New customers regularly want to transfer their existing data from their previous system over to CareLineLive during their onboarding process. Although we don't currently offer a full migration service or an automated import process, the support team can import much of your static data using our import template files below. 

ℹ️ While we can't always provide a precise timeline for your data imports, you're more than welcome to discuss timeframes during your first onboarding session (Introduction to eLearning) with the support team, who normally can provide a rough time estimate based on current workloads, although this may vary if workloads fluctuate or if you're required to make amendments and corrections to your import template files

Data

Each import template file has different columns to support the various kinds of static data you may want to import, each with their own rules and requirements, depending on what you're trying to import.

ℹ️ You can hover over the header of each column in the import template files to find out more information about its rules and requirements

Required and optional columns

Columns marked with an asterisk (*) are required and must have data inside to import successfully. You mustn't leave these columns blank. If you're not sure what to enter, maybe enter a full stop (.) or N/A.

ℹ️ The only exception is when referencing clients and carers, as outlined inside the three referencing strategies below

Columns without an asterisk (*) are optional and can be left blank. Where possible, we normally recommend entering as much data as possible, even into optional columns, to reduce the amount of manual entry required from you later.

⚠️ Please don't delete any columns or change the order of columns, even if they're optional and/or blank, otherwise your data may fail to import.

Column Validation

Certain types of columns require the data it's storing to meet specific criteria. This helps CareLineLive to interpret what the data means so that it can import the data successfully.

Length

Most fields on the import template do not have character limits. However, the following columns restrict the maximum number of characters permitted and will fail to import if these limits are exceeded:

• Title (6 chars)

• First name (255 chars)

• Last name (255 chars)

• Email addresses (255 chars)

• Phone numbers (255 chars)

• Addresses (255 chars)

• Payroll number (255 chars)

• Leave reason (255 chars)

• HC Number (10 chars)

Options

Some columns may end with a question mark (?) - such as Full Days? in the carer leave import template file - indicating they're asking a yes or no question. These must have one of six options:

• 1 / True / true
• 0 / False / false

Dates

All dates must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD. For example, the 12th May 2025 will be 2025-05-12. All other formats will fail to import.

Times

All times must be in the format HH:MM, where the hours are in 24-hour time. For example, quarter past 4pm is 16:15. All other formats will fail to import.

ℹ️ If you're uncertain of the exact time, use 00:00 as a fallback

Journal Types

In the client journal entries and carer journal entries import template files, the journal types in Column E must be one of the following:

• Email
• Note
• SMS
• Phone Call
• Other

ℹ️ If you're uncertain which to use, use Note as the default

The journal types should use Pascal Case. This means the first letter of every word in the journal type should be capitalised, and the remaining letters of each word shouldn't. The only exception are acronyms - like SMS - which must be all capitals.

When

If you see a "When" column - such as in the client journal entries import template file - you'll need to enter a date and a time, in the following format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS - for example: 25th January 2024 at 15 minutes past 7pm will be 2024-01-25 19:15:00.

ℹ️ If you're uncertain of the exact time, use 00:00:00 as a fallback

External IDs

The Carer and Client import template files include an External ID field in Column A. This shouldn't be confused with the Carer ID or Client ID fields found in Column A of the other import template files. 

Although the External ID is also a unique identifier for a carer or client's record, it's used exclusively by the database. It can't be used to reference carers or clients in any other import template file.

The External ID isn't required, but can be useful if you ever need to re-import over the same carer or client later. When the database detects an existing External ID has been used inside an import template file, it overwrites the existing carer or client record instead of creating a duplicate.

If an import template file includes multiple carers or clients with the same External ID, only the final carer or client with that same External ID will be imported. To resolve this, please make sure all carers and clients either don't have an External ID, or have unique External IDs to one another.

The External ID won't appear in the carer or client's record anywhere. You'll need to add a custom field for the External ID if you'd like it to appear there.

Prerequisites

Each import template file may have certain prerequisites you'll need to complete beforehand to ensure your data can import successfully. Typically, this involves adding certain data points - such as teams, journal categories, contract types, etc - into the management portal that your import template files can reference. Linking between different areas in this way enables your records to become more dynamic and accurate than otherwise possible, and reduces the amount of manual data entry required.

The below table contains an exhaustive list of the required prerequisites to consider for each import template file and where you can find each one inside the management portal:

Once you've found the relevant areas in the management portal, you may need to edit existing ones and add new ones as needed to ensure they match what's inside your import template files.

⚠️ To ensure the imports can link to the correct data points, what's entered into the import template files must exactly match the spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, and formatting of what's been added into your environment. Any deviation from what's currently in your environment will cause the import to fail.

Multi-referencing

From time to time, one column may need to reference multiple data points simultaneously. In this instance, include them in the same column, separated by a semi-colon (;). For example, if you needed to import a carer who helped both your Sussex and Surrey teams, simply enter Sussex; Surrey into the Team column. Alternatively, imagine you had a client who needed both Direct Payments and Social Services service contracts assigned, simply enter Direct Payments; Social Services into the Contracts column.

⚠️ Certain columns - such as leave types, review types, and relationship types - can't use multi-referencing, meaning they can't reference multiple data points at the same time

Activating carers / clients

If you don't enter a contract type in Column U of the carers import template file or a service contract type in Column S of the clients import template file, your carers will be imported as inactive, meaning you'll need to manually assign them a contract / service contract through the management portal for them to start receiving bookings.

If you choose to enter a service contract type into Column S of the clients import template file, then your clients will need a date entered into Column T - Contract Start - to import successfully, otherwise CareLineLive won't know from when to activate them. This date can be in the past, today, or in the future as needed.

Likewise, if you choose to enter a contract type into Column U of the carers import template file, then your carers will need a date entered into Column M - Contract Start - to import successfully, otherwise CareLineLive won't know from when to activate them. As before, this date can be in the past, today, or in the future as needed.

Post Codes

Although they're technically not required, to guarantee you can import other templates successfully, we recommend adding post codes into Column L (Post Code) of the carers and clients import template files.

HC Numbers

Health and Care Numbers (HC Numbers/HCNs) uniquely identify patients within the NHS in Northern Ireland. Structurally, they're normally a subset of NHS Numbers between 3200000000 and 3999999999, which is the range reserved for the NHS in Northern Ireland. Occasionally, NHS Numbers from other regions may be treated as HC Numbers, even if they're structurally not the same as HC Numbers, such as if someone moves to Northern Ireland from England, Scotland, or Wales, ensuring continuity of care.

Northern Irish organisations can import their clients' Health and Care Numbers (HC Numbers / HCNs) into CareLineLive in column AC of the Clients import template file. To do this:

1. In cell AC1, enter HC Number as a header - it must be capitalised in the same way to import
2. For all the other rows in column AC, optionally enter the HCNs for each of your clients

In versions of CareLineLive released after mid-August 2026 (v2026.8.2≤), HC Numbers must be exactly 10 numeric digits long and pass the NHS checksum. All valid HC Numbers will automatically satisfy these rules without you needing to worry. However, HC Numbers mustn't include non-numeric characters. This also means you can't use spaces, hyphens (-), underscores (_), full stops (.), or other non-numeric characters, even if it's just to separate the digits. This ensures it can be treated as a number and validated against the NHS checksum.

In versions of CareLineLive released before mid-August 2026 (v2026.8.2>), HC Numbers must also be between 3200000000 and 3999999999 to import. Although this rule technically satisfies the HC Numbers specification provided by the NHS in Northern Ireland, it has been removed in subsequent versions of CareLineLive to help ensure the continuity of care between regions and enhance the importing process.

⚠️ All HC Numbers that don't follow all relevant rules will need to be entered manually into the management portal, imported under Local Authority Ref in Column Y or imported through a custom field instead

Custom fields for clients / carers

You can import additional information into your clients and carers' records using custom fields you've added to the blank columns on the right of your Clients and Carers import template files. Read more about custom fields here: Custom Fields.

ℹ️ You'll need to setup the custom fields in Settings → Custom Fields before starting these custom fields can be imported into your clients and carers' records

To do this:

1. Define the custom fields in Settings → Custom Fields, if not done already

2. Insert a new column immediately to the right of the final column in the import template file

3. Name the new column: Custom: <custom field name>

4. Enter the corresponding values for each client or carer underneath

For example, imagine you created two custom fields - My Reference Number and Our Other Identifier - in your environment, and  John Smith has a My Reference Number of ABC123, Jane Doe has a My Reference Number of 123456, and Sam Roe has a My Reference Number of DEF456 and Our Other Identifier of 567DEF. See the table below for an example of what this would look like:

Referencing clients and carers

When importing data that belongs to a carer or client, the import template file needs a strategy to identify which existing carer or client's record the data belongs to. There are three referencing strategies you can use to reference an existing carer or client's record inside an import template file.

⚠️ The carer or client's record must already exist inside your environment before you can import data related to them

Strategy 1: First Names + Last Names + Post Codes (recommended)

You can easily identify a carer or client's record by entering their:

• First Name in Column B
• Last Name in Column C
• Post Code in Column D

This is the recommended strategy because it doesn't require you to know or find a reference code or UUID in advance, making it ideal when preparing import template files before carer or client records have even been created inside or imported into your environment.

⚠️ To ensure the correct record is matched, the First Names, Last Names, and Post Codes entered must exactly match what's inside the carer or client's record you're referencing, including: spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, and formatting. Any deviation from what's currently in your environment will cause the import to fail.

For example, imagine you have a client called John Smith at RH13 0AS, another client called Jane Doe at KT3 5DP, and a third client called Sam Roe at NR15 2ZU. See the table below for an example of what this would look like:

⚠️ When using this strategy, please leave the Client ID / Carer ID field in Column A blank, otherwise it may cause the import to fail

Strategy 2: Client IDs / Carer IDs

The Client ID or Carer ID field in Column A must contain either:

• Reference Code - The 6-7 character code from the carer or client's record
  • For example: JOHDOE
• UUID - The unique identifier found in the URL of the carer or client's record
  • For example: 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000)

⚠️ The reference codes and UUIDs for your carers and clients are generated by CareLineLive and won't ever match the External ID you imported for that carer or client

Use this strategy only if the carers and clients' records you're referencing already exists in your environment, either because they were created manually in the management portal or were imported previously. Otherwise, there won't be a Reference Code or UUID for you to reference, and you'll need to use Strategy 1 (First Name + Last Name + Post Code) instead.

⚠️ To ensure the correct record is matched, the Reference Code or UUID entered must exactly match what's inside the carer or client's record you're referencing, including: spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, and formatting. Any deviation from what's currently in your environment will cause the import to fail.

For example, imagine  John Smith has UUID: 5c88b209-4ee7-4148-b4b6-3914a87a2a0, Jane Doe has Reference Code: JANDOE, and Sam Roe has Reference Code: SAMROE. See the table below for an example of what this would look like:

⚠️ When using this strategy, please leave the First Name, Last Name, and Post Code fields in Columns B, C, and D blank, otherwise it may cause the import to fail

Strategy 3: Custom fields as Client IDs / Carer IDs (advanced)

By default, the Client ID / Carer ID column expects a Reference Code or UUID. However, you can configure your import template files to use one of your custom fields instead, provided that custom field isn't blank and contains a unique value for each carer or client's record.

This is an advanced strategy because it requires custom fields to be setup in Settings → Custom Fields, and values to be added inside your carers or clients' records beforehand, which can become complex. Read more about custom fields here: Custom Fields.

⚠️ To ensure the correct record is matched, the Custom Field name entered must exactly match what's inside Settings → Custom Fields, and the Custom Field value entered must exactly match what's inside that custom field in the carer or client's record you're referencing, including: spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, and formatting. Any deviation from what's currently in your environment will cause the import to fail.

To setup:

1. Insert a new column immediately to the left of the Client ID / Carer ID field

2. Name the new column Client ID Field / Carer ID Field as appropriate

3. In each row, enter:

   1. Custom: <custom field name>, under the new Client ID Field / Carer ID Field column

   2. The corresponding value stored in that custom field, under the Client ID / Carer ID column

⚠️ Custom fields don't enforce unique values - if multiple carers or clients happen to share the same value in the same custom field you're using, the import template file will match the first carer or client record it finds, which may result in data being imported against the incorrect carer or client's record

For example, imagine you created two custom fields - My Reference Number and Our Other Identifier - in your environment, and  John Smith has a My Reference Number of ABC123, Jane Doe has a My Reference Number of 123456, and Sam Roe has a Our Other Identifier of 567DEF. See the table below for an example of what this would look like:

⚠️ When using this strategy, please leave the First Name, Last Name, and Post Code fields in Columns B, C, and D blank, otherwise it may cause the import to fail

Best practices

Additional columns

The only additional columns we support are:

• Custom fields in column AA and beyond of the carer import template file
• Custom fields in column AC and beyond of the client import template file
• HC Number in column AC of the client import template file
• Client ID Field added before Client ID when referencing clients
• Carer ID Field added before Carer ID when referencing carers

⚠️ Any unrecognised or unexpected columns will be ignored or may cause the import to fail

Import templates

Please use the following links to download the import template files. When you're ready, copy your data into the import template files, check your data is correct and follows the above guidance, complete the prerequisites outlined above as needed, and send your completed import template files to support@carelinelive.com. The support team will then check your imports and import them for you once confident they'll succeed: