Time Matters to Clio: how to migrate without leaving your documents behind
Clio's migration path moves your Time Matters contacts, matters, notes, calendars, and tasks. But read the official export instructions closely: they tell you to check a box that skips your documents. Here's what that means, and a practical playbook for closing the gap.
A Time Matters-to-Clio switch is really two migrations
Structured data rides the database backup. Documents are a separate problem — and this time, the exclusion is literally a checkbox.
Time Matters had a long run as one of the dominant case-management systems of the desktop era — the LexisNexis-era install running on an office server, backed by Microsoft SQL Server. Firms leaving it for Clio are usually trading a system they administer themselves for one they don't have to. The data inside is still good; it just lives in two very different places.
The first migration is the structured one: contacts, matters, notes, tasks, calendar events, and more, all living in the SQL database. Clio's migration path handles this via a database backup plus two front-end exports, and per Clio's data migration page, "Clio offers a complimentary data migration service for many common systems."
The second migration is documents. Here's the part worth reading twice: Clio's official Time Matters export instructions tell you to check a box labeled "Skip files in the Documents and Documents Index Directories" — and another to "Skip backing up of email attachments." In most migrations the document exclusion is a policy buried in scope documents. In a Time Matters migration, it's a checkbox you tick yourself.
That's not a trap — it's just the standard path being explicit. Documents can migrate through Clio (scoped separately, with fees based on volume), and as we'll see, that same backup dialog is also the start of a do-it-yourself document path. For the broader playbook beyond Time Matters, see our general guide to migrating to Clio.
What the standard Time Matters migration covers
Sourced from Clio's own migration documentation for Time Matters.
- ✓ Contacts and related contacts
- ✓ Matters
- ✓ Notes
- ✓ Tasks (To Dos)
- ✓ Calendar events
- ✓ Phone and email communications
- ✓ Unbilled time and expense entries
- ✓ Outstanding balances (a single summative line item per matter at time of export)
Clio notes that email and phone communications and outstanding balances depend on the quality of your data — confirm with your migrations contact.
Documents. Per Clio's data migration overview, documents can migrate "subject to scoping and additional fees based on volume." They're not in the standard package — which is exactly why the backup instructions tell you to skip the Documents directories.
Not migratable at all, per the same overview: accounting and financial history (trust transactions, invoices, billed time entries, bill payments, historical bills), billable rates, reports, user permissions, and settings.
We'll cover three realistic ways to handle the document side below.
What the Time Matters export actually involves
A database backup, two front-end reports, and one dialog that decides your documents' fate.
The database backup. In Time Matters, you go to File > Backup Time Matters Data, verify the Shared Files Backup location, and — per Clio's instructions for the standard migration — check the boxes for Skip files in the Documents and Documents Index Directories and Skip backing up of email attachments, then run the backup.
The two-location split. This is where firms get confused, so here's Clio's article verbatim: "Only documents and email attachments are backed up to this location. The SQL database is backed up to the default backup location for the Microsoft SQL Server..." In other words, the location you pick in the dialog is for files; the structured data lands wherever SQL Server keeps its backups — typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.XX\MSSQL\Backup or the Program Files (x86) equivalent. Check both places before declaring the backup done.
The front-end reports. Alongside the database backup, you export Contacts and Matters via File > Export > Custom Export as comma-delimited files (Clio suggests a c:\Clio Export folder). Doing this requires temporarily unchecking Activate Security Features under File > Setup > User and Security > Security Settings — and re-checking it afterward. Per Clio: "only the Contacts and Matters front-end reports are exported along with the Time Matters database backup." The article documents similar exports for calendar, tasks, notes, and billing, but those are a workaround for when a database backup isn't possible — not part of the typical flow.
The flip side of the skip checkbox. The same dialog that skips your documents can also back them up: leave those two boxes unchecked and the Documents directories and email attachments are backed up to the Shared Files Backup location. Either way, your Time Matters documents exist as ordinary files and folders on the server — which is precisely what makes the do-it-yourself document path workable.
Three realistic paths for your historical documents
Pick the one that matches your document volume, budget, and appetite for doing the work yourself.
Clio's paid document scoping
Ask your Clio onboarding rep to scope a document migration. Per Clio's overview, documents can migrate subject to scoping and additional fees based on volume — pricing is per-firm, not published.
BEST FOR
- • Firms already using Clio's assisted migration
- • One vendor handling everything
- • Volumes worth a scoping call
Fee scales with volume; get the quote before committing.
Third-party paid migrator
Specialists like Universal Migrator handle Time Matters-to-Clio as a standard route, including documents, with matter-linking preserved.
BEST FOR
- • Large or messy document libraries
- • Fragile or undocumented installs
- • Firms that want it done by someone else
Typically a four-figure engagement, priced by volume.
Back up the files yourself + bulk-upload
Run the backup with the skip boxes unchecked — or go straight to the Documents directories on your server. Then bulk-upload each matter folder to Clio with a tool like Send to Case.
BEST FOR
- • Documents already organized by client or matter
- • Small to mid-size libraries
- • Keeping migration spend near zero
No per-GB fees, no scoping calls — but you do the work.
Pre-cutover checklist + six-step playbook
A scannable plan, in order, with the document path baked in.
Pre-cutover checklist
- ☐ Contact Clio about your migration. Confirm what's in scope for a Time Matters move and whether you'll use self-serve tools or the assisted path.
- ☐ Decide your document path (Clio paid scoping, third-party migrator, or DIY backup + bulk-upload) before kickoff — it changes which boxes you check in the backup dialog.
- ☐ Confirm server access. The backup and exports run on the machine where Time Matters and SQL Server live. Line up whoever has admin access — often your IT person.
- ☐ Export historical billing reports. Accounting and financial history doesn't migrate, so pull any billing or trust reports you'll need for reference before you stop using Time Matters.
- ☐ Communicate with your team. Cutover dates, where to log time during the gap, and — critically — that Time Matters is frozen the moment the export runs.
The six-step playbook
Contact Clio about your migration
Clio's migration service is complimentary for many common systems; for a desktop SQL install like Time Matters, the assisted path is worth requesting. The first call confirms scope and quotes any document option from Clio's side.
Run the Time Matters database backup
File > Backup Time Matters Data. Verify the Shared Files Backup location, check (or deliberately uncheck — see your document path) the two skip boxes, and run it. Then find the SQL backup in the SQL Server default backup location — it does not land where the file backup does.
Export the Contacts and Matters front-end reports
Temporarily disable security features, then File > Export > Custom Export — Contacts and Cases as comma-delimited files. Re-enable security afterward. These two reports plus the database backup are the typical hand-off package.
Clio's team processes and imports
Clio converts the export into a Clio Manage-compatible format and imports it. Review everything before declaring cutover complete — and don't modify imported records until you've confirmed they're accurate.
Back up or locate your documents
Run a second backup with the skip boxes unchecked, or go straight to the Documents directories on the server. End state: every matter's documents in ordinary folders you can see in Windows Explorer.
Upload documents to corresponding Clio matters
Move each folder into the matching Clio matter using your chosen path. Clio's own desktop app, Clio Drive, also has a native Bulk File Upload feature that pushes large quantities of documents into Clio in the background via a "Pending Upload Queue" on Windows and Mac — though Clio cautions that moving large amounts of files in bulk may freeze the system, so work in smaller chunks. If uploads fail, the guide to Clio upload errors covers the common causes.
Gotchas and common pitfalls
The things that bite firms a week after cutover.
The skip checkbox does what it says. If you followed the standard instructions to the letter, your backup deliberately excludes the Documents directories and email attachments. That's correct for the structured-data hand-off — but if nobody runs the document side separately, cutover day arrives and the files are still sitting on the old server.
Email attachments are their own checkbox. Attachments saved into Time Matters are skipped by the standard backup independently of documents. If years of correspondence attachments matter to your files, plan for them explicitly — they don't come along for free with either migration.
Billing history does not migrate. Per Clio's overview: no invoices, no billed time entries, no trust transactions, no historical bills — and no billable rates, reports, permissions, or settings. Unbilled time and expenses migrate, and outstanding balances arrive as one summative line item per matter. Export any reports you'll need before the system goes read-only.
The SQL backup lands somewhere else. The location you choose in the backup dialog only receives documents and email attachments. The SQL database backs up to SQL Server's own default backup directory. Verify both locations exist and copy both — a "complete" backup that's missing the .bak file isn't one.
The export freezes the clock. Clio's overview is blunt: once you export, stop using the old system immediately. Anything entered into Time Matters after the export won't be in Clio and must be transferred by hand.
Common pitfalls
- Checking the skip boxes and never circling back for the documents themselves.
- Copying only the Shared Files Backup location and missing the SQL .bak in the SQL Server directory.
- Decommissioning the Time Matters server before the Documents directories are copied off it.
- Forgetting to re-enable Activate Security Features after the front-end exports.
An honest cost note
Clio's own framing is the right one to plan around: "Clio offers a complimentary data migration service for many common systems. However, the cost can vary for more complex migrations or systems not directly supported." A decades-old Time Matters install with a large document library leans toward the complex end. The structured data is the well-trodden, complimentary part; documents are scoped with fees based on volume, and third-party migrators typically price the full job as a four-figure engagement scaled by volume. The DIY path costs your time instead — backing up the Documents directories and bulk-uploading them yourself. See Send to Case pricing.
How Send to Case fits
Send to Case is a free Chrome extension that uploads files from your browser into a Clio matter. It is not a migration service — it doesn't move matters, contacts, calendars, or the SQL database. Its role starts after the Time Matters backup dialog has done its work: once your Documents directories are ordinary folders on a machine you control, Send to Case lets you bulk-upload a matter's folder into the right Clio matter in one pass, or capture files straight from the browser without downloading them first.
That's the only role it plays in a Time Matters-to-Clio switch: closing the document side after Clio's migration handles the structured data. Learn more about the extension or see how bulk upload works.
Coming from a different desktop-era system? See the Clio migration guide, the Tabs3 guide, or the PCLaw guide.
Why do Clio's Time Matters backup instructions say to skip documents?
+Because documents aren't part of the standard structured-data migration. Clio's official instructions for the Time Matters backup say to check the boxes to skip files in the Documents and Documents Index Directories and to skip backing up email attachments — the migration team works from the database backup plus the Contacts and Matters exports. Documents can still migrate, but they're scoped separately and subject to additional fees based on volume. Confirm specifics with your Clio onboarding rep.
Where do my Time Matters documents actually live?
+As ordinary files in the Documents directories on your server — that's why the backup dialog can simply include or skip them. The SQL database holds your structured records (contacts, matters, notes, events); the documents themselves are regular files on disk. That's good news for a DIY path: back them up via the same dialog (leave the skip boxes unchecked) or locate the directories directly, and you have normal folders ready to upload.
Does my Time Matters billing history migrate to Clio?
+No. Per Clio's data migration overview, accounting and financial history — invoices, billed time entries, trust account transactions, bill payments, and historical bills — cannot be migrated, and neither can billable rates, reports, user permissions, or settings. Unbilled time and expense entries can migrate, and outstanding balances come over as a single summative line item per matter. Keep a Time Matters archive or exported reports for historical billing reference.
Why did my backup land in two different places?
+Because Time Matters splits the backup. Only documents and email attachments are backed up to the Shared Files Backup location you choose in the dialog. The SQL database backs up to the Microsoft SQL Server default backup location — typically under C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.XX\MSSQL\Backup (or the Program Files (x86) equivalent). If you only check one location, it can look like half your backup is missing.
What happens to email attachments saved in Time Matters?
+The standard migration backup skips them — that's the second checkbox in Clio's instructions. If you want them, run a backup with that box unchecked so attachments are included in the Shared Files Backup location, then treat them like the rest of your document set: organize by matter and upload into Clio alongside your other files.
Time Matters is an old desktop install — who actually runs the export?
+Someone with access to the machine or server where Time Matters and its SQL Server live — often your IT person. The export is done inside Time Matters itself (the backup dialog plus Custom Export for contacts and matters), and the front-end exports require temporarily unchecking the security-features setting, then re-enabling it. If your install is fragile or undocumented, that's also a point in favor of Clio's assisted migration or a third-party migrator.
How long does a Time Matters to Clio migration take?
+It depends on the size and complexity of your data — Clio's migrations team gives you a processing timeline after they receive your export. Budget roughly two weeks of active work: pre-export cleanup, the export itself, Clio's processing and import, your review, and then document upload, which is usually the longest tail. One hard rule from Clio's overview: once you export, stop entering data in Time Matters — anything added after the export has to be transferred manually.
Keep going
Migrating to Clio: the pillar guide
The system-agnostic playbook — scope, sequencing, and the document gap in any Clio migration.
Read guide →Clio data migration: the documents gap
Why documents are scoped separately in nearly every Clio migration, and what your options cost.
Read guide →Tabs3 to Clio
The other classic desktop-era migration — exporting through PracticeMaster and handling documents.
Read guide →PCLaw to Clio
Moving from PCLaw — what migrates, what doesn't, and the document playbook.
Read guide →Leaving Time Matters?
Your documents are already ordinary folders on your server. Don't upload them one at a time.