Changing bookkeeping software is partly a technology project and partly a records project. Before choosing an import date, make sure you can explain what is being moved, what remains in the old system and who will resolve questions. A clean-looking dashboard is not proof that the underlying balances are complete.
The IRS recordkeeping guidance explains that records support monitoring a business, preparing financial statements and documenting tax-return items. It also notes that record needs vary with the business. Treat a software change as a chance to organize access to those records, not as permission to discard them.
Decide what the handoff includes
Ask your bookkeeper or accountant to define the cutoff date and the reports needed before work starts. Identify the bank accounts, cards, payment processors, loans and other systems involved. If several people use separate spreadsheets, list those files too. The purpose is to establish the full working picture before anyone calls the migration finished.
- Source documents: statements, receipts, invoices and supporting records.
- Reports: the agreed financial reports and reconciliation records at the cutoff.
- Open items: unpaid invoices, unpaid bills and unresolved transactions.
- System notes: account names, integrations, recurring entries and known limitations.
- Responsibilities: who exports, imports, checks totals and answers follow-up questions.
Test access before cancelling anything
An export is useful only if someone can open it and understand what it contains. Save both readable reports and any structured export your adviser requests. Keep them in an agreed business-controlled location, with access limited to people who need it. Ask what happens to attachments, audit history and older reports after a subscription ends; do not assume they travel with a transaction import.
Agree on the acceptance checks
Write down how the old and new systems will be compared. Which balances and date ranges should match? How will missing attachments, duplicates or unresolved items be recorded? Who approves the result? A short exception list is preferable to quietly changing a number just to make two screens agree.
Make the folder usable after the switch
Add a one-page index describing the cutoff, the retained files and the contact for outstanding questions. Confirm retention requirements with your qualified adviser; there is no single universal deletion date for every business document. For a Kitsap owner comparing bookkeeping help, this folder turns a vague request to “move the books” into a specific discussion about scope, security and verification.
AI-generated editorial illustration; no real business records or financial figures are shown.