How to Export and Verify Your Bonsai Account Data

Bonsai, also known as Hello Bonsai, lets you download several kinds of account data as CSV files. Before depending on a file, confirm that you chose the right dataset, preserve the untouched download, inspect its structure, and reconcile at least one known record.

This guide explains how to export Bonsai data and verify what you received. Separate exports can support record keeping, analysis, or a later migration project, but they are not proof of a complete, restorable account backup.

Quick Answer: Export the Right Dataset, Then Verify a Known Record

Use this sequence:

1. Identify the Bonsai dataset that contains the records you need.
2. Export that dataset as a CSV file.
3. Preserve the original download unchanged.
4. Inspect its headers, field count, row count, and value formats.
5. Compare at least one exported row with a record you already know in Bonsai.
6. Record which datasets and behaviors you did not validate.

Bonsai documents separate exports, not one combined archive. If you depend on several datasets, you need several downloads and a verification record for each. Do not label that collection a complete backup without independent evidence of its contents and restore behavior.

What Bonsai Lets You Export

Bonsai’s current account-data export documentation lists seven CSV datasets:

• Invoices
• Projects
• Tasks
• Expenses
• Companies
• Company Addresses
• Time Tracked

The documentation says each dataset is downloaded separately as its own CSV. This is the vendor-documented availability as retrieved on October 12, 2026.

Exploripo also saw all seven choices in the Bonsai interface during a hands-on test on September 12, 2026. However, we downloaded and inspected only Time Tracked. The presence of the other six buttons confirms that the choices were visible; it does not prove their schemas, row completeness, or suitability for your workflow.

Step 1: Decide What You Actually Need to Preserve

Map the records you expect to use later to Bonsai’s exact export names. A time audit may require Time Tracked; a client directory may require Companies and Company Addresses; a project record may require Projects and Tasks. Expenses and invoices use their own datasets.

“Export everything” can mean seven downloads, and those files may not represent every document, attachment, relationship, or historical state. Record each export’s purpose and expected date range.

Do not assume one convenient dataset contains adjacent information. Time Tracked is not a substitute for an invoice export or original client documents.

Step 2: Export One Dataset at a Time

Bonsai’s current documented path is:

1. Sign in and select the profile icon in the top-left corner.
2. Open Company Settings.
3. Select Data.
4. Find Download Data (CSV).
5. Choose one dataset and download its CSV file.

During Exploripo’s September 2026 test, the route began from My Account, then opened Settings and Data. Menu wording can change, so the current vendor instructions should control the navigation while the dated screenshot remains evidence of what we saw.

Keep the original download unchanged. Sort, clean, convert, or rename columns only in a copy. Store the original in a folder named for the dataset and export date so you retain a reference if spreadsheet software reformats values.

Export one dataset at a time and log the result before continuing. This helps expose missing or duplicated files.

Step 3: Inspect the File Before You Trust It

Open a working copy in a spreadsheet or text-aware CSV viewer. Check:

• the filename and .csv file type;
• whether a header row is present;
• the number and names of fields;
• the number of data rows;
• empty or unexpected columns;
• how dates, timestamps, durations, currencies, and identifiers are represented.

Do not impose one universal schema across all Bonsai exports. The seven datasets serve different purposes, and Exploripo inspected only the Time Tracked schema. A header that is appropriate for tracked time says nothing about the fields included in Companies or Invoices.

Spreadsheet applications may reinterpret long numbers, dates, or locale-sensitive values. Compare suspicious values with the untouched original. A file that opens successfully is not yet evidence that the expected records are present.

Step 4: Reconcile One Known Record

The strongest check is a control record whose expected values are already known. Exploripo created a fictional project named Website Usability Audit for Northstar Studio, then recorded one billable task entry on September 12, 2026. The entry was 1 hour 15 minutes at CZK 1,200 per hour.

The downloaded Time Tracked CSV contained one data row and 15 fields. It recorded the client, project, task, note, raw and formatted duration, rate, billing status, owner, service, tags, creation timestamp, and work date. The key reconciliation was:

• exported raw duration: 4500 seconds;
• exported formatted duration: 01:15:00;
• conversion: 4,500 seconds = 75 minutes = 1.25 hours;
• exported rate: 1200.0;
• expected value: 1.25 × CZK 1,200 = CZK 1,500.

The Bonsai project screen, draft invoice, and timesheet all showed the expected 1 hour 15 minutes and CZK 1,500 result. The CSV also matched the known company, project, task, work note, and Unbilled status. Blank service and tag fields remained present as blank values rather than disappearing from the schema.

This is a successful reconciliation of one known record in one downloaded dataset. It does not prove that all tracked-time history would export from a larger account, and it does not validate any of the other six datasets.

Step 5: Check Dates, Units, Currency, and IDs

Look beyond values that merely appear familiar. In Exploripo’s Time Tracked file, created_at contained a UTC timestamp, while date contained the work date without a time. Duration appeared both as formatted time and as raw seconds. Those representations were internally consistent in the tested row.

The rate appeared as 1200.0, but the CSV had no separate currency field. The CZK context came from the tested Bonsai workspace and its related project and invoice screens. Someone receiving only the CSV would need that context documented rather than guessing the currency from the number.

The tested file related the entry to the client, project, and task by names. Its 15 headers did not include an obvious time-entry ID, project ID, or client ID. That does not prove other Bonsai datasets omit identifiers; their schemas were not inspected. It does mean you should check how every file represents relationships before assuming that rows can be joined reliably.

For every export, check timezone, duration units, currency context, identifiers, and how relationships are represented.

Step 6: Repeat the Check for Every Dataset You Depend On

A pass for Time Tracked is not inherited by Invoices, Projects, Tasks, Expenses, Companies, or Company Addresses. If any of those records matter to your purpose, export and validate them separately.

Maintain a compact log like this verified example:

Dataset	Expected records	Exported records	Known control	Result	Limitation
Time Tracked	1	1	4,500 seconds; rate 1,200; known client, project, task, and note	Pass	One row in one dataset; no large-account or completeness test

For another dataset, record the expected count, then compare a known record. If the count or control does not match, pause before transforming or importing the file and investigate scope, status, dates, permissions, or product limits.

What an Export Does Not Automatically Prove

A successful CSV download does not automatically prove:

• that every expected record was included;
• that relationships between separate datasets remain intact;
• that attachments, PDFs, forms, or client documents are preserved;
• that Bonsai or another system can restore the files;
• that a third-party platform can import them without loss;
• that future import requirements will remain compatible;
• that the files satisfy accounting, tax, legal, or retention obligations.

Bonsai describes export as useful for backup, reporting, analysis, or transfer. That describes intended uses, not a guarantee that several CSV files form a full account backup. Your verification must be based on the exact records and later uses that matter to you. Seek appropriately qualified advice for legal, accounting, tax, or formal retention requirements.

If You Plan to Import the Data Somewhere Else

Treat export and import as two separate tests. Bonsai’s current import documentation lists Companies, Paid Invoices, Time Entries, and Expenses as supported imports. It recommends using the provided template, mapping uploaded columns, reviewing a preview, and checking column alignment, field matching, and formatting before confirmation.

Those controls describe import into Bonsai. They do not prove that a Bonsai export will fit another vendor’s schema, nor do they establish a lossless round trip back into Bonsai. The current import list is also not identical to the seven export choices: Projects, Tasks, and Company Addresses are not listed among the four supported import types in that article.

Before a real migration, test a small controlled copy in the destination system and verify mapping, required fields, relationships, duplicates, and rejected rows. Exploripo did not perform a third-party migration or restore test.

Before Downgrading, Cancelling, or Leaving Bonsai

Before changing account state:

1. Identify every dataset you rely on.
2. Export each required dataset separately.
3. Preserve the original files unchanged.
4. Reconcile a known control in every important export.
5. Record the export date, account context, and unresolved limitations.
6. Verify separately any attachments or documents not represented in CSV.
7. Confirm what the current account state will continue to expose.

Bonsai’s current Limited-plan documentation says this restricted state follows cancellation or downgrade and still permits editing account settings, including importing and exporting account data. It also documents reduced functionality elsewhere. Exploripo did not cancel or downgrade the test account, so continued Limited-plan access is vendor-documented, not hands-on verified here.

Avoid fear-based assumptions about immediate data loss. Instead, verify access against the current terms and your actual account state before making a change.

What Exploripo Observed

Exploripo’s hands-on test took place on September 12, 2026 in a registered workspace that showed no active subscription; the optional trial was not activated.

Hands-on observed

• The Data page displayed seven separate CSV choices: Invoices, Projects, Tasks, Expenses, Companies, Company Addresses, and Time Tracked.
• Time Tracked downloaded without a visible paywall or trial activation.
• The file contained one data row and 15 fields.
• Its 4500 seconds matched 01:15:00, or 1.25 hours.
• The 1200.0 rate corresponded to the tested CZK 1,200 hourly rate.
• The expected value was CZK 1,500, matching the project, draft invoice, and timesheet evidence.
• Client, project, task, note, and Unbilled status matched the controlled record.

Vendor-documented only

• Current availability of the six export datasets that Exploripo did not download.
• The current profile icon → Company Settings → Data export path.
• Import templates, mapping, preview, and supported import types.
• Import/export access in the post-cancellation or downgraded Limited state.

Not tested

• The files or schemas produced by the other six export choices.
• A complete-account backup or restoration.
• Migration into another platform or a round-trip import.
• Preservation of every attachment, PDF, form, or document.
• Long-term archival fidelity or large-account export behavior.

Final Pass / Revise / Stop Checklist

Pass

• The required dataset is identified and exported.
• The original file is preserved unchanged.
• Headers, fields, and rows have been inspected.
• At least one known control reconciles.
• Untested scope and limitations are recorded.

Revise

• Headers differ from what the workflow requires.
• Expected fields are absent or row counts do not match.
• Units, timestamps, currency, or IDs are ambiguous.
• Relationships depend on undocumented assumptions.

Revise the export plan or supporting documentation, not the untouched source file. Then repeat the control check.

Stop

• Required records are missing.
• A known control cannot be reconciled.
• The file structure is not understood.
• Separate CSVs are being treated as a complete backup without evidence.
• Restore or migration compatibility is being assumed instead of tested.

What to Check Next

Read the Exploripo Bonsai review for the wider client, project, time, billing, and plan assessment. Browse the Everyday Productivity category for other tested tools.

For this export task, the safest conclusion is deliberately narrow: Bonsai exposed seven separate CSV choices, and Exploripo successfully verified one Time Tracked row. Apply the same record-level discipline to every additional dataset you plan to depend on.