How do you export your data from Bullhorn and move to Vayora?
Bullhorn lets an admin export list views to CSV, with limits that vary by record type, and a full backup of your data, including stored files, is requested through your account or support contact. The API is the third route. Take the CSV exports for candidates, companies, contacts and jobs, ask for the backup to get CVs and documents, then load them into Vayora, which maps the columns, dedupes on the way in and lets you undo a run.
Written by the Vayora team. Updated 28 October 2026.
Moving off Bullhorn is mostly a question of which export route you use for which kind of data. The list export is quick and good for people, companies and jobs. It is not the route for stored files, and it is not built to carry the links between a candidate, a submission and a placement.
This guide follows Bullhorn's own knowledge-base page on exporting data and its REST API reference, both read on 28 October 2026. It says what each route gives you, what agencies tend to find missing, how the fields land in Vayora, and how to run the desk through the switch without a gap.
It assumes you are the owner or the person signing off the move. You do not need a developer for the CSV route, but you do need an admin login, because Bullhorn's page says only admins can export by default.
Read it alongside the general guide to how long a recruitment CRM migration takes, which covers the parts that are the same whichever system you leave.
What can you export from Bullhorn, and how?
Bullhorn's page describes three routes. The first is a CSV export from a list view: you select records, choose Selected, then Export as CSV, wait for the processing message and download the file. By default only admins can do this, and the page notes that Bullhorn does not log export history, so it advises keeping the permission with trusted users.
The second is the API. The same page says the API route for larger exports is available with the Front Office Growth or Enterprise editions, and the REST API reference describes entities such as Candidate, ClientContact, ClientCorporation, JobOrder, Placement and Note. It also says read access follows the user's entitlements, so a login that can only see its own records will export only those. That route needs someone who can write queries.
The third is the data backup: a full copy of your data including stored files, which the page says Account or Support Contacts can request. For an agency that wants every CV, this is the one to ask for first, because it takes time to arrive. Facts checked 28 October 2026.
- CSV from a list view: fastest, good for people, companies, contacts and jobs.
- API: the route for large or relational exports, with a developer.
- Data backup: the route for stored files, requested by an Account or Support Contact.
What is usually missing or awkward?
The list export gives you the columns on the view you selected, so what you get depends on how the list was built. Bullhorn's page says the number of records you can export varies by record type and entitlement, from about 5,000 to 20,000, that more columns mean fewer records, and that the Candidate Submissions column adds up to five recent submissions per candidate and can make the export fail. Admins can ask Bullhorn Support to raise the limit.
The same page does not describe notes, attachments or history as part of the CSV, and says stored files are covered by the backup. Treat those as separate pulls. Agencies also find that custom fields only appear if they are on the list view, so build the view before you export, not after.
Links are the other gap. A flat file has no way to say that this candidate was submitted to that job and placed at a given date, unless you export the submissions or placements as their own lists with candidate and job identifiers in them. Do that, and keep the identifiers as columns.
How do Bullhorn fields map to Vayora?
Vayora's importer reads each file, detects whether it holds candidates, companies, contacts, notes, pipeline entries or jobs, and proposes a column mapping for you to confirm. Anything it cannot place becomes a custom field you can accept or skip. Here is how a typical Bullhorn move lands.
| Bullhorn object | Bullhorn export route | Vayora object | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | List export to CSV | Candidate | Name, email, phone, location, title, company, LinkedIn, skills, source and tags map directly |
| Candidate custom fields | CSV, if on the list view | Custom field | Proposed as new fields; you confirm or skip each one |
| Client corporation | List export to CSV | Company | Name, website, industry, status, city, country, owner |
| Client contact | List export to CSV | Contact | Attached to the company by company name |
| Job order | List export to CSV | Role | Title, client, location, seniority and description; imported roles are matched on title and client |
| Submissions and placements | Separate list or API | Pipeline entry | Candidate email, job title, stage and date; a placement arrives as pipeline history, not as a record with fee or rate |
| Notes | API or backup | Note on candidate | Matched to the candidate by email, with author and date if in the file |
| CVs and attachments | Data backup | Candidate files | Zipped bundle; matched by filename or a filename-and-email manifest |
| Placement fees, rates, timesheets, invoices | Not in the list export | Not imported | Not imported; keep an export |
| Email history, tasks, meetings | Not in the list export | Not imported | Not imported; keep an export |
How should you clean the data before importing?
Do the cutting, not the polishing. Drop candidates with no email, phone or LinkedIn profile and no activity in years, and companies you will never call. Migrating stale personal data only moves the compliance problem. The ICO's storage limitation guidance says you should not keep personal data for longer than you need it and should be able to justify the period.
Carry the consent and source columns across with the people they describe. Do-not-contact markers matter most: Vayora honours a do-not-contact status on import by switching off email and text for that person, but only if the column is in your file. Check your own retention policy and delete what it says you should not hold.
Leave duplicates to the load. Read how matching works in duplicate candidate records, then check the review list once the import is done rather than hand-merging in a spreadsheet.
What is a sensible cutover plan for a working desk?
Request the data backup first, since it is the slow one, and do not give notice on the contract until you hold a complete export and have opened it. Read the notice period in your agreement and the end-of-term terms for returning or deleting data. Facts about your contract are in your contract, not in this guide.
Run a trial load of a real CSV, with two or three consultants checking records they know. Then choose a day. Take the final exports at close of play, load them, and start the desk in Vayora the next morning. If you want a short overlap, make Bullhorn read-only in practice: nothing new goes in, so nothing splits across two systems.
Switch the high-value work first: open roles and live pipelines, then clients you are working this week, then the wider candidate book. Keep Bullhorn available on your old contract for reference until the first week's checks are done.
- Before: request the backup, list the custom fields, agree who signs off the mapping.
- Cutover day: final exports, load, check, tell the desk.
- After: old system stays untouched until you have checked a week of work.
What should you check in the first week?
Open ten candidates you know well and compare them with Bullhorn: contact details, owner, notes, files, pipeline history. Then open three live roles and make sure every candidate in the pipeline is on the right stage.
Run a search for a role you filled recently and see whether the right people surface. Look at the Potential duplicates list and work through it. Confirm the do-not-contact people cannot be emailed. Finally, check the things that were not imported, such as fees and invoices, are in your saved exports and that someone owns finding them.
Where Vayora fits
Vayora imports CSV and Excel exports (.xlsx, not the old .xls format), proposes the field mapping itself for you to confirm, and imports candidates, companies, contacts, roles, notes and pipeline history. CVs come across as a zipped bundle. Candidates are matched on email and LinkedIn profile as the rows load, and a shared phone number is queued for review afterwards. An import of up to 5,000 rows can be undone as a whole run. A free migration service can also connect to a supported old system through an authorised connection rather than a shared password.
What it does not import: placement fees, rates, timesheets, invoices, email history, tasks and meetings. Keep a copy of those. If Bullhorn is the right fit for you, see the Vayora and Bullhorn comparison, or look at Bullhorn alternatives. When you are ready, start a free trial and load a real export before you commit.
Common questions
- Can a non-admin export from Bullhorn?
- Not by default. Bullhorn's knowledge-base page says only admins can export records to CSV and that users need the CSV export permission, which a Bullhorn admin can grant. Because Bullhorn does not log export history, the page advises giving it only to trusted users. Checked 28 October 2026.
- Why does my Bullhorn export keep failing?
- Usually because it is too wide or too large. Bullhorn's page says more columns mean fewer records can be exported, and that the Candidate Submissions column adds up to five recent submissions per candidate, which can make the file too big. Split the export into smaller files, or use the API or a backup.
- Will my CVs come across from Bullhorn?
- Not through the CSV. Bullhorn's page says stored files are covered by a full data backup, which an Account or Support Contact can request. Once you have the files, Vayora takes them as a zipped bundle and attaches each to a candidate, matched by filename or by a short filename-and-email list.
- Do I lose my placements when I leave Bullhorn?
- You lose the detail unless you export it. Vayora brings in placements as pipeline history: the candidate, the role, the stage and the date. Fees, rates and invoices are not imported, so export placements and finance records from Bullhorn and keep them with your accounts.
Sources
- Bullhorn knowledge base: Exporting data from Bullhorn
- Bullhorn REST API reference
- ICO: storage limitation
Checked 28 October 2026