“Export” can mean a printable document, a spreadsheet-shaped report, or a machine-readable backup of application relationships. Invoice Master supports all three in different places. They are not interchangeable.
Product check, July 12, 2026: The organization archive is JSON—not a general CSV import/export—and attachment records should not be assumed to include every underlying file binary.
Organization archive: the broadest application export
An organization owner can export one organization as a JSON archive. The export is designed to preserve the organization and related application records, including settings and connected records across contacts, companies, products, projects, CRM, invoices, quotes, bills, recurring configurations, boards and tasks, time, inventory, dunning, portal access, threads, and payment history.
JSON preserves structure and identifiers better than a flat spreadsheet. It is useful for backup, inspection by a technical user, and re-import into Invoice Master. It is not a polished accounting report and should not be edited casually in a text editor.
Import modes have materially different effects
The archive can support importing into an organization in append or replace mode, and the product can create a new organization from an archive. Treat replace as a high-impact action: review the target, permissions, archive date, and backup before proceeding.
After any import, verify counts and representative relationships rather than accepting a success banner as proof. Check an invoice with lines and payments, a project with bills and time, an inventory transfer, and a board with recurring tasks. The invoice-payment reconciliation workflow is a useful model for testing restored financial evidence rather than only record counts.
Attachment records are not the same as files
Invoices and quotes can have Premium attachments. An organization archive may contain attachment metadata or storage-path relationships while an import can skip or warn about records it cannot restore. Do not claim the JSON contains every PDF, receipt, or uploaded file as a portable binary.
Keep critical source files in a separate, access-controlled document archive and test restore procedures. Invoice Master bills currently have no receipt attachment at all.
Human-readable document exports
Invoices and quotes can be downloaded as PDFs. Selected documents can also be downloaded in ZIP files. These are the formats to retain when a person needs to read the issued document exactly as presented.
PDFs do not preserve the full relational model: a project link, payment history, portal event, or inventory movement may live elsewhere. Combine human-readable documents with the organization archive and processor/accounting evidence according to your retention policy.
Premium report exports
Premium Reports includes CSV and PDF export for accounts-receivable aging, overdue-balance trend, cash-in versus expenses, and top clients. Open-balance statements are available as PDF. The dashboard versus reports field guide defines the metrics and their date, currency, and status cautions.
These CSVs are report outputs, not a universal CSV of every contact, product, historical invoice, or attachment. The current application does not provide general CSV import for contacts, products, or old invoices.
Data portability is broader than one button
Legal data-portability rights depend on the jurisdiction, requester, legal basis, and type of data. An application export can help operational portability without automatically satisfying every legal request. In the EU, consult the European Commission’s data-protection overview and obtain qualified advice for an actual request.
Likewise, account deletion should not be described as erasing every trace instantly. Active workspace data can be removed through the account lifecycle, while limited billing records, security logs, provider backups, or third-party processor records may remain under legal, fraud-prevention, contractual, or technical retention rules.
A quarterly portability drill
- Export the organization JSON archive.
- Download a representative invoice and quote PDF.
- Export the Premium reports used by finance, if applicable.
- Save required Stripe, bank, tax, and accounting records separately.
- Verify that critical attachment files exist outside the JSON archive.
- Record who created the export, when, and under which organization.
- Test an import in a safe target when operationally appropriate.
- Protect exports with encryption, access controls, and a retention schedule.
Ownership is not merely the existence of an Export button. It is the ability to retrieve understandable records, protect them, and restore or hand them off without discovering the boundaries during an emergency. Data portability should therefore be tested alongside the other criteria in a real invoicing-software evaluation.