If you already run your business through Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent, you've probably got years of clients in there. You don't need to type them into Mucka by hand — once your accounting software is connected, Mucka can pull your existing contacts (and their invoice history) straight in.
The important part: Mucka checks each incoming contact against the clients you already have in Mucka first, so you don't end up with two of everyone.
Before you start
Your accounting software needs to be connected. If it isn't yet, connect it first — Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent — then come back here.
You also need the manage billing permission (the same one that lets you connect the integration in the first place).
Run the import
Head to Settings → Integrations, open your connected provider, and tap Import from … (for example, Import from Xero).
You'll get a couple of choices:
- Also bring in historical invoices — leave this ticked to pull your past invoices in as read-only history. They show against the client for context but never touch your Mucka revenue figures — they're a record of what happened, not new Mucka invoices.
Tap Preview import. Nothing is saved yet — this is a dry run.
Check the preview
Mucka reads your whole contact list, matches each one against your Mucka clients, and shows you a summary before anything is written:
- Already match a Mucka client — these contacts are recognised as clients you already have (either ones Mucka pushed out earlier, or ones with the same VAT number, email or phone). They'll be linked, not duplicated.
- New — will be added — contacts with no match in Mucka. These become new clients.
- Need your review — contacts that look similar to an existing client but aren't a certain match (for example, two people with the same name). Mucka never merges these automatically — you decide.
Work the review list
For each contact that needs review, Mucka shows you who it might be. Pick one:
- Same as [client] — links the incoming contact to that existing Mucka client. No duplicate is created.
- Add as new — treats it as a brand-new client.
- Skip — leave it out of the import entirely.
Anything you don't make a call on is skipped by default — Mucka won't guess when it isn't sure.
Approve and import
When you're happy, tap Import. Mucka creates the new clients, links the matched ones, and (if you asked for it) brings in the invoice history. You'll see a summary of exactly what happened: how many were added, how many matched an existing client, and how many invoices came across.
That's it — your existing book is now in Mucka, ready for jobs, quotes, gas certs and everything else.
How Mucka avoids duplicates
Mucka works strongest-signal-first:
- Records Mucka pushed out earlier carry a hidden Mucka reference, so re-importing them always links back to the right client — never a duplicate.
- VAT number, then email, then phone number — an exact match on any of these (to exactly one client) links automatically.
- Name only is never enough to auto-link — people share names — so those always go to the review list for you to decide.
This is why importing after you've already added some clients by hand is safe: the ones that overlap get linked, and only genuinely new contacts are created.
Good to know
- The preview is a proper dry run. Nothing is written until you approve. You can cancel at any point before the final Import tap.
- Imported invoices are read-only history. They're kept separate from your live Mucka invoices so they can't inflate your revenue reports or get pushed back out to your accounting software.
- A big book can take a moment to read. If you've got hundreds or thousands of contacts, the preview step does a lot of reading — give it a few seconds.
- Run it once. Import is designed as a one-time "bring my book in" step. Day-to-day, Mucka stays the place you add and edit clients, and pushes those changes out to your accounting software as normal.