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Importing and Exporting Data

15-20 minutes

Tutorial 12.4: Importing and Exporting Data

Introduction

Whether you're backing up your salon data, responding to a customer's data request under GDPR, preparing reports for your accountant, or migrating from another system — Luminate gives you several ways to get data in and out. This guide covers the Data Export tool for full salon and individual customer exports, report exports to CSV and PDF, transaction document downloads, and the bulk import process for new salons.

Who this is for: Salon owners and administrators who need to export data for backup, compliance, accounting, or analysis.

What you'll learn:

  • How to create full salon and individual customer exports
  • Choosing between JSON and CSV formats
  • Exporting reports to CSV and PDF
  • Downloading transaction invoices and receipts
  • Understanding the bulk data import process

Time to complete: 15-20 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

  • You must be logged in as an Owner or Admin (the export-reports permission is required)
  • Access to the Settings page (for data exports) and Reports section (for report exports)
  • A web browser that can download files

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Access the Data Export Tool

The Data Export tool lets you export all your salon data or an individual customer's data as a downloadable ZIP file.

  1. Click Settings in the sidebar
  2. Select the Data tab
  3. You'll see two sections: Create Export at the top and Export History below

The Create Export card on the Data settings tab, showing the Export Scope, Export Format and Start Export controls

Step 2: Create a Full Salon Export

A full salon export packages all your data into a single ZIP file — ideal for backups or migrating to a new salon.

  1. Under Export Scope, select Full Salon
  2. Under Export Format, choose your format:
    • JSON — Structured data that can be re-imported into another Luminate salon. Best for backups and migration.
    • CSV — Spreadsheet-friendly files that open in Excel or Google Sheets. Best for analysis or sharing with your accountant.
  3. Click Start Export
  4. The export begins processing in the background — you can navigate away and come back later

What's included in a full salon export:

Data Type What's Exported
Staff Levels Names, colours, sort order, active status
Staff Names, compensation details, rates, hire dates, qualifications
Customers Contact information, preferences, allergies, referral source, badges, marketing consent
Tags Names, types, colours
Services Pricing, durations, commission rates, staff level pricing variants
Products SKU, barcode, pricing, stock levels, expiry dates
Appointments Times, statuses, deposits, consultation notes, cancellation reasons
Transactions Amounts, line items, payment methods, linked appointments
Shifts Staff schedules with break durations
Colour Tests Test results, medical/safety notes, consent records
Gift Vouchers Values, codes, recipient details, expiry dates

Only one full salon export can run at a time. If an export is already in progress, the Start Export button will be disabled with a message explaining why.

Step 3: Create an Individual Customer Export

Individual customer exports are designed for GDPR Subject Access Requests — when a customer asks for a copy of all data you hold about them.

  1. Under Export Scope, select Individual Customer
  2. A search box appears — type the customer's name, email, or phone to find them
  3. Select the customer from the results
  4. Choose your format (JSON or CSV)
  5. Click Start Export

What's included in a customer export:

Data Type What's Exported
Customer Record Full profile, contact details, preferences, badges, consent
Appointments All appointments for this customer
Transactions All transactions for this customer
Colour Tests All colour test records for this customer
Gift Vouchers All vouchers purchased by this customer

You can also start a customer export directly from the customer's profile page — it links to the Data tab with that customer pre-selected.

Step 4: Track Export Progress

Exports run in the background and you can monitor their progress in the Export History table.

  1. After starting an export, scroll down to the Export History section
  2. Each export shows a status badge:
    • Pending — Waiting to start
    • Processing — Currently running (shows which data type is being exported and a percentage)
    • Completed — Ready to download
    • Failed — Something went wrong (hover over the error icon for details)
  3. The page updates automatically — no need to refresh

Step 5: Download Your Export

Once an export completes:

  1. Find the export in the Export History table
  2. Click the Download button
  3. A ZIP file downloads to your browser's default download location

File naming: Downloads are named automatically:

  • luminate-salon-export-your-salon-name-2026-04-03.zip (full salon)
  • luminate-customer-export-your-salon-name-2026-04-03.zip (individual customer)

Important: Completed exports are available for download for 24 hours. After that, the file is automatically deleted. The Expires column shows how much time remains.

Step 6: Manage Export History

The Export History table shows all your exports with their type, format, status, creation date, file size, and expiration time.

To delete an export:

  1. Click the bin icon next to the export
  2. Confirm deletion in the dialog that appears
  3. The export and its file are permanently removed

Step 7: Understanding JSON vs CSV Exports

JSON CSV
Best for Backups, migration to another salon Spreadsheets, accounting, analysis
Re-importable Yes — can be imported into a new Luminate salon No
Opens in Text editors, JSON viewers Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers
Nested data Included naturally (e.g., transaction items inside transactions) Separate files (e.g., transactions.csv + transaction_items.csv)
File structure One file per entity type + manifest One or more files per entity type + manifest

Both formats produce a ZIP file containing your data files plus a manifest.json that lists what's included and record counts.

Step 8: Export Reports to CSV or PDF

Individual reports can be exported directly from the Reports section — useful for sending specific data to your accountant or creating periodic records.

  1. Click Reports in the sidebar
  2. Choose a report from one of the grouped categories:
    • Financial Reports — Daily Revenue, Revenue by Payment Type, Accounts Receivable, Gift Vouchers, VAT Report, Colour Bar Performance
    • Customer Reports — Top Customers
    • Staff Reports — Staff Performance, Staff Commission, Hours Worked, Payroll, Leave Report
    • Messaging Reports — SMS Usage
    • Inventory Reports — Colour Stock & Reorder

The Reports landing page with its grouped categories of available reports

  1. Set the date range using the date selector
  2. Review the data on screen
  3. Click the Export button near the table heading
  4. Choose your format:
    • Export as CSV — Opens in Excel or Google Sheets
    • Export as PDF — Formatted document for printing or sharing

The Export menu open on the Daily Revenue report, showing the Export as CSV and Export as PDF options

The Export menu always lists both Export as CSV and Export as PDF; for the few reports that only produce a spreadsheet (Revenue by Payment Type, Leave Report, Payroll), choose Export as CSV.

Report Data Included Formats
Daily Revenue Date, transactions, service revenue, product revenue, subtotal, discounts, tax, revenue, tips CSV, PDF
Revenue by Payment Type Payment method, transactions, collected, refunded, net amount, % of total CSV
Accounts Receivable Customer name, email, phone, unpaid transactions, outstanding balance, oldest invoice, days overdue CSV, PDF
Gift Vouchers Code, status, initial value, current balance, value forfeited, customer, recipient name/email, issued/expiry dates, transaction ID CSV, PDF
VAT Report Period, transactions, net sales, tax amount, gross sales CSV, PDF
Colour Bar Performance Colourist summary (formulas finalised, bowls re-weighed, reweigh coverage, additional billed, colour cost); per-charge detail (date, customer, service, overage grams, rule applied, cost, charged, margin) CSV, PDF
Top Customers Customer name, email, phone, total spend, visits, average spend, last visit, first visit CSV, PDF
Staff Performance Staff name, role, transactions, items, service revenue, product revenue, total revenue, tips, commission CSV, PDF
Staff Commission Staff member, compensation type, commission band breakdown, and per-transaction commission detail (date, type, description, quantity, subtotal, rate, commission earned) CSV, PDF
Hours Worked Staff name, role, shift count, scheduled hours, working hours, break hours CSV, PDF
Payroll Staff Member, Compensation Type, Scheduled Hours, Actual Hours, Service Revenue, Product Revenue, Total Revenue, Base Pay, Commission, Tips, Gross Pay, Adjustments, Net Pay CSV
Leave Report Staff member, role, allowance, used, pending, remaining days, plus breakdown by leave type CSV
SMS Usage Date, type, reason, SMS type, amount, balance, customer (individual view); or date, credits added/used, net change, transactions (daily view) CSV, PDF
Colour Stock & Reorder Brand, product line, shade, product, role, tube size, stock on hand, current tubes, average daily usage, days to stockout, reorder status CSV, PDF

Some reports offer different views that affect what's exported. For example, the SMS Usage report can be viewed as individual entries or daily totals — the export matches whichever view you're currently looking at.

Report export files are named with the report type and date range, e.g., daily-revenue-2026-01-01-to-2026-03-31.csv.

Step 9: Download Transaction Documents

Individual transactions can be downloaded as PDFs in two formats. When viewing a transaction, you'll see tabs along the top: Details, Invoice, Receipt (plus a Rebook tab on completed transactions that are linked to a customer).

A transaction's Invoice tab, with the Download and Print buttons in the top-right

Invoice (A4 format):

  1. Go to POS in the sidebar
  2. Find and open the transaction
  3. Click the Invoice tab
  4. Click the Download button in the top-right (or Print to send straight to a printer)

Receipt (thermal printer format, 80mm width):

  1. Open the transaction as above
  2. Click the Receipt tab
  3. Click the Download button in the top-right (or Print to send straight to a printer)

Both formats include salon details, customer information, itemised pricing, and payment breakdown. Files are named invoice-{transaction number}.pdf or receipt-{transaction number}.pdf.

Step 10: Bulk Data Import (Migration)

If you're migrating to Luminate from another salon management system, bulk data import is available. This is handled by the Luminate support team.

What can be imported:

  • Staff profiles and levels
  • Customer records (including preferences and badges)
  • Tags
  • Services and products
  • Appointments
  • Transactions (with items and payments)
  • Shifts/roster data and time blocks
  • Colour test records
  • Gift vouchers

How it works:

  1. Contact support at hello@luminate.salon with details about your current system
  2. The team will help you prepare your data as a ZIP of JSON files — exactly the format produced by a JSON Full Salon export, so a JSON export from one Luminate salon imports directly into another
  3. A validation pass runs first (a dry run) to check every record before anything is written
  4. The final import is executed inside a single database transaction — it either succeeds completely or rolls back entirely, leaving no partial data

Important: Imports require a fresh salon with no existing data (other than the owner account). Plan your migration before you start entering data manually.

Step 11: Export Permissions

Role Data Exports Report Exports Transaction PDFs
Owner Yes Yes Yes
Admin Yes Yes Yes
Manager No No (can view reports but not export) Yes
Staff No No Own transactions only
Receptionist No No Yes

If you don't see the Data tab in Settings or the Export button on reports, your role doesn't have the required permission.

Common Pitfalls

"I don't see the Data tab in Settings"

You need the Owner or Admin role. The Data tab only appears for users with the export-reports permission. Ask an Owner or Admin to create the export for you.

"My export failed"

Hover over the red error icon in the Export History table to see what went wrong. In most cases, you can simply try again by creating a new export. If the problem persists, contact support.

"The download link expired"

Completed exports are only available for 24 hours. You'll need to create a new export — the old file has been automatically cleaned up.

"The CSV looks jumbled in Excel"

This can happen if Excel doesn't recognise the delimiter. Try:

  1. Open Excel first (don't double-click the CSV)
  2. Go to Data > From Text/CSV
  3. Select the file and set the delimiter to "Comma"

"Numbers are formatted as text in my CSV"

Excel sometimes treats numbers as text. Select the column, right-click, choose Format Cells, and select Number or Currency as appropriate.

"I can't start a new full salon export"

Only one full salon export can run at a time. Wait for the current export to complete (or fail), then try again. Customer exports are not affected by this limit.

Tips and Best Practices

  1. Use JSON for backups — JSON exports can be re-imported into a new Luminate salon, making them ideal for data portability and disaster recovery
  2. Use CSV for your accountant — CSV files open directly in Excel and Google Sheets, perfect for financial analysis or sharing with external parties
  3. Export monthly — Create a routine to export key reports (revenue, payroll) at the end of each month for your records
  4. Respond to GDPR requests promptly — Use the Individual Customer export to quickly package all data about a customer. UK GDPR requires you to respond within one month
  5. Download promptly — Export files expire after 24 hours, so download them as soon as they're ready
  6. Use PDF for sharing — Use PDF report exports when sharing with stakeholders who don't need to manipulate the data
  7. Name files consistently — If saving exports locally, add the salon name and date to avoid confusion, especially with multiple locations

Related Tutorials

  • Tutorial 9.2: Running Revenue Reports - Detailed revenue analysis and export
  • Tutorial 9.3: Staff Performance and Commission Reports - Staff data and payroll exports
  • Tutorial 11.2: GDPR Compliance - Data Protection and Privacy - Understanding your data obligations
  • Tutorial 14.2: Managing Payment Methods and Billing - Downloading subscription invoices

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I export all my customer data?

Yes. Use the Full Salon export in Settings > Data tab. This includes all customer records with contact details, preferences, badges, and marketing consent. For a single customer's data, use the Individual Customer export.

Can I export appointment data?

Yes. Appointments are included in both full salon exports and individual customer exports. This includes appointment times, statuses, deposits, consultation notes, and cancellation reasons.

What's the difference between Data Exports and Report Exports?

Data Exports (Settings > Data tab) export your raw data — every record in the system. Report Exports (Reports section) export summarised, filtered views of your data for a specific date range. Use Data Exports for backups and GDPR; use Report Exports for accounting and analysis.

Can I schedule automatic exports?

Automatic scheduled exports aren't currently available. You need to manually create exports as needed.

How do I handle a GDPR Subject Access Request?

Go to Settings > Data tab, select Individual Customer, search for the customer, and create a JSON or CSV export. This packages everything Luminate holds about that customer into a downloadable ZIP file. (You can also click Export Data on the customer's profile page — it deep-links to the Data tab with the customer pre-selected.)

Can I import data from a CSV or Excel file?

The bulk import system uses JSON format. If you have data in spreadsheets, contact support at hello@luminate.salon who can help convert it to the required format.

Is there a size limit on exports?

No practical limit. Full salon exports for large salons with years of data may take several minutes to process, but the system handles this in the background with progress tracking.

Can I export from multiple salons at once?

No — exports are salon-specific. Switch to each salon and create exports separately.

What happens if I delete an export?

The export record and its ZIP file are permanently removed. You can always create a new export if you need the data again.

Last Updated: June 2026