Migrations: What can and can't be migrated in Smokeball's data migration services?

This offering is available for select firms only. Reach out to your Client Success Manager to learn more.

Learn about the different types of data that our data migration team can and can't migrate to Smokeball from your current or legacy system.

Data we can migrate

Data type Details
Staff
  • First name
  • Surname
  • Email address
  • Status (active or inactive)
  • Salutation

Ensure all staff in your current system have an email address.

Contacts
  • Name
  • Addresses
  • Phone numbers
  • Email addresses
  • Notes
  • Tags

Clean up duplicate contacts in legacy system as best you can prior to data collections. The Smokeball Migrations team imports the data as is from Legacy system. 

Matters

  • Matter number/ Internal Reference Number
  • Matter description
  • Matter Type
  • Client
  • Debtor
  • Other side 
  • Other side Attorney 
  • Open debtors balance
  • Person Assisting
  • Person Responsible
  • Originating Attorney
  • Status
  • Open Date / Closed Date 
    • You can choose to migrate only open matters or all matters. Note that Smokeball classifies matters as pending, open, closed, cancelled, deleted.  

Your data migration specialist will assist you to map matter types from your current system to the matter types in Smokeball. Any matter types not mapped will default to General and have to be manually changed in Smokeball after going live.

Matter Relationships

Parties or contacts attached to a matter.

  • Client
  • Other side
  • Other side Attorney
  • All other parties (migrated as "additional contact")
    • If these are used for populating documents, you'll need to re-select these contacts into the correct fields in Smokeball.
Billing
  • Fee and expense entries
    • WIP
    • Open time entries

Historical entries or entries already invoiced will be migrated if they are saved within the documents for migration. Only unbilled items will be migrated.

  • Invoices (AR)
    • Unpaid
    • Part-paid

  • Staff Billing rates (migrated if they are easily extracted from the current system. Your Onboarding specialist can show you how to create Rate Sets, and then apply these post-migration) 
  • Opening Trust / Operating Balances
Tasks and events Generally migrated, depending on complexity in current system. May have duplicate events if using Outlook Sync. Please specify this data type with your Migration Specialist.
Documents

Will be migrated. We will also investigate whether this includes metadata from your current system.

Note: Your documents need a unique matter ID/reference in order to map the document folder to the Smokeball matter. This will be further explained in the Data Review meeting with your data migration specialist.

Memos

Similar to notes stored on a matter.

Matter Tags

Matter labels that are used to classify a matter. We will investigate if your current system has an equivalent and whether these can be migrated. 

Communications

Migrating communications is dependent on your current system. If we're able to generate a report in relation to communications we may be able to migrate them as a memo, or document file. 

Emails

Migrating emails is dependent on your current system. If we're able to generate a report in relation to emails we may be able to migrate them as a memo or document file. (Or if in the Database, they must be in msg. eml. file)

 

Data we do not migrate

Our data migration specialist will set expectations with your firm around what won't be migrated. In general, we will not migrate the following:

  • Custom fields on contacts, clients and matters (if not discussed in Scope of work)
  • Matter case detail information 

  • Paid invoices

  • Invoice transaction history

  • Trust balances/history

  • Accounts Payable

  • General Ledger

We will also not remove duplicate records such as duplicate contacts.

Open Invoices Options for ProStart: 

There are two approaches available for migrating open invoices to Smokeball. Please let your Migration Specialist know which approach you will choose for your firm:
1. Aggregate approach:
 Combine all outstanding fees and expenses into a single summarized total per invoice. (Recommended for ease) 
2. Itemized approach:
 Bring over each fee and expense as individual line items. 
Please note that write-offs, discounts, credits, or any other adjustments that reduce the total invoice amount cannot be included in the migration. (which is not an issue for the aggregated approach because it is a lump sum total) 
 If you choose the itemized approach, these adjustments will need to be manually applied after migration. We can provide a list of all affected items to assist with this process.
The time required for these manual adjustments will vary depending on the number of write-offs, discounts, or credits — it could take as little as an hour or, in some cases, several hours.
Please let your Migration Specialist know which approach you will choose for your firm:
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