> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.parley.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Importing your clients

> Bring your existing book of clients into Parley as linked Accounts and Contacts.

Most firms arrive with a spreadsheet of the organizations and individuals they've served. Getting those in as properly linked Accounts and Contacts is what lets you spin up matters at scale immediately, instead of building records one at a time as cases come up.

This is usually the first thing to do after connecting your inbox.

## What you can bring in

Typically companies, contacts, tasks, matters, and notes. All of it can go into Parley directly through the Agent — there's no separate importer to learn and no schema to design first.

## The import-data Skill

Parley ships with an **import-data Skill** that handles migrations agentically. Give it your export and it reads the structure, creates the records, links them, and builds custom fields on your behalf to match how your firm already tracks things.

That last part matters. Coming off a legacy case management system, you have fields your team relies on — matter numbers, internal status values, assigned case manager. The Skill creates them rather than making you rebuild your data model by hand before anything can be imported.

## Through the Agent

Upload the file on the home page and tell Parley what you want:

> "Create the attached accounts and contacts, link them, and fill in all relevant fields."

Parley parses the file, creates the companies and the people at each, and links them. Because it searches before it creates, running the import again won't duplicate records that already exist.

## Preparing your file

You don't need a template, but the import goes better when the file is shaped like the model:

* **One row per person**, with the company they belong to named in the row.
* **Consistent company names.** "Acme Corp" and "Acme Corporation" become two Accounts.
* **Include the fields you actually track** — matter numbers, status, key dates. Parley can fill these in on the records it creates.
* **Leave blanks blank.** An empty cell is better than a placeholder Parley will treat as real.

## Check a sample first

For anything over roughly 20 rows, have Parley do about five and look at them before running the rest. Bulk creates are quick to make and tedious to clean up, and five records will tell you whether the mapping is right.

When the run finishes, you get back how many records were created, how many already existed, and anything that failed and why — so you can fix the source file and rerun.

## At larger scale

For a big migration, the [Parley Agent](/parley-agent/importing-data) does the same thing against a file you control, with the same match-or-create behaviour, plus a dry run and a recoverable progress log. Growth and Enterprise plans include guided client data import with our team — reach out at [founders@parley.so](mailto:founders@parley.so) and we'll run it with you.

## No spreadsheet?

If your client list isn't in a file anywhere, public filing data can give you a head start. The DOL publishes disclosure data for every LCA and PERM case, and the petitioning employer and attorney of record both appear on the filings — so the employers your firm has filed for can be staged as Accounts before you upload anything.

Ask the Agent to pull them. Two rules:

1. **Verify a sample before creating anything.** Public data goes stale and conflates firms with similar names.
2. **Treat the result as a draft** of your client list, to be corrected, not as the list itself.

## After the import

Your records exist but they're thin. They fill in as you work — [self-driving fields](/self-driving/overview) update from the documents you upload, and linking a Project to an Account means the company's letterhead and prior filings reach every matter that follows.

<Note>
  Creating records, uploading documents, and processing them are all free. Importing your entire client history doesn't draw credits. See [How credits work](/plans-and-billing/how-credits-work).
</Note>