Migrate from Formitize to Zoho CRM

Formitize Client maps directly to Zoho Account. Client ID becomes the External_ID__c for de-duplication in subsequent delta runs. The Client's primary address and location-zone assignments migrate to Account address fields and a custom Location_Zones__c field or custom module. Additionally, any billing contact associated with the Client is stored as a secondary Contact lookup on the Account, preserving the original owner and create timestamp for audit trail.

Formitize Contacts nested inside a Client map to Zoho Contacts linked via Account lookup. The Contact's Client_ID is translated to AccountId on the Zoho Contact record. Primary contact designation in Formitize is preserved as a custom pick-list flag. If multiple contacts share the same email address, duplicate detection uses the Client_ID plus a suffix to avoid overwriting existing Zoho records.

Formitize Deals map 1:1 to Zoho Deals. The Deal's associated Client becomes the Account lookup on the Zoho Deal. Pipeline stage values are mapped value-by-value against Zoho stage pick-list entries — Formitize custom stage names are created in Zoho before the migration if they do not already exist.

Formitize Assets linked to a Client map to Zoho Assets with AccountId pointing to the migrated Account record. Asset Type becomes either a custom pick-list on the Asset module or a Product lookup depending on whether the team uses Zoho Inventory. GPS coordinates from Formitize migrate as Latitude__c and Longitude__c custom fields on the Zoho Asset.

Formitize Asset Types (organisational categories like Equipment, Vehicle, Facility) do not have a direct Zoho CRM equivalent. We create a custom pick-list field (Asset_Type__c) on the Zoho Asset module and map each Formitize Asset Type value. If the team has more than 20 unique Asset Types, we create a standalone Asset_Type custom module instead.

Formitize Location Zones are attached to Client addresses to denote sub-areas (e.g., Floor 2, Zone A). Zoho CRM has no native zone concept. We create a Location_Zones__c custom field on Account — plain text semicolon-delimited for up to 10 zones, or a custom Zones custom module for complex hierarchies.

Formitize custom fields at the Client level (client_XXXX variables) are extracted via the API and recreated as Zoho CRM custom fields on the Account module. Each custom variable requires a pre-migration field creation call to POST /settings/fields with matching data_type — text for strings, numeric for integers, date for dates.

Formitize Contact Custom Variables (client_contact_XXXX) map to Zoho Contact custom fields. We run the Zoho field creation step before the migration to ensure all Contact-level custom fields exist, then populate them during the import. Any pick-list type variables are created as Zoho pick-lists with exact value matching.

Formitize Deal custom variables migrate as Zoho Deal custom fields. We map the Formitize variable name to a Zoho field label, preserving the original Formitize value. If a Formitize deal variable references a related Client record, we create a lookup field instead of a text field.

Formitize QuoteAccept stores quote metadata: accept status, link ID, QR data, and convert-to-invoice history. Zoho has a separate Quotes module for line items. We map QuoteAccept metadata to Deal custom fields (QuoteAccept_Status__c, QuoteAccept_Link__c, QuoteAccept_QR__c) since most Formitize teams do not use full Zoho quote line-item structures.

Formitize Smart Forms and JobLink submission data are activity records tied to a Client and optionally a Contact. We map these to Zoho Tasks with Type='Form Submission' for records with no duration, or Events for dated submissions. The original Formitize form name and submission timestamp are preserved in Task custom fields.

Formitize user records are matched to Zoho Users by email address lookup against the Zoho Users API before migration. Any Formitize owner who does not have a Zoho user account is flagged and assigned to a default Zoho user pending account provisioning.

Formitize file attachments on Client, Contact, or Deal records are re-uploaded to Zoho CRM using the Attachments API. Files over 25 MB are chunked and re-uploaded as multiple parts. Inline images in Formitize notes are downloaded, re-hosted in Zoho's document storage, and linked as attachment records.

Formitize notes attached to any record map to Zoho Notes on the equivalent module. Rich-text formatting is preserved where the source note contains HTML — plain-text fallback is used for any unsupported HTML tags that Zoho does not render. All note timestamps are retained in UTC and stored as a custom Created_Date__c field for chronological reporting across the migrated dataset.