Import Clients from Contacts or a CSV
Every row is matched against your existing Clients first. The review says what will be created, updated or flagged before anything is written.
Before you start
A returning Client should keep one Stripe Customer. Everything they have ever been invoiced, paid and subscribed to hangs off that one record, so creating a second one for somebody you already have splits their history permanently.
That is what the review exists to prevent. Pippin matches by exact email first — one email is one billing identity — then by name, and asks you about anything close rather than deciding for you.
Every row gets a verdict:
| Verdict | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ready | New, and complete. It will be created. |
| Similar | Looks like an existing Client, but not certainly. You decide. |
| Duplicate | Already a Client. Nothing to do. |
| Archived | Already a Client, and put away. Restore rather than re-create. |
| Person | Looks like an individual at a Client rather than the Client. |
| No email | Cannot be billed and cannot be matched to a device. |
| No name | Nothing to call it, so it cannot be created. |
Steps
- Open Sales › Clients and choose Import, or press ⌘K and type “import clients”.
- Drop a CSV or a vCard export. Map the columns if the headers are not obvious.
- Work down the list. Resolve each Similar row: pick the existing Client, or confirm it is new.
- Check the button. It names the exact count, and the count is what will happen.
- Import.
- Choose File › Import › Clients from Contacts or a CSV…
- Choose a CSV or vCard file, or drag one in — a spreadsheet export, or a card file from Contacts.
- Map the columns, resolve anything marked Similar, and import.
Good to know
Archived is not the same as absent. It means this Client already exists and has been put away. Importing it as new hands a returning Client a second Stripe Customer and strands every earlier Invoice, Payment and saved card on a record nothing joins. Restore it instead.
A row flagged Person is a guess, and Pippin shows its reasoning — “domain matches Northwind”, “looks like a home user”, or plainly “can’t tell — pick one”. A guess that hides its reasoning reads as knowledge, which is how the wrong record gets created.
A name that matches two of your Clients is refused rather than resolved by coin toss.