Moving from Excel to accounting software is less about the software and more about the data. Get your lists clean before you start and the move is quick. Skip that step and you carry your old mistakes into the new system.
Choose your cut-over date
Start at the beginning of a month, or of a financial year if you can. A clean date means opening balances are simple: everything before it is the old system, everything after is the new one.
Clean the lists
- Customers and suppliers. Remove duplicates, fix names and addresses, and add the tax and contact details you will need.
- Chart of accounts. Keep it simple. Ask your accountant to confirm it before you load it.
- Stock list. Give each item one code and one name, with a unit and a cost. Retire items you no longer sell.
- Staff list. If payroll is moving too, check names, identity details, salaries and statutory numbers.
Agree the opening balances
Decide with your accountant what to carry over: normally the closing balances for bank, debtors, creditors and stock at the cut-over date, rather than every old transaction. Keep the old spreadsheets for reference.
Get the data in the right shape
If your data can be exported to Excel, it can be migrated. E Stream’s process for SQL products is to export your data into its Excel template, then contact them for the migration. On our side, data that can be exported to Excel can be moved across, and migration is charged separately.
Check before you go live
- The trial balance agrees with your last accounts.
- Debtors and creditors ageing match the lists.
- Stock quantities and values match your last stock take.
- A handful of real transactions post correctly.
Train the people who will use it
Decide who enters what, who approves, and who runs month-end. Training is available on site or online, depending on how complex your set-up is.
How long it takes
For SQL Accounting, we typically see 1 week for set-up, and 2 weeks when data has to be migrated. Once you confirm you are going ahead, we ask for your current invoices, stock list and staff list, which are needed for customisation and integration.
After go-live
Run a month in parallel if you can, checking the new system against the old sheet. Support is through a WhatsApp channel, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, excluding public holidays, and it is unlimited.