How to migrate from GorillaDesk to TradesWork: an honest switching plan

Moving from GorillaDesk to TradesWork takes minutes for your customers and prices and about six weeks for everything else. But start with the harder question, because for many GorillaDesk users the right answer is don't switch.

GorillaDesk is built for recurring routes: pest control, lawn care, pool service. It has routing, material usage records, device tracking and per-route pricing from $49 a month for one route.¹² TradesWork has no route-day scheduling or pesticide logs and costs more. It fits HVAC, plumbing and electrical shops whose work is service calls, maintenance memberships and replacement sales. If your business has drifted that way, read on.

This guide is written by TradesWork, so read it with that in mind. GorillaDesk facts come from its help center and pricing page, checked October 15, 2026.

Who this switch is for, and who it isn't

If you run a real route business and a real service business side by side, consider keeping both tools rather than forcing one to do work it wasn't built for.

The whole move on one page

1. Week -2

   Decide and export

   Confirm fit. Run every GorillaDesk export and copy your service prices into a spreadsheet. Start a TradesWork trial and request your phone port.

2. Week -1

   Sandbox import

   Import customers and prices into a sandbox company. Fix leftover rows. Create membership plans and add your team.

3. Week 1

   One crew live

   Import into your real company. One crew books, works and invoices in TradesWork. Connect QuickBooks Online with a cut-over date.

4. Week 2

   Office and cards

   The office books new work in TradesWork. Send card links to customers billed soonest. Keep collecting old invoices in GorillaDesk.

5. Week 3

   Everyone

   Remaining crews move. Re-drop a fresh customer export to pick up changes.

6. Week 4

   Final exports and cut over

   Port shows done. Run aging, recurring invoices and material use one last time. Cancel or freeze GorillaDesk once every card customer has moved.

What moves, what stays, what you rebuild

GorillaDesk itself says imports from another system can't bring complete past service or billing history.¹ The same limit applies in this direction.

Our GorillaDesk export guide shows every click path. In short:

• Customers: Customers tab, Action, Export.³
• Reports: Invoices, Payments, Credits, Accounts Aging, Recurring Invoices, New Jobs, Estimates, Documents, Material Use and Device Tracking, each exported to Excel or CSV from the upper right.⁴
• Price list: we didn't find a documented export for service templates. Copy names and prices into a spreadsheet.

Bring it into TradesWork

Open Settings › Integrations and go to the import page. You need the Owner or Admin role. GorillaDesk isn't one of the named sources, so you use Another system or a spreadsheet, which takes a customer list and a price list. Here's the whole flow on real screens.

1Choose Another system or a spreadsheet2Confirm what each file is3Match the columns4Import into a sandbox first5Fix the rows that didn't import

1. Choose Another system or a spreadsheet

The source buttons sit across the top of the import page; press Another system or a spreadsheet. Drop CSV, Excel or a ZIP, up to 50 MB per drop. TradesWork never logs in to GorillaDesk.

app.tradeswork.app · TradesWork importer with another system or a spreadsheet selected

Real TradesWork screen, sample export files.BackNext step

What makes the GorillaDesk files go in cleanly:

• Two addresses. GorillaDesk keeps service and billing addresses.¹ TradesWork may match a "billing address" column to Street on its own, because it's one of the names it recognizes. Change the match to the service address, and keep the billing address in notes if it's different.
• Multi-unit properties. One row becomes one customer with one service location. Check how multi-unit customers came across and tidy them by hand.
• Names. A full-name column or first and last name columns both work. A company name with no person name comes in as a commercial customer.
• Prices. "$85.00" is fine. Text like "per sq ft" isn't an amount and lands on the leftovers list.

app.tradeswork.app · Customer list

What you set up by hand

• Memberships. Use your Recurring Invoices and subscription exports as the list. Create the plan types you sell, enroll each recurring customer with their next visit date, and set the first TradesWork billing date after their last GorillaDesk charge so nobody pays twice.
• Equipment. For HVAC and plumbing customers, add the units you service most. Techs add the rest as they visit.
• Automations. List the GorillaDesk triggers you rely on (reminders, follow-ups, review requests) and turn on the TradesWork equivalents.
• Forms and checklists your techs fill in on site.
• Your team. Office staff are free seats in TradesWork.

The side-by-side run, and re-importing newer exports

Put one crew on TradesWork Field for a week while the office keeps booking in GorillaDesk. When that crew's week looks normal, move the office, then everyone else. Keep invoicing old jobs in GorillaDesk until they're paid so your aging stays clean in one place.

During the run, re-export the customer list and drop it into TradesWork again. Customers are matched by an ID column if your file has one, or by name and address, so a re-drop updates what's there instead of duplicating it. Re-drops add and update; they never delete. If a name or address changed between exports, check for a duplicate.

Payments, phones and QuickBooks

Cards. GorillaDesk integrates with Stripe and Square.¹ Card details live with the processor, so they don't come across in a file. Leave GorillaDesk billing on for each customer until they save a card through the TradesWork link you send, then turn it off for that customer. Start with the customers billed soonest.

Phones. If your number forwards through GorillaDesk's texting line ($5 a month for a local number that forwards to your main line¹), check with GorillaDesk what happens to it. Your main business number moves by porting: in TradesWork go to Settings › Phones › Numbers, Routing and Texting and choose Bring your numbers. Ports take one to two weeks. Keep the old service until the port shows done.

QuickBooks Online. Connect the same company and set a cut-over date. Only invoices and payments created in TradesWork after that date post; imported customers post nothing. Turn off GorillaDesk's accounting sync, if you use one, on the same day.

Cancel or freeze

GorillaDesk's monthly plans can be cancelled at any time without penalty, accounts can be frozen for a seasonal break, and annual plans are billed in full at the start.¹ If you're on annual, line your switch up with the renewal. GorillaDesk doesn't publish how long it keeps data after you cancel, so ask support in writing and save the reply before you do.

What switching really costs

The comparison that matters isn't the overlap month. TradesWork costs more every month than GorillaDesk does. That only makes sense if memberships, replacement sales and equipment records earn it back.

Next steps

Read the side-by-side in TradesWork vs GorillaDesk before you commit. If you're coming from a bigger platform instead, our ServiceTitan migration plan shows how a dedicated importer handles history.