Migrate from Time Matters(r) to Twenty CRM

N:N Contact-Matter associations collapse to Opportunity-Contact links

Time Matters natively supports many-to-many relationships between Contacts and Matters — a single Contact can be associated with multiple Matters and vice versa without foreign-key constraints. Twenty enforces one-to-many via foreign keys on records; a Person record holds one companyId. We resolve N:N associations by designating one primary Contact per Matter (the most-recently-modified or by your specified rule) as the Opportunity's primary link. Additional Contacts are surfaced as related records via the Opportunity's relation fields. Your admin decides whether to create a custom junction object for full N:N preservation or accept the collapsed 1:N model.

Billing and trust accounting records have no native Twenty equivalent

Time Matters integrates billing, time tracking, and trust accounting — retainer balances, client escrow, and invoice histories are core to the product. Twenty has no native billing module; it tracks Opportunities and related activities but not financial transactions, trust ledgers, or accounts receivable. We create a custom BillingRecord object in Twenty with fields for invoice number, amount, type, and related Opportunity link, but the trust accounting logic — which funds belong to which client, running balances, minimum trust requirements — must be handled by a dedicated accounting tool post-migration. We flag all trust-related records during audit so your team can map them to your chosen billing system.

Workflows, triggers, and document merge templates do not migrate

Time Matters stores customizable workflows, automated triggers, and document merge templates that encode your firm's legal process logic. Twenty's workflow automation is limited to basic task triggers and does not replicate Time Matters' workflow engine. All workflows must be rebuilt in Twenty's automation builder or handled by external automation tools. We export Time Matters' workflow definitions — trigger conditions, action steps, and template links — as a reference document your Twenty admin can use to design equivalent automations. Document merge templates (HotDocs, Deal Builder integrations) have no Twenty equivalent and require a separate rebuild or third-party integration.

Time Matters exports require custom export template setup per object

Time Matters does not provide a bulk API export. Data extraction requires creating custom export templates in the desktop application — selecting the record type, choosing fields, setting the output format to CSV with field labels as headers. We provide a written export guide with step-by-step instructions for each record type (Contacts, Matters, Events, ToDo's) so your team can run the exports correctly. Exporting all custom fields requires checking the 'Include All Fields' option per template; failing to do so silently drops custom field columns from the CSV. We validate the exported files before import begins and flag any missing fields for re-export.

Twenty's import ordering requirement affects migration sequencing

Twenty's CSV import enforces referential integrity: Companies must exist before People can reference them via companyId, and Opportunities must reference existing People. We sequence the migration as Companies → People → Opportunities → Notes/Tasks so foreign keys resolve at import time. If your Time Matters database has circular references (a Contact whose Company record is also the primary Contact on a Matter), we surface these in the pre-migration audit and apply a resolution rule — typically designating the Company as the primary entity and clearing the circular Contact link. Running imports out of order produces silent failures where records import without their linked entities.