A new system with old, unreconciled data produces wrong reports faster. That's why we treat data migration as a project within the project, with an owner, phases and rehearsals, not as a technical step on go-live day.
What to bring
- Master data: customers, vendors, products with their units and codes, and the chart of accounts.
- Opening balances: account balances, aged customer and vendor balances, and stock quantities and cost in each location.
- Open documents: unfinished sales and purchase orders, and unpaid invoices.
What to leave behind
Moving years of detailed transactions is rarely worth the effort. In most cases, balances at the go-live date are enough, with the old system or a copy of its data kept for reference. Inactive products and customers are a chance to clean up, not to migrate.
Clean before you move
- Remove duplicate products and align their codes.
- Complete business customer data: VAT number and national address, because e-invoicing needs them.
- Reconcile customer and vendor balances against their statements before migration, not after.
- Run a physical stock count close to the go-live date.
Rehearse more than once
The first migration rehearsal always uncovers problems nobody expected. We recommend at least two rehearsals on a test copy before go-live, each followed by a line-by-line reconciliation of Odoo balances against the old system, signed off in writing by finance.
Post-migration reconciliation checklist
- The trial balance in Odoo equals the old system's at the go-live date.
- Total customer and vendor balances and their ageing match.
- Stock quantities and value in each warehouse match the latest count.
- A sample of open invoices shows the right amount and date.
Choose the go-live date carefully
The start of a month or fiscal quarter makes reconciliation much easier. Avoid peak sales weeks and your VAT return deadline, so go-live pressure doesn't coincide with business pressure.
In MUNSAQ projects, data migration, its rehearsals and the reconciliation afterwards are part of the core scope, and go-live doesn't start until finance has signed off the balances.
