Switching Work Apps: What Belongs in the Old System and What Belongs in the New One
Moving from one work app to another? Here is how to split tasks between old and new systems during the changeover without doubling up entries or messages.
Published 25 October 2026. Published by Sparks Support Pty Ltd, the makers of Sparks Provider.
The short answer
Pick one cutover date. From that date, every new shift, note and invoice goes into the new system only. The old system becomes a read-only record you keep open just long enough to finish importing and checking, not for creating anything fresh.
If you are switching work apps, the messy part is never the move itself. It is the week or two where both systems are open at once and you are not sure which one is actually in charge. Get that overlap wrong and you end up with a shift logged twice, a client getting two reminder texts, or an invoice sitting in both places with nobody sure which is correct.
The fix is simple to say and worth writing down before you start: decide a cutover date, then give each system one job.
Set a cutover date before you import anything
Choose a specific date, ideally the start of a roster week, when the new system becomes the only place where new shifts, new notes and new invoices are created. Everything before that date is history you are importing. Everything after it is live work. Write the date somewhere you and any staff will see it, because a verbal agreement tends to drift once people are busy.
What stays in the old system
- Past shift history, old notes and closed invoices, kept as a reference
- Anything you still need to finish invoicing for work done before the cutover date
- The export files themselves, saved somewhere safe once you have downloaded them
The old system does not need to disappear overnight. It can sit untouched, used only to look something up, while the new one takes over everyday work.
What moves into the new system only
- Every shift from the cutover date onward, including anything already rostered ahead
- New client and staff messages, including shift reminders
- New service agreements and any document you would otherwise have sent from the old app
- Hours worked from the cutover date, once approved, ready to become invoices
Avoiding duplicate entries
If you are bringing records across from ShiftCare or Imploy, import staff first, then clients, then client notes, then your scheduler or shift history. That order matters because notes need a client to attach to, and shifts need both staff and clients already there. If a file does not read cleanly, published Sparks Provider guidance notes the odd rows get left aside with their column names shown, rather than guessed at and duplicated. Re-running the same export file again is safe. It fills gaps rather than doubling anybody up, so if you are not sure whether a file fully imported, it is better to run it again than to manually re-enter the same people.
Avoiding duplicate messages
The quiet failure point is reminders, not records. If both systems can text or email a client about the same shift, pick one system to own reminders from the cutover date and switch the other off, even if it still technically works. The same goes for staff shift notifications. Nobody needs two apps pinging them about the same booking.
A fictional example
This is a fictional, anonymous example to illustrate the idea. A small team of four support workers was moving off a roster app. The owner set the cutover for the following Monday, imported staff and clients that weekend, checked the count the import found against their own list, then left the old app open but silent, used only to finish two outstanding invoices from the week before. By the second Monday, nobody had logged into the old app at all.
When to close the old account
Only close an old account once you are genuinely finished with it, not as a tidy-up task partway through. Download a full export of your business data first and keep it somewhere sensible. Account closure is usually separated from ordinary archiving precisely because it cannot be treated lightly, so confirm you will not need to look anything up before you finish it.
If the move is specifically from ShiftCare, Sparks Provider's team has published a side-by-side look at [https://sparksprovider.app/compare/shiftcare](https://sparksprovider.app/compare/shiftcare), written from the Sparks Provider perspective rather than as an independent review.
Common questions
How long should I run both systems at once?
As briefly as possible. Most of the overlap should be the time it takes to import and check records, not weeks of parallel day-to-day use. Pick a cutover date and move live work over on that date.
Will importing the same file twice create duplicate clients or staff?
No. Recognised imports fill in gaps rather than doubling people or notes, so re-running the same export file again is a safe way to fix an incomplete import.
Should I tell clients I am switching apps?
If reminders or messages will start coming from a new system, it is worth a short heads-up so they are not confused by a new sender or format.
What happens to notes from clients who are no longer active?
Notes for a client who was not included in your current client export stay on file but will not appear on anyone's active page until that client is brought across too.
This article is general information about provider operations and Sparks Provider. It is not legal, financial, employment, NDIS or compliance advice. Check current requirements with the relevant authority or an adviser for your business.
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