Switching from SimplePractice should not mean starting over. The Import from SimplePractice wizard reads the export SimplePractice gives you and files every client, note, document, invoice and message in the right place in FrontDesk, with its original date.
Before you start: export from SimplePractice
Run these in SimplePractice first. The Complete export is the one that matters most; the three reports fill in details the export leaves out.
| File | Where to get it | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Complete export (zip) | Settings → Practice → Data export → Start export. Choose All clients in the practice (or one clinician), type Complete, untick Require a password to open file, click Export. When the email arrives, download the zip from the same screen. | Contacts, medical records, psychotherapy notes, administrative notes, billing documents, secure messages and stored documents for every client. |
| Client details (CSV) | Analytics → Reports → Client details. Set the status filter to include inactive clients, then More → Include Contacts, then Export → CSV. | Status, contacts and emergency contacts for each client. |
| Client demographics (CSV) | Analytics → Reports → Client demographics → Export CSV (Essential and Plus plans). | Dates of birth. This is the only report that has them. |
| Appointment status (CSV) | Analytics → Reports → Appointment status. Pick the widest date range, then More → Include Documentation and Include Insurance, then Export CSV. | Past appointments with their status, documentation and insurance. |
Three things to know before you click Export:
- Download links expire after one week. If the link has stopped working, start a new export.
- Do not password-protect the zip. A password-protected export is rejected at upload.
- Future appointments cannot be exported from SimplePractice. The Appointment status report only holds past visits. Re-enter upcoming appointments on the FrontDesk calendar, or bring them in through a calendar feed.
Turn it on
- Open Settings → Integrations and find the SimplePractice card.
- Enable it.
Once it is on, Patients → ⋯ → Import from SimplePractice appears for that location.
Run the import
Open Patients, click the ⋯ menu and choose Import from SimplePractice. The wizard has three steps.
- Upload. Drop the Complete export zip in, plus the report CSVs. Add the Client demographics CSV here if you want dates of birth filled in.
- Review. Tick which categories to bring in. For each client, confirm how they match: New creates a record, Skip leaves them out, or pick an existing patient. Clients are matched by name, then confirmed with date of birth, phone and email; when more than one record could be the match, the wizard asks you to choose. Then map each SimplePractice clinician name to a FrontDesk provider so notes and appointments land under the right person.
- Import. Watch the progress, then read the results summary. Anything that could not be imported is listed there with the reason.
You can run the wizard again with the same files or a newer export. Nothing already brought in is created twice.
What lands where
The Complete export has seven folders. Each one goes to a specific place on the patient record:
| SimplePractice folder | Where it goes in FrontDesk |
|---|---|
| Contacts (vCards) | The client's phone and email. |
| Medical Records | Progress notes become signed, read-only clinical notes dated when they were written, with the original PDF attached. Questionnaires and treatment plans become chart documents. |
| Psychotherapy Notes | The separate psychotherapy note store: author-only, never in the portal, never in an export or a records release. |
| Administrative | The client's administrative note banner. An existing banner is kept unless you choose to overwrite it. |
| Billing Documents | Invoices, superbills and statements, filed as billing documents. No balances are recalculated from them. |
| Secure messages | The client's secure message thread, with the original dates. |
| Stored Documents | Signed consents and uploads, filed on the Documents tab. |
Everything the wizard creates is marked as coming from SimplePractice, so you can always tell an imported note or file from one written in FrontDesk.
Sharing an upload with FrontDesk support
If something in the review step looks wrong and you want us to look at the actual files, turn on Share this upload with FrontDesk support on the review or results screen and add a short note. Nothing is shared until you switch it on. Sharing keeps the files you uploaded on our server for 7 days so a FrontDesk support engineer can download them; every view and download is recorded in your PHI access log. You can switch it off at any time, and the files are deleted as soon as the import has finished. Without sharing, uploaded files are deleted the moment the job ends.
After the import
- Enter outstanding balances by hand. Imported invoices and statements are documents, not charges. Add what is owed on the client's Billing tab.
- Re-enter upcoming appointments, or connect a calendar feed so SimplePractice visits block availability until the move is finished.
- Share documents when you are ready. Imported files are private to staff until you tick Make this visible to the client in their portal on the Documents tab.
- Check what prints on documents. The practice logo, NPI and tax ID on new invoices and superbills come from Settings → Organization and Settings → Client Portal.
- Skim the administrative banners on a few profiles to confirm the notes landed where you expected.
Nothing changes in SimplePractice. The import only reads the files you exported. Keep your SimplePractice account open until you have checked that everything arrived.