Migration

How to migrate your financial data from another accounting system into Basis Accounting.

Migration Strategy

There are two approaches:

For most businesses, a clean cutover is simpler and less error-prone. You enter balances as of a specific date and begin recording new transactions in Basis from that date onward.

Step 1 — Prepare Your Data

From your current system, export:

1. Chart of Accounts — Account codes, names, and types.
2. Parties list — Customers and vendors with contact info, payment terms, and tax IDs.
3. Items list — Products and services with default prices and tax categories.
4. Trial Balance — As of your cutover date (the last day in your old system).
5. Open AR invoices — Unpaid customer invoices as of cutover.
6. Open AP invoices — Unpaid vendor bills as of cutover.
7. Inventory quantities — Stock on hand per item per location as of cutover.

Step 2 — Set Up Master Data in Basis

1. Enter your Chart of Accounts manually or use the default template as a starting point.
2. Import parties using the bulk import tool (Parties → Import CSV).
3. Import items using the bulk import tool (Items → Import CSV).

CSV Format — Parties

code,name,type,email,phone,tax_id,payment_terms_days
C001,PT Maju Jaya,Customer,info@majujaya.com,+62811000001,01.234.567.8-910.000,30
V001,CV Sumber Makmur,Vendor,order@sumbermakmur.com,+62812000002,,45

CSV Format — Items

code,name,type,unit,price_sell,price_buy,tax_category,account_sell,account_buy
INV-001,Laptop 14in,Inventory,pcs,15000000,12000000,VAT 11%,4-1100,5-1100
SVC-001,Installation Service,Service,job,500000,,VAT 11%,4-2100,

Step 3 — Enter Opening Balances

Go to Settings → Opening Balances and enter:

• GL account balances from your trial balance.
• Open AR invoices (creates individual invoice records in the AR module).
• Open AP invoices (creates individual bill records in the AP module).
• Inventory opening stock quantities and average costs.

See Opening Balances for the detailed procedure.

Step 4 — Verify

Before going live, verify:

1. Trial balance matches — The sum of all opening balances in Basis equals your old system's trial balance.
2. AR aging matches — Open invoices in Basis match the AR aging report from your old system.
3. AP aging matches — Same for vendor bills.
4. Inventory value matches — Total inventory value in Basis matches your old system.

Warning: Do not start recording new transactions until the verification step is complete. Errors found early are far easier to fix.

Common Issues