Exporting your data to CSV: what you get and how to use it

A CSV export gives you one file per record type, such as customers or invoices, with one row per record and a header row naming the columns. Open it in a spreadsheet, hand it to your accountant, or keep it as a copy of your data outside the tool.

Being able to get your data out is as important as getting it in. It is how you answer questions your software has no report for, how your accountant gets what they need, and how you stay free to change tools later. Our guide to data portability covers the questions to ask any vendor; this one covers the file itself.

What a CSV export contains

Part	What it is	What to check
Header row	The name of each column	That every field you need is there
One row per record	A customer, an invoice, a payment	That the row count matches what you expect
IDs	The record's own identifier	That related files can be joined on it
Reference values	Status, type, category	Whether they come out as names or as codes

Related records usually come as separate files: invoices in one, invoice lines in another, linked by the invoice's ID. That is normal, and it is what makes the export reusable.

What to use an export for

• Your accountant. If your invoicing tool is not your accounting system, a CSV of invoices and payments is the usual handover. Our guide to invoicing software vs accounting software explains where one ends and the other begins.
• Your own analysis. Revenue per customer, unpaid invoices by age, payments per month: a pivot table answers many questions faster than waiting for a new report.
• A backup you control. A monthly export stored somewhere outside the tool is cheap insurance.
• Leaving. Before you cancel any subscription, export everything you may need to keep. Our checklist for switching business software covers the timing.

Opening a CSV without damaging it

1. Work on a copy. Keep the original file untouched.
2. Import, don't double-click. Most spreadsheet apps can import a CSV and let you set each column's type. Set IDs, postal codes and phone numbers to text, or their leading zeros disappear.
3. Watch dates and decimals. A spreadsheet set to another region may read day and month the other way round, or treat a decimal point as a thousands separator.
4. Leave the CSV as it was. For analysis, save your work in the spreadsheet's own format, so the original export stays a faithful copy.

Make exports a routine

An export you made once, two years ago, is not much help. Pick a rhythm that fits how you work, such as the last working day of each month, and export the same record types each time. Name the files with the date and the record type, keep them in one folder outside the tool, and open one now and then to make sure it still reads correctly. That way, the day you need your data in another place, it is already there.

Exporting from Swiftly Workspace

In Swiftly Workspace, export runs as a session, and these steps are for the Mac:

1. In the sidebar, click Administration, then Data Export. Your export sessions open in a window of their own.
2. Click + (New Session). A New Export window opens.
3. Under Entities, tick the record type you want, for example Customer. Tick one per session: Download saves the file of the record type you ticked.
4. In the toolbar, the format is CSV. Leave the mode on Data for the rows; Template gives you the header row alone.
5. Click Generate. The file is built on the server, and the session moves to Finished.
6. Click Download and choose where to save the file.

You can export customers with their addresses and contacts, vendors with theirs, items, customer and vendor documents with their lines, customer and vendor payments, and projects with their phases, work packages and tasks. A few things worth knowing about the file:

• It opens cleanly. The file is a standard comma-separated CSV in UTF-8 with a byte-order mark, so spreadsheet apps show accented names correctly.
• It reads like the app. The header row uses readable names such as Business Name, and reference values such as a status or a type come out as their names, not internal codes.
• It respects permissions. For customers, their addresses and contacts, and items, the file leaves out any field your role is not allowed to read.
• CSV out, CSV or XLSX in. Export produces CSV; import accepts CSV or XLSX. Preparing a file to bring data in is covered in preparing a CSV for import.

A click-by-click walkthrough with every screen is in how to export data on Mac.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a CSV export and a backup?

A CSV export is a readable copy of your records that you can open and reuse anywhere. A backup is usually the vendor's internal copy for restoring their system. Keep your own exports even if the vendor makes backups.

Why do invoices and invoice lines come as separate files?

An invoice has one row of header details but many lines. Keeping them in two files, linked by the invoice's ID, avoids repeating the header on every line and keeps both files easy to filter.

How often should a small business export its data?

Monthly is a sensible default, timed with your accountant's handover, plus once before any big change such as a migration or a cancellation.