How to migrate from ServiceTrade to TradesWork: who should, and how

Most ServiceTrade customers shouldn't move to TradesWork, and we'd rather say so up front. ServiceTrade is built for commercial service, with inspections, deficiency capture, compliance reporting, a customer service portal and accounting integrations through systems like Vista and Spectrum.¹² TradesWork has none of the inspection or portal pieces and works with QuickBooks Online only.

The shop this guide is for: residential-first HVAC, plumbing or electrical, a handful of commercial accounts on POs and monthly invoices, and a ServiceTrade subscription that does more commercial work than the business does. For that shop, here's an honest plan, with the import shown on real TradesWork screens. ServiceTrade facts come from its own site and MSA, checked October 15, 2026.

Is TradesWork the right destination?

If any of the first four rows are part of your week, compare commercial platforms instead, starting with TradesWork vs ServiceTrade and TradesWork vs BuildOps, which say the same thing.

The whole move on one page

1. Week -2

   Fit check, dates, export request

   Confirm TradesWork fits. Diary the notice deadline and the 30-day download window. Export job lists and send the written request.

2. Week -1

   Sandbox import

   Companies, locations and prices into a sandbox company. Check every commercial site. Request phone ports.

3. Weeks 1–2

   Rebuild and pilot

   Import into your real company. Terms, service agreements and memberships set up. One residential crew live.

4. Week 3

   Office and payments

   Office books residential work in TradesWork. Payment re-collection starts. QuickBooks cut-over date set.

5. Weeks 4–6

   Commercial accounts

   Agreements tested on real visits, then commercial accounts move.

6. 30+ days before term end

   Non-renewal notice

   Written, per §11.a of the MSA. Keep proof of delivery.

7. Within 30 days after

   Download the rest

   Inspection reports, deficiencies and anything else, inside the §11.c window.

What moves, what stays, what you rebuild

ServiceTrade's own integration guide shows the job list path: search the job list, then Export to Spreadsheet, Jobs.³ Its help center requires a login, so for everything else, ask support in writing which screens export what. Our ServiceTrade export guide illustrates the job export and has the full request list.

Bring it into TradesWork

Start a 14-day TradesWork trial with no card. Open Settings, Integrations and go to the import page; you need the Owner or Admin role.

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 ServiceTrade.

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

Real TradesWork screen, sample export files.BackNext step

Two things matter more for a ServiceTrade file than for a homeowner list:

• Multi-site companies. One row per location is what you'll likely have. Check in the sandbox how each company's sites came across, and add any missing site by hand before you build agreements on them.
• Keep ServiceTrade's location IDs in a column of your spreadsheet. They're how you'll match an old job or inspection in your archive to a customer later.

What you set up by hand

• Commercial terms. Turn on PO required, set a not-to-exceed limit and net terms, and add billing and site contacts. Blocking invoices without a PO is off by default; turn it on if your customers need it.
• Service agreements. Pick the sites and covered equipment, PM visit plan, SLA response hours and billing cadence. Visits become jobs ahead of time, and billing consolidates to one invoice per customer per month. SLA tracking is a countdown on the job, not an escalation engine.
• Homeowner memberships. Plan types, member pricing and enrollment for residential customers.
• Assets. Add equipment for agreement sites first, from your requested asset file.

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

Move residential work first. Put one crew on TradesWork for two to four weeks while ServiceTrade runs everything else. Move commercial accounts once their agreements and terms have run cleanly on a few real visits.

If the office keeps adding companies or sites in ServiceTrade during the run, re-export and drop the file again. Customers are matched by the Customer ID column you mapped, or by name and address, so a re-drop updates rather than duplicates, and it never deletes anything.

Accounting, payments and phones

Accounting. TradesWork syncs with QuickBooks Online. If ServiceTrade syncs to QuickBooks Online today, pick a cut-over date: invoices before it are collected where they were billed, invoices after it come from TradesWork, and ServiceTrade's sync is turned off that day. Imported customers never post to accounting. If you're on Intacct, Dynamics 365, Acumatica, ComputerEase, Vista or Spectrum,¹ moving the books is its own project and probably rules TradesWork out.

Payments. Card and bank details stay with the processor. Send homeowners a secure link to save a card in TradesWork, and ask commercial payers to set up payment again.

Phones. Port business numbers from Settings, Phones, Numbers, Routing and Texting, Bring your numbers. Ports take one to two weeks; keep old service active until each port shows done.

Dates you can't miss

ServiceTrade's MSA renews automatically for one-year periods, with written non-renewal notice at least 30 days before the term ends (§11.a). After termination, your data is available for download for 30 days, then may be permanently deleted (§11.c).⁴ Put both dates in your calendar on day one.

What switching costs

The bottom line

For commercial service and fire protection contractors, ServiceTrade is the better tool and this move doesn't make sense. For a residential-first shop on QuickBooks Online whose commercial accounts need terms and agreements rather than inspections, TradesWork can be a simpler fit with published per-seat pricing. Check your case against the buyer's guide.