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How to export AccuLynx job files, photos and documents
By SourceX Editorial · Updated
Short answer
An AccuLynx export works best as three separate pulls: structured job and financial data, documents saved to each job, and photos with their job references intact. Confirm with AccuLynx which bulk options your subscription includes, test one job end to end, and keep a manifest that ties every exported file back to its job number.
Key takeaways
- Plan the export by record family, because structured job data, job documents and job photos each need a different route.
- Ask AccuLynx in writing which bulk export, API and offboarding options your plan includes and how long access lasts after the contract ends.
- Original photo files keep capture details that PDF reports and screenshots lose.
- A manifest linking every file to a job number is what keeps a roofing archive usable later.
- Insurance supplements and adjuster correspondence are often the most valuable records and the easiest to miss.
What sits inside a roofing job file?#
A roofing job file in AccuLynx, as in most roofing CRMs, holds the path of a job from first lead to final payment. Exporting it well means knowing which pieces are structured fields, which are attached documents and which are photos, because each comes out a different way.
List the record families your company actually uses before anyone clicks export. A retail reroofing business and a storm restoration business use the same software very differently, and the export plan should follow your workflow rather than the menu.
| Record family | What it shows | Export route to confirm | Keep with it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead and contact record | Lead source, homeowner, property, sales rep | Report or list export to spreadsheet | Job number, created date, lead source |
| Inspection and measurements | Roof condition, measurement report, pitch and area | Document download per job | Job number, report date, report provider |
| Estimates and contracts | Scope, line items, signed agreement | Document download; estimate fields through reports where available | Estimate version and signed date |
| Insurance claim details and supplements | Carrier, claim reference, adjuster notes, approved scope changes | Claim fields through reports; supplements as documents | Claim reference and supplement sequence |
| Material orders and work orders | Supplier order, delivery, crew assignment | Report export plus order documents | Job number, order date, crew |
| Photos and videos | Damage, tear-off, progress and completion | Per-job download or a bulk option | Job number, capture time, album or tag |
| Invoices, payments and commissions | Billing, deposits, insurance checks, rep commissions | Financial reports and the accounting system | Job number and invoice number |
| Notes and messages | Internal discussion, homeowner and adjuster communication | Confirm whether notes appear in exports or only on screen | Author role and timestamp |
Which AccuLynx export routes should you ask about?#
The AccuLynx export routes worth asking about are the ones that move many jobs at once, because job-by-job downloads do not scale across years of history. Options and limits depend on your subscription and can change, so get answers from AccuLynx support or your account manager in writing and check the current help documentation.
Ask the same questions about every system AccuLynx connects to. If invoices sync to an accounting system, or a separate photo app holds a parallel copy of site photos, that system may offer a cleaner route for part of the archive.
- Report exports: whether job, financial and production reports can cover every job back to your start date, and which columns they include.
- Bulk document and photo downloads: whether files for many jobs can be downloaded together, and how folders are named.
- API access: whether your plan includes it, which records it exposes, and whether photo files and their details are reachable.
- Offboarding: whether AccuLynx provides a full data extract when you leave, in what format and at what cost.
- Connected systems: accounting, measurement and photo apps that may already hold copies of invoices, reports or images.
- Access after cancellation: how long you can still log in or request data once the contract ends.
- 01Your work records
- 02Personal details removed
- 03You approve the release
- 04Licensed to AI developers
Step-by-step export plan for a roofing operations lead#
A step-by-step export plan keeps an AccuLynx export from turning into an unordered folder of PDFs. The order below moves from structured data to documents to photos and checks completeness at each stage.
The single-job test in step four is the most important check. It shows whether notes, supplements and photo albums came through before you rely on the same route for the whole archive.
- Step 1: find the notice date in your contract and plan backward from it, leaving room for retries.
- Step 2: export a master job list with job number, status, key dates, address reference, trade and sales rep.
- Step 3: export financial and production reports for the full date range, splitting by year if a large report fails.
- Step 4: pick one completed insurance job, export everything for it, and compare the result with what you see on screen.
- Step 5: run document and photo exports, foldered or named by job number.
- Step 6: build a manifest listing every file with its job number, type and date, and reconcile file counts against the job list.
- Step 7: keep two copies, one offline, and restrict access because the archive holds homeowner details.
How do you keep photo metadata intact?#
Photo metadata stays intact when you export the original image files rather than reports, screenshots or PDFs that embed the images. Original files can carry capture time, device details and sometimes location in their embedded data, while a PDF page keeps only the picture.
Original files can still lose context. Renaming, compressing or passing photos through messaging apps can strip embedded data, and the album, tag or caption that explained a photo usually lives in the application rather than in the file. Record those fields in the manifest so each photo still says which job, which stage and which slope it shows.
| Detail | Where it usually lives | How to preserve it |
|---|---|---|
| Capture date and time | Embedded file data | Export originals and avoid recompression |
| Location | Embedded file data, if the device recorded it | Keep in a restricted copy; remove before any outside use |
| Job number | Application and folder name | Folder by job number and list it in the manifest |
| Album, tag or caption | Application only | Capture it in the manifest during export |
| Who took the photo | Application user record | Record a role, not a name, in shared copies |
What usually goes missing in a roofing CRM migration?#
The records that usually go missing in a roofing CRM migration are the ones that explain decisions: insurance supplements, adjuster correspondence, internal notes and the sequence of estimate versions. A new system typically imports contacts, open jobs and balances and leaves closed history behind.
Supplements are a common gap because they are often stored as attachments rather than fields. A job can show a final approved amount with nothing explaining how the scope grew from the first estimate. Export every estimate version and supplement, and keep them in date order.
Deactivated users create another gap. When a sales rep or production manager leaves, some systems keep their notes but hide or blank the author, so exports lose who said what. Record role and team in the manifest so the history stays readable.
Illustrative: a storm restoration roofer archives before switching#
Illustrative: a fictional storm restoration roofing company has run on AccuLynx for several years and is moving to a different platform after merging with a siding contractor. The new system will import open jobs only, and the old contract ends at the close of the quarter.
The operations lead runs the single-job test first and finds that supplements came through as documents, but internal notes did not appear in the standard report. She asks AccuLynx support about a full extract, exports reports year by year and builds a manifest linking each photo folder and supplement to its job number and claim reference.
The archive lands on company storage with an offline copy. When the owners later complete a metadata-only fit check, they can say exactly which years, record families and job types survived, without reopening the old system.
How SourceX treats roofing job archives#
SourceX treats roofing job archives as supplier-held records. In the Supply step of the SourceX five-step transaction of Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery, the company describes its systems, years and record families, and no files move during the initial assessment.
Large photo archives stay in the company's own storage or ship on encrypted drives, because SourceX does not host multi-terabyte datasets. If a package proceeds, preparation removes homeowner names, addresses, phone numbers and identifying photo details such as faces, house numbers and license plates, and the company approves the final scope before delivery.
Frequently asked questions
Does canceling AccuLynx delete job files right away?
Contract terms vary, so read your agreement and ask your account manager in writing how long data stays accessible after the term ends and whether a full extract is available. Do not assume a grace period. Finish and verify exports before the notice date rather than after access changes.
Is a PDF job report good enough as an archive?
A PDF report is useful for someone reading one job, but weak as an archive. It flattens structured fields, often embeds reduced-quality images and drops file-level photo data. Keep PDFs if you have them, and pair them with spreadsheet exports and original photo files.
Who on the team should run the export?
An operations or office manager who knows the job workflow should own it, with help from whoever administers AccuLynx. The person who owns the workflow can tell when a supplement, note thread or photo album is missing. An outside IT contractor alone may export everything and still miss what matters.
Should the archive keep homeowner details?
Keep them in the internal archive if you need them for warranties, collections or legal reasons, and restrict access. For any outside use, including a data license, names, addresses, phone numbers and identifying photo details are removed during preparation, so a clean job number reference matters more than names.
Can we export only insurance jobs?
You can if your reports filter by job type or claim status, but keep the full job list even if you archive files for a subset. The list shows context, such as how retail and insurance work shifted over the years, and it costs little to store.
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