If you're switching to Cliniko from Timely, then here are the details you’ll need in order to transfer your data into your Cliniko account!
Please note that this data transfer service is a process that we will work on with you—not something that you'll need to do yourself. Please don't import spreadsheets or manually add any information into your Cliniko account before the transfer, as duplication will result when your data is transferred across from Timely.
The very first step is booking your transfer date! We sometimes book months in advance, so we strongly recommend you book as soon as you can to avoid further delays:
Once you've done that, please read through the guide below. It's important to review each section thoroughly, as it outlines your role in the transfer, and what we do for you.
The guide is broken into the following sections:
Getting familiar with Cliniko
For a smooth transition, please ensure that your team has had an opportunity to play around with Cliniko and are familiar with it. The trial is unrestricted, so all features are available to set up and become familiar with. You can change your subscription level as required while trialling, which will let you add more practitioners!
In case it's useful, these training guides might come in handy:
All of our support articles and guides can be found on our help site, too! You can quickly search for anything you’d like help with right here.
All users are encouraged to contact our support team with any questions. We're easiest reached from within Cliniko by clicking Help on the blue sidebar, and clicking Chat with us! If you'd prefer email, you can reach us at support@cliniko.com.
Exporting data from Timely
To obtain the data to import into Cliniko, you’ll need to request an account data export from Timely support.
You can access Timely's help centre at https://help.gettimely.com/hc
Timely also has a guide detailing how this data will be sent to you:
https://help.gettimely.com/hc/en-gb/articles/20753162121239-Receiving-data-from-Timely
Note that any data entered into Timely after this export is generated will not be transferred to Cliniko, as it won't be included in the exported data. This data will need to be noted and manually entered into Cliniko after the transfer has been completed.
Once you have your exported data, please share the download link Timely provided you with the Cliniko support team. Contact us if you need help with this.
At a minimum, please have your data exported by the day before your scheduled transfer, so that we have time to download it. It's important to have all these steps completed prior to the transfer, as we still require time on the day of transfer to load and prepare your data in our system to then be imported into your Cliniko account.
🚨 IMPORTANT: If you have more than 10 years or 10,000 patients of data to transfer, please let us know. This is absolutely fine, but the transfer may take more than a day, and extra allowances will need to be made for this volume of data.
Setting up your Cliniko account
There's a bit of setup required in Cliniko prior to the transfer. These are things that we can't necessarily determine or transfer from Timely, or settings that are specific to Cliniko.
Please ensure the following things are set up as soon as possible:
All required users and practitioners are created,
All sites/locations of your business are set up as Cliniko business locations,
Your time zones have been set correctly (to ensure that appointments get transferred to the right spots), and
Mobile phone numbers have been added to the admin user's account so that we can authenticate prior to transfer.
Other items that are not required prior to transfer, but are not transferred and will need to be set up manually are:
Creating treatment note templates,
Creating letter templates
Past practitioners
Note that when we transfer appointments, we will need a practitioner assigned to the appointment. This is a little complicated for instances where the practitioner is no longer with you and therefore not in Cliniko. In these cases, please let us know whether you would prefer to assign the appointments to:
A generic ‘Former practitioner’ that you create in Cliniko,
Another active practitioner in Cliniko, or
Exclude them entirely.
Alternatively, you may create all your specific members of staff (past and present) in Cliniko, and we’ll assign all appointments correctly. You can set those former practitioners as inactive, as your Cliniko subscription price is based on the total number of active practitioners.
What do we transfer?
Note that no data is removed from Timely in the transfer process. Data is exported and copied to your Cliniko account. The types of data that are transferred are not customisable.
Transfer to Cliniko will include the following from your Timely exports, and will appear as described in Cliniko:
Patients
Bookings (appointments in Cliniko)
Appointment types
Products
Services (billable items in Cliniko)
Customer notes (treatment notes in Cliniko)
Transfers can take anywhere from a few hours to a day, depending on the volume of data being transferred.
Prior to the data transfer, please avoid creating any patients or appointment types.
We will import all of these as part of the Timely data transfer. If that data is already in Cliniko, it will be duplicated.
What don’t we transfer?
Unfortunately, all financial details are excluded from transfer. There is not a way to import financial data into Cliniko. This includes:
Invoices
Payments
Account credits
Appointment invoice/payment statuses
If you'd like to record prior payment history or outstanding debts in Cliniko, you can create an opening balance for those patients. This is not considered revenue and will not affect Cliniko's reporting.
In addition, the following items cannot be transferred, and must be set up manually where needed:
Users and practitioners, practitioner reference numbers
Businesses locations and settings
Contacts
Uploaded patient files, documents, or letters
Expenses and stock sales
3rd party app integrations
Communication records
Waitlist data
Existing reports
Letters and letter templates
Information that we'll need from you
When you book a transfer date, you'll be sent a confirmation email which includes a link to a secure electronic form. This form is where the below information is collected from you. If you miss the confirmation email, another link to the same form will be sent in a reminder email closer to your transfer date. Please let us know if you do not receive these emails.
The following is a question in the form we need answered to accurately transfer data into Cliniko. If you are unsure of the answer, please seek clarification.
Do you have any practitioners in Timely who are inactive?
If so, we will need to determine what to do with appointments assigned to them. There are a couple of options here:
We can leave those appointments behind and not transfer them into Cliniko.
You can create all your inactive practitioners in Cliniko, and we can assign appointments to the correct practitioner. You can make these practitioners inactive in Cliniko prior to transfer, so they do not contribute to your subscription plan.
You can elect one or more other practitioners in Cliniko to assign those appointments to (e.g. use an existing practitioner, or create one practitioner named “Old Timely practitioner”, or similar). You'll just need to tell us which practitioner/s in Timely you want mapped to which practitioner/s in Cliniko.
Accessing your Cliniko account
In order to access your new Cliniko account and import your data, we’ll need your Cliniko URL and an API key. When you book a transfer date, you'll be sent a confirmation email which includes a link to a secure electronic form. This form is where this information is collected from you. If you miss the confirmation email, another link to the same form will be sent in a reminder email closer to your transfer date. Please let us know if you do not receive these emails.
Cliniko URL
Your URL can be found in your browser address bar when you're logged in to Cliniko, and will look something like https://your-clinic.au4.cliniko.com. This is required so that we may be sure we’re transferring data to the correct account.
Cliniko API key
Please log in to your Cliniko account to generate the API key. You'll need to be logged in as an administrative user who is also a practitioner so that the API key generated has the required data access permissions. Please also see our guide on generating a Cliniko API key.
To have the correct permissions, the API key must belong to a user who is also a practitioner. Please do not give us an API key for an administrator that is not also a practitioner.
Your API keys are like passwords, and must be handled with care. It's very important that this information is transmitted to us securely. When you book a transfer date, you'll be sent a confirmation email which includes a link to a secure electronic form. This form is where you can safely communicate your API keys and other information to us. If you miss the confirmation email, another link to the same form will be sent in a reminder email closer to your transfer date. Please let us know if you do not receive these emails.
Administrator mobile numbers
We’ll also need to do some verification of an account administrator to get the final go-ahead to access the account and load data, so please ensure a mobile numbers are included in user's profiles so we can send a verification code to the required user.
On the day of the transfer
As a reminder, your transfer into Cliniko cannot start until your Timely export has been prepared and shared with us. If this process is only able to start on the morning of transfer, your actual transfer may not commence until much later in the day. Please schedule your Timely data export at least one day prior to your transfer.
Please ensure you are contactable on the day of the transfer. While we shouldn’t need to hassle you much on that day, we may need to contact you if some of the required information or set up is incomplete. If we can’t get in touch with you, we can wait, but this may result in your transfer being delayed.
Transfers are usually performed between 8am and 3pm AEDT, Mon-Fri. We’ll get started on the morning of your booking and let you know when we are done. If it looks like things will take longer than the booked day, we’ll be sure to reach out and keep you informed of the progress.
When the transfer is completed, you’ll be able to use your data within Cliniko immediately.
If there’s anything you’d like to confirm or discuss prior to transfer, please do let us know - we’re here to help!
The final checklist
Having all of this done before the transfer takes place is super important. Please be sure that each item on these lists has been checked off prior to your transfer date!
Please be sure that you have completed the following:
The transfer date has been booked
Timely data export booked
Timely data export provided and a share link given to the Cliniko team
Completed the secure form to give us your Cliniko URL and API key (see instructions), and answers to questions (see questions)
On the Cliniko side of things:
[Required] Practitioners have been created, both active and inactive (see guide)
[Strongly recommended] All administrator user accounts have mobile numbers
[Required] Business locations have been created, both active and inactive (see guide)
[Required] You have added a payment method to your Cliniko subscription, to lift the file upload limitation (see guide)
After transfer, these items will need attending to:
Ensure any additional appointments types are created (see guide) or imported appointment types are adjusted as required
Set practitioners as providers of appointment types (see guide)
Create treatment note templates (see guide)
Create letter templates (see guide)
Create billable items (see guide)
Relate billable items to appointment types (see guide)
Relate treatment note templates to appointment types (see guide)
We know that transferring from another system is a big deal, and we want to help make the process as easy as possible for you. If you have any questions on anything at all, please reach out to us. We're always available to help!