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Getting Started6 min readJuly 2026

Property Management Data Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide

Why Data Migration Is the Real Barrier to Switching

Property management data migration is the single biggest reason managing agents put off switching software — not the price, not the features, but the fear of losing track of who owes what. If you're managing 40 units across three buildings, re-entering everyone by hand isn't just tedious, it's risky. One transposed digit on an owner's balance and you're fielding an angry phone call in month one.

That's the problem PropLinker's bulk import is built to solve.

What You Can Bring Across

The import handles four things in a single spreadsheet:

  • Buildings — name, address, city, postcode, country
  • Units — unit number, floor, size
  • Owners — name and email, linked to their unit
  • Opening balances — what an owner already owed (or was owed) before you migrated

That last one matters more than it sounds. A lot of import tools will happily create your buildings and units, then leave you to manually re-enter every owner's outstanding balance afterwards, unit by unit, in a different screen. PropLinker carries the balance across in the same step — so an owner who owed £320 before you migrated shows up owing £320 on day one, already reflected correctly in your accounts, not as a separate manual adjustment you have to remember to make.

How It Works, Step by Step

  1. Download the template. One Excel file, two tabs — Buildings and Units. Every column is labelled Required or Optional so there's no guessing.
  2. Fill it in. Use your existing spreadsheet or export from your current system as a starting point — you're just remapping columns, not starting from a blank page.
  3. Upload it. From Automation → Bulk Import.
  4. Review the results. This is the part most import tools get wrong: instead of an all-or-nothing pass/fail, you get a row-by-row breakdown. If 47 of your 50 units import cleanly and 3 have a typo in the postcode, those 47 are already live — you fix and re-upload only the 3 that failed.
  5. Invite owners, on your terms. Any owner without a PropLinker account yet is listed separately, with a checkbox. Nothing gets emailed automatically — you choose who to invite and when, so a mistyped email address doesn't result in an invitation going to a stranger.

What Doesn't Come Across (Yet)

We'd rather tell you this upfront than have you discover it halfway through: the bulk import brings across your portfolio structure, your owners, and their opening balance — it doesn't migrate historical transaction records (every individual past payment, expense, or invoice). If you need your full payment history preserved in detail, that's what our assisted migration service is for — our team handles the more complex data by hand.

Your Data Isn't Locked In, Either

Migration anxiety usually runs in both directions — people worry as much about getting stuck somewhere as they do about the effort of switching. So the same principle applies in reverse: you can export your full portfolio from PropLinker at any time. Trying us out isn't a one-way door.

Free for Any Portfolio Size

The bulk import template and self-service upload are free, with no limit on how many units you bring across, on every PropLinker plan. If your data needs more hands-on cleanup — merging duplicate records, reconciling messy legacy spreadsheets — our assisted migration is available as a paid add-on, priced by portfolio size, and free for early beta customers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import data from an Excel or CSV file?

Yes — PropLinker's template is an Excel (.xlsx) file with two tabs, Buildings and Units. Fill it in and upload it directly, no coding or technical help required.

What happens if some rows in my file have errors?

Valid rows are still imported even if others fail. You'll see exactly which rows failed and why, so you can fix and re-upload just those.

Can I bring across owners who already had a balance before I migrated?

Yes — the optional "Opening balance" column carries each owner's balance (owed or in credit) across at the same time their unit is created, with no separate manual step.

What happens if I later decide to stop using PropLinker?

You can export your full portfolio — buildings, units, owners, and current balances — at any time, in a single file.

Getting Started

If you're currently running your blocks from a spreadsheet, or considering a move from another system, the bulk import is the fastest way to see your actual portfolio inside PropLinker — not a demo, not sample data, your buildings and your owners, in about the time it takes to fill in a spreadsheet you already half-have.

[Start your 30-day free trial at proplinker.co.uk](https://proplinker.co.uk/register)

Ready to simplify your property management?

PropLinker handles service charges, GoCardless payments and accounting — built for UK RTM companies.