup and accounting file. The full plan is in migrating from ServiceM8 to TradesWork, and the honest comparison, including where ServiceM8 is the better buy, is TradesWork vs ServiceM8.