PSA Data Export guide
Export Autotask tickets, contacts and business data
Prepare Autotask ticket and contact exports, preserve identifiers, and check notes, attachments and record scope before a platform move.
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Choose the native export
For organizations, contacts and tickets, Autotask offers Export > In Import Template Format in the corresponding search screens. Use this route for a native round trip, keeping IDs intact. Billing has a separate XML/CSV export workflow. See Importing or updating data.
Prepare a usable archive
Retain ticket notes, time entries and attachment files as separate inventory items. Match company, ticket and resource identifiers before joining these records. Related official guidance: Billing.
Build the export inventory
| Record group | What makes it usable later |
|---|---|
| Tickets and ticket notes | Source ticket ID, client/requester, status, dates and custom fields; join notes and files by parent ID |
| Companies and contacts | Source person/company IDs, names, email and parent organization/site; preserve inactive and duplicate-name mappings |
| Time entries | Technician ID, ticket/customer link, work date, duration units, billable status and source entry ID |
| Contracts and billing records | Customer and contract/plan IDs, effective dates, renewal terms, rates and linked services; preserve source status |
Validate formats and attachments
Open CSV or spreadsheet output with dates and identifiers intact. Validate JSON pagination and error handling. Download and verify file contents as well as metadata while authenticated or time-limited URLs remain accessible.
Prepare for migration
Count records by type and year, sample the oldest and most complex items, save field dictionaries, and document missing modules. Use the PSA migration checklist before cancellation.
Keep the source history useful
Store the original export, field definitions, file manifest and validation results together. Follow the source archive planning use case and keep the archive readable after cutover.
Separate invoice XML from billing transactions
Autotask’s billing export workflow and generic invoice XML export serve different jobs. Invoice XML represents invoices; the billing wizard supports transaction CSV/Sage XML. Keep export history, customer identifiers, currency and reporting period with the files. Reconcile an invoice’s line items and related time against the selected billing output instead of assuming interchangeable formats.
Export ticket and contact CSV templates
Autotask's Importing or updating data documents these paths:
| Records | Native route |
|---|---|
| Tickets | Service Desk > Search > Tickets > Export > In Import Template Format |
| Contacts | CRM > Search > Contacts > Export > In Import Template Format |
| Organizations | CRM > Search > Organizations > Export > In Import Template Format |
Retain the original identifiers and headers. If preparing a round trip, follow the Autotask import guide for update restrictions.
Check which tickets your export includes
Record the search criteria, visible account scope and export time. Compare counts by customer, status and year against the intended set. Include old closed tickets in the sample, and inventory notes, time entries and attachment files independently. Resolve omissions before calling the result an all-ticket export.
Work with CSV in Excel
An import-template CSV opened in Excel remains a CSV workflow. Preserve identifiers as text and verify delimiters, dates and encoding before saving a working copy. Keep the untouched export. For a separate report or grid export, use the formats actually offered by that screen and record its column and filter selection.
Does exporting all ticket rows capture all Autotask data?
A complete ticket-row selection is only one part of the archive. Reconcile notes, time entries, files and other business modules against the inventory below. Keep a record of which extraction method produced each file and which relationships have been checked.
Plan an all-data export by module
| Record family | Capture decision | Acceptance check |
|---|---|---|
| Tickets, organizations and contacts | Native template exports for the selected scope | Counts, identifiers and people relationships |
| Notes, time and files | Separate documented extraction for child records | Parent IDs, visibility, dates and readable files |
| Billing | Selected invoice or transaction workflow | Period, currency and financial reconciliation |
| Knowledge base | Define article, category, media and version requirements | Readability, access and completeness of the agreed set |
Give knowledge-base and contract data their own extraction owners. A ticket template is evidence for that entity's output, not for every module. Keep outstanding extraction decisions in the migration inventory before cancelling source access.
Plan your independent PSA archive
Keep source history available after your move. Join the waitlist for invitation-only BackupPSA access, or contact us about your platform.