Import Dunning Configuration from a Sandbox
Applies to: Advanced Billing
Last updated on Oct 19, 2026
After you test your Dunning Schedules on a sandbox, you can import them into your live site instead of rebuilding every Schedule, step, email and product assignment there. The import shows you a preview of every change before anything on your live site is modified.
Before you start
The import runs from the live site you want to update, and copies from a sandbox in the same account. Check the following before you start:
- You import into a live site only. A sandbox or other test site can be a source, but never the site being updated.
- You have access to both sites. Your team member account needs the manages product catalog, settings, and integrations permission on the live site and on the sandbox. Admins have it by default. Only sandboxes where you have that permission are listed. If none qualify, the button is disabled and the page says that no sandbox sites are available to import from.
- Products and Product Families match by handle. A Schedule assigned to a Product or Product Family in the sandbox is imported only when the live site has an active Product or a Product Family with the same handle.
What the import copies
The import copies dunning configuration, never transactional data. It brings over:
- Credit Card, ACH, Remittance and Direct Debit Dunning Schedules, both the All Products Schedule for each type and Schedules assigned to specific Products or Product Families.
- The dunning email templates used by each Schedule's steps.
- Email layouts those templates use. A layout with the same name on your live site is reused, matched regardless of capitalization; otherwise the layout is created.
- The dunning settings you select in the preview: Dunning emails "from" address, BCC recipients for dunning emails, and Apply dunning for remittance invoices issued after. A setting is copied only when the sandbox has a value for it, so an import never clears a value on your live site.
The import doesn't copy customers, subscriptions, invoices, payments, payment gateways or their credentials, webhooks, or prepaid dunning. It doesn't change the sandbox.
How each schedule is handled
The preview lists every sandbox Schedule by payment method, with the Product or Product Family it applies to, the sandbox Schedule, the matching live Schedule, and a result. Each result tells you what the import does with that Schedule:
| Result | What happens |
|---|---|
| Will be created | The live site has no Schedule of that type for that scope, so the sandbox Schedule is created. |
| Identical, skipped | The live Schedule already has the same steps, settings and email content. Nothing changes. |
| Replaces default | The live site still has its untouched default Schedule, which is replaced with the sandbox Schedule. |
| Conflict | The live site has a different Schedule, so it's kept, and the preview explains why. For example, the sandbox may still use its default Schedule. If you configured the live Schedule, you can choose to replace it. |
| Blocked | The Schedule can't be imported. The preview gives the reason. |
A Product or Product Family Schedule is blocked when the live site has no All Products Schedule of the same type and the sandbox's All Products Schedule can't be imported either. Other common reasons for a block are a Product or Product Family with no matching handle on your live site, a step that sends an email but has no email template in the sandbox, and a Schedule with no steps.
A default or configured live Schedule that has subscriptions in active dunning is never replaced. The preview shows it as a conflict and explains why. Make any changes to that Schedule on your live site instead.
The preview also lists additional changes the import makes to your live site, such as turning on custom net terms when it creates your first Remittance Schedule, and it warns you when an email step references a handle or URL that may differ on your live site.
Import from a sandbox
The import runs in the background, and you can close the window while it runs.
WARNING: Replacing a live Schedule overwrites its steps and emails, and the import can't be undone automatically. Compare the steps carefully before you select Replace and import.
To import dunning configuration from a sandbox
- On your live site, go to Config > Retries & Dunning.
- Select Import from sandbox.
- In Sandbox site, select the sandbox to copy from, then select Review changes.
- Review the result for each Schedule, any additional changes and warnings, and the Settings list. Select each setting you want to copy. Settings stay unchanged unless you select them.
- To overwrite a Schedule shown as a conflict, select Replace the production schedule for it. The sandbox and live steps are shown side by side so you can compare them.
- Select Continue.
- Review the summary of the changes to your live site, then select Import into production. If you didn't choose to replace any Schedules, the import starts.
- If you chose to replace any Schedules, review the list of live Schedules that the import overwrites, then select Replace and import.
When the import finishes, the window lists the Schedules that were imported, replaced, skipped as identical, and blocked, along with the settings applied. If the import fails, no changes are made to your live site. Running the same import again reports the Schedules you already imported as identical and creates no duplicates.
Only one import can run on a live site at a time. If you start another while one is in progress, wait for the first to finish, then try again.
Related information
To test your Schedules on the sandbox before you import them, see Test Dunning and Simulate Payment Failures.
To create a sandbox from your live site, see Create and Use Sandbox Sites.
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