Move from Shop-Ware to Gearboxly

This is what Shop-Ware's own help describes, as read in October 2026. Where it describes nothing, the line says to ask Shop-Ware support. Products change, so check with Shop-Ware before you plan around an export.

Customers

Customers tab, then Export (the Customer Information Report).

Vehicles

Not confirmed as a separate export. Check whether your customer or sales report includes the vehicles, or use our vehicles template.

Repair order history

Reports, then Invoices: the Closed Sales Report, then Export Report. Easier by date range for a large shop.

Inventory

Parts tab, then the Entire Inventory Database export.

1. 1Customers: in Shop-Ware, open the Customers tab and use Export (the Customer Information Report).
2. 2Repair order history: open Reports, then Invoices, run the Closed Sales Report for a date range and choose Export Report. For a large shop, export one year at a time.
3. 3Inventory: open the Parts tab and export the Entire Inventory Database.

Which reports you can run may depend on your Shop-Ware subscription. We have not confirmed whether the Closed Sales Report has one row per order or one row per line item. Both work in our importer.

1. 1In Gearboxly, open Settings, then Import data. Only owners and managers can see it.
2. 2Choose Shop-Ware, then what you are bringing over. Customers first, then vehicles, then repair order history.
3. 3Upload the CSV file. If your file is an Excel workbook, open it, choose File, Save As, CSV (Comma delimited), and upload that. The limit is 25 MB, so split a large export by year.
4. 4Check the column matching, then run the dry run. Nothing is written yet.
5. 5If the dry run looks right, choose Confirm and import. Then read the report.

The full walkthrough, with screenshots, is in Import your customers, vehicles and repair history.

Shop-Ware does not publish the column headers of its exports that we could find, so the matching is a best guess. The Match columns screen shows each field we need next to the column from your file that we picked, and a sample of what is in it. Change anything that is wrong, and set what you do not need to Do not import.

For Shop-Ware, the wizard looks for these headers first. They are our guesses, not headers Shop-Ware has confirmed, and any column with a different name can be matched by hand.

Customers

"Customer ID" for Customer ID.

Repair orders

"RO #" or "RO Number" for RO number, "Closed On" or "Date Closed" for Closed date, "Service Advisor" or "Advisor" for Service advisor, and "Grand Total" or "Total" for Total.

What each type needs before it can run:

Customers

At least one name column: First name, Last name, Full name or Company.

Vehicles

At least a VIN, or make and model (or plate), and one column that says who owns the vehicle: Customer ID, Customer phone, Customer email or Customer name.

Repair order history

An RO number (or invoice number), at least one date (opened, closed or paid), and a Total or line totals so the money comes across.

Inventory

A part number or a description.

• The Closed Sales Report (Reports, then Invoices, then Export Report) is the most detailed invoice export Shop-Ware describes. Running it for a date range makes a large export easier to handle. Which reports you can run may depend on your Shop-Ware subscription.
• We have not confirmed whether the Closed Sales Report has one row per order (totals only) or one row per line item. Both work: a file with one row per order comes in with a single summary job per order.
• We found no public Shop-Ware API, so the import works from files only.
• Repair orders come in numbered with the prefix SW-, closed, paid and read-only, marked "Imported from Shop-Ware". They show on customer and vehicle history and in reports under their original dates, so this month's numbers do not change.
• Nothing is sent to your customers: no texts, emails, review requests or reminders.
• Open orders are skipped by default. If you tick the option they come in as read-only history shown as unpaid invoices, not as live orders.
• Duplicates are skipped, not overwritten. Uploading the same file twice imports nothing twice.
• Every import can be undone.
• From any system, we do not import inspections and photos, appointments, labor guides and canned jobs, text message history, declined work, loyalty balances, QuickBooks links or staff accounts.

• Export everything you can from Shop-Ware first, while you still have access, and keep the files somewhere safe.
• Keep Shop-Ware read-only for a month after you switch, so you can look things up.
• Run a small file first, such as the last month of repair orders, and check a customer you know on screen.
• Handle parts orders in progress by hand. Parts orders are not imported.
• Finish open repair orders in the old system, or re-create them as new orders in Gearboxly.
• Plan your go-live for a slow week. The switching checklist for a shop manager covers staff training, texting, your card terminal and your booking link.

We would rather say so than guess. We could not confirm: Shop-Ware's exact column headers; whether the Closed Sales Report has one row per order or per line item; which reports your subscription includes.

Stuck? Email support@gearboxly.com with the name of the report or export you have, and a person will tell you what we can bring over. Shop-Ware is a trademark of its owner. Gearboxly is not affiliated with it.