Migrating from Paymo
Move from Paymo to Hoursmith — run the built-in import, map your team, know what does and doesn't come across, and verify the result with reports.
Switching from Paymo doesn't mean starting over. Hoursmith has a built-in Paymo import that brings most of your data across using your Paymo API key. This page is the migration playbook: prepare, import, map your team, and check the result.
Who this is for
Teams and individuals moving off Paymo who want their clients, projects, time, and invoice history in Hoursmith without re-entering everything by hand. The import is run by an Owner or Admin and is free on every plan.
Before you start
Set up your Hoursmith workspace
Create your account and workspace first. Paymo's company settings only fill blank workspace fields, so anything you set now stays as-is. See Create your account and Set up your workspace.
Invite the team you'll map to
The import requires you to map every Paymo user to an existing Hoursmith member, and nobody is auto-invited. Invite your teammates first so they're there to map to. See Invite your team.
Have your Paymo API key ready
You'll paste your Paymo API key into the wizard. It's used for that run only and isn't stored, so keep it handy in case you import again.
Run the import
Follow the full walkthrough in Import from Paymo. In short: choose Paymo, paste your key, preview, map your team, then confirm and let it run.
Mapping your team is required — every Paymo user must map to a Hoursmith member before the import can finish. If someone's missing, invite them first. See Invite your team.
What comes across
| From Paymo | Comes into Hoursmith |
|---|---|
| Clients | Active and archived |
| Client contacts | Those with an email (contacts without one are skipped and reported) |
| Projects | With rate type mapped |
| Tasks | The Paymo task-list name becomes a tag |
| Time entries | Manual vs. timer is preserved |
| Invoices | As immutable snapshots |
What isn't imported
Plan to recreate these by hand after the import:
- expenses
- estimates
- file attachments
- comments
- currency override
- logo
- invoice number format
- Stripe / SMTP / PayPal credentials
- per-user preferences
That last group matters for getting paid and sending mail under your own name, so set those up fresh: Connect Stripe for card payments and Email settings for your own sending domain.
Verify the result
Once the import finishes, confirm everything landed:
Check the import summary
The import is recorded as a job with per-entity counts and any errors — for example, contacts skipped for a missing email. Review it so nothing slips by.
Spot-check with reports
Open Reports and sanity-check your hours and totals against what you expected from Paymo. Look at a couple of clients and projects to confirm time and invoices look right. See Clients and Projects.
Finish the setup
Recreate anything that didn't import, then connect Stripe and your email domain so you can send and get paid from Hoursmith.
If something looks off right after importing, an Owner can undo a recent import from the import job. See Import from Paymo for details.
Ready to migrate?
Start with Import from Paymo, or create your account and set up your workspace first.
Hoursmith for contractors
You've been invited as a Member. Here's what you can and can't see, how to track your time, work your assigned tasks, and stay in the loop.
Leaving spreadsheets behind
Move time tracking and billing out of a spreadsheet — bring your history in with a CSV import, then track live and invoice from one place.