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Migrate to SimpleERP: what to bring and when
You do not move years of entries. You move what the business needs on its first day: who you deal with, what you sell, what you own and owe, and who still has to pay.
Updated · 7 min read
In short
To migrate to SimpleERP, bring your masters, balances as of one start date, open invoices and bills, and stock on hand. Settings → Import data checks every file before writing anything, and each import can be undone.
Bring four things: your masters (accounts, customers, suppliers, products), balances as of one start date, each open invoice and bill, and stock on hand with its value. Leave past vouchers in the old system. SimpleERP takes them all on one page, Settings → Import data, in a fixed order.
What should you bring to SimpleERP?
Bring only what the business needs to work from day one. Everything on this list can come from a file your current software already exports.
| What | What it carries | Why you need it on day one |
|---|---|---|
| Chart of accounts | Bank, cash, loans, capital, income and expense heads | Opening balances need an account to land in |
| Customers and suppliers | Name, tax number, address, phone, email, credit days | Invoices and bills pick the party and its details |
| Products and stock | Name, SKU, unit, tax rate, prices, quantity and cost per warehouse | Billing needs the tax rate; stock value must match the books |
| Opening balances | Every account's balance on the day before you start | The trial balance must carry over |
| Open invoices and bills | Number, party, date, due date and the amount still pending | Collections and payments continue bill by bill |
| Employees | Name, joining date, department, ID numbers, bank details | Only if you will run payroll in SimpleERP |
What stays in the old system, and why?
Past vouchers, journals and reports stay in the old system, which becomes your archive. Every accounting product works this way, because re-entering history doubles the work and the chance of error while changing nothing about what you own or owe today.
How do you choose the start date?
Choose the first day of a financial year, quarter or month; the first day of your financial year is best. Each VAT, GST or sales tax return period then sits entirely in one system. The Import data page asks for it first, under Books start in SimpleERP on, and suggests the start of your current financial year.
The date is stored on every import, so the cut-over date guide is worth reading before you pick one.
In what order does the Import data page bring your data?
The page shows one card per dataset and lets you import a card only after every card above it is imported, skipped or has no file. Each step needs the one before it: an open invoice needs its customer, a balance needs its account.
- Chart of accounts: new accounts; names that already exist are skipped, never overwritten.
- Customers: matched by tax number, then code, then name.
- Suppliers: the same; a party that is already a customer becomes a supplier too.
- Products and stock: one stock adjustment per warehouse, dated the day before you start.
- Opening balances: one journal, the same one Accounting → Opening balances shows.
- Open invoices: one posted invoice per pending bill.
- Open bills: one posted bill per pending supplier bill.
- Employees: only if you run payroll here.
How do check, import and undo work?
Nothing is written until you press Import, and every import can be reversed for 30 days while nothing has been built on top of it. Files are read in your browser; only the rows of the card you check are sent.
Choose where your data is today
Pick Zoho Books, or Excel or Google Sheets for anything else, including QuickBooks and Xero exports, and set the start date.
Export and drop the files
Follow the export steps the page shows for your source. Drop the .xlsx or .csv files, up to 20 MB each. The page lists each table it found and which card it belongs to.
Check each card
Check shows how many rows will be created, updated, skipped or have errors, and lists each problem as a sentence that says what to fix. Download the errors as CSV if there are many.
Import, in order
Import is enabled once no errors remain, or when you tick Import valid rows only. Each card imports in one go: all of its rows or none.
Undo if something looks wrong
Previous imports lists every batch with an Undo button. Undo reverses the journals, cancels the documents and deletes what the import created, or refuses with a reason if, say, stock has since moved.
Who can import?
Anyone who can view business settings sees the page, but each card needs its own permission: customers need the customer manage permission, opening balances need journal permissions, and so on. A card you may not import shows Ask an admin with the permission it needs. The Owner and Admin roles can import every card.
What do you check once everything is in?
- The trial balance on the day before your start date equals the old system's
- Opening Balance Equity is zero; a balance left there means a figure is missing or doubled
- Receivables and payables per party match the old outstanding reports
- Total stock value equals the Inventory account balance
- Each bank account has its real account number, since imported banks start with a placeholder
For the accounting behind these checks, read opening balances when switching software.
Which article covers your software?
| You use today | Read next |
|---|---|
| Excel, Google Sheets or anything else | Import data from Excel or Google Sheets |
| QuickBooks or Xero | Move from QuickBooks or Xero |
| Zoho Books | Migrate from Zoho Books |
In India, the page also reads Tally Prime, Vyapar and Busy exports and GST portal downloads: see import Tally data (India), move from Vyapar (India) and move from Busy (India).
| Dataset | Read next |
|---|---|
| Chart of accounts and opening balances | Import chart of accounts and opening balances |
| Customers and suppliers | Customers and suppliers with tax numbers |
| Products and stock | Products and opening stock |
| Open invoices and bills | Import open invoices and bills |
| Employees | Import employees for payroll |
| Errors and undo | Fix import errors and undo an import |
FAQ
Questions, answered
Will my tax returns change after I move?
No. Returns for periods before your start date were prepared from the old system and stay as they are. Open invoices come across with their original dates, before the start date, and carry no tax, so tax reports you run from the start date onwards only show invoices raised in SimpleERP.
Can I keep using my old software?
Keep it for reading, not for new entries. There is no live sync, so anything entered in the old system after your export is not in SimpleERP. Enter everything from the start date in SimpleERP and keep the old books as the archive.
What if a tax number in my file is wrong?
Check reports it as a row error with the row and the format your country uses, for example: GB12345 isn't a valid VAT number, like GB980780684. Fix it in the file or clear it. You can correct the file and check again, or import the valid rows and add that party by hand.
How big a file can I upload?
Up to 20 MB per file, and you can drop several at once. Each card imports up to 20,000 rows at a time; above that, the page asks you to split the file.
What if I imported the wrong file?
Open Previous imports and press Undo on that batch within 30 days. Undo is all or nothing: if a product has had stock movements or an invoice has a payment against it, it stops and tells you what is in the way.
Related
Keep reading
From Excel or Google Sheets
Download a template per list, fill it in Excel or Google Sheets, and upload .xlsx or CSV files. Columns match by name and every row is checked first.
Read moreFrom QuickBooks or Xero
Export customers, suppliers, products, the trial balance and unpaid invoices and bills from QuickBooks Online or Xero, and bring them into SimpleERP checked and in order.
Read moreFrom Zoho Books
Export customers, vendors, items, the chart of accounts and open invoices and bills from Zoho Books, and bring them into SimpleERP checked and in order.
Read moreCustomers and suppliers
The columns, how existing parties are matched, tax number and phone checks, and how each party's opening balance is posted on the cut-over date.
Read moreProducts and opening stock
The product columns, how tax, units and SKUs are handled, and how opening stock is posted per warehouse at cost on the cut-over date.
Read moreAccounts and opening balances
How account types from your old software become SimpleERP accounts, which system accounts are skipped, and how the opening balances journal is matched and posted.
Read moreOpen invoices and bills
Bring unpaid sales invoices and purchase bills across bill by bill, so collections, payments and ageing continue from your cut-over date.
Read moreEmployees
Bring your employee list across from a spreadsheet with codes, departments, ID numbers and bank details, ready for salary structures and payroll.
Read moreFix errors and undo
How the import check works, the common errors and their fixes, why a second upload never duplicates masters, and how to undo an import within 30 days.
Read moreChoosing the cut-over date
Whether to move to new accounting software at the start of your financial year or mid-year, with a decision table, a worked trial balance and what your accountant needs.
Read moreOpening balances
What opening balances are, why Opening Balance Equity must end at zero, and a worked cut-over from a trial balance with parties, stock and fixed assets.
Read more
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