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Switching guide
How to migrate from Smokeball
Get your matters, contacts, and billing out of Smokeball cleanly, know what the export leaves behind, and see where Referent picks up.
Get your data out of Smokeball
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Export contacts
Open Reports and run Contact Export. Use the save icon and pick CSV. The report is available on the plans Smokeball lists in its guide; check yours.
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Export matters and clients
In Reports, run Matter - Full List and Clients - Full List. Review the filters (include closed matters if you need them), run, save as CSV. Write down the filters you used.
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Plan the documents
Smokeball firms are document-heavy. Decide whether you need every version or just current files, and download per matter or via your Windows sync folder.
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Reconcile billing
List unbilled time, open invoices, and trust balances with whoever does your books. Agree a cutover date so no time entry lands in two systems.
What the CSVs do not carry
Smokeball’s strength was filing your email against matters. Referent does the same from the mailbox itself, so the correspondence comes with you without an export.
Before you cancel anything, run the same five checks every firm should: record counts against the screen, client-to-matter links, a few documents opened on the right matter, balances reconciled with your bookkeeper, and an untouched copy of every export kept as the archive. Download the checklist (CSV) and tick it off as you go.
Where Referent fits
Move the records. Let your inbox do the rest.
Referent is practice management rebuilt AI-native. You connect your email, calendar, and documents; the AI reads the correspondence and builds your clients and matters from it. From there, agents run intake, follow-ups, deadlines, and billing prep, and you approve every client-facing step.
- Workspace built from your inbox. The thread history a Smokeball CSV never had.
- A person on your side. Bring the exports to a 20-minute onboarding call; your manager sets the workspace up with you.
- Your data stays yours. No training on firm data, full audit trail, delete means delete.
Frequently asked questions
Can I export Smokeball documents in bulk?
Smokeball documents sync to a local folder on Windows installs, which is the fastest bulk copy. Otherwise download per matter. Either way, count files against the matter list.
Does Referent import my Smokeball data automatically?
Not from a CSV, no. Referent builds your workspace from the mailbox, calendar, and documents you connect: the AI reads your correspondence and sets up clients, matters, and files from it. For the Smokeball exports, your personal manager loads and checks them with you during onboarding. There is no button that swallows a Smokeball file today, and we would rather say so than surprise you.
When should I cancel my Smokeball subscription?
After you have counted records in the new system against your exports, opened a few documents on the right matters, and reconciled balances with your bookkeeper. Keep read access for a month past cutover if the contract allows it. Export first, cancel last.
Sources
Checked September 7, 2026. Menus, plans, and connectors change; the links above are the place to confirm the current state. Smokeball is a trademark of its owner; this guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Smokeball.