Loading open items and opening balances

Why open items, not full history

Most new finance systems start from a clean point. You load your customers and suppliers, then the invoices still unpaid on your last day in Exchequer, then your stock on hand. Everything older stays in your archive. It's quicker, cleaner and easier to check.

The three files you need

• SalesOpenItems: every unpaid sales invoice and credit, with your reference, account, dates, currency, total and amount outstanding
• PurchaseOpenItems: the same for suppliers
• StockItemBalances: quantity, cost price and value for each item at each location

Here's how the sales file looks, using the Exchequer demo company:

Step by step

1. Extract at a period end. Close the period in Exchequer, then run the tool for open items and stock balances only. It takes minutes.
2. Check the totals. Add up the outstanding column and compare it with your aged debtors and creditors reports and your control accounts. They should agree.
3. Map your codes. If account or stock codes change in the new system, add a column and use VLOOKUP against a mapping sheet.
4. Watch the signs. In the purchase file, amounts outstanding show as negative numbers. Check what sign your new system expects.
5. Load and reconcile. Import into the new system as opening invoices and stock, then check its aged reports match Exchequer's.

Practise first

Run the same steps with an earlier period to test the import and train your team. Because you can run the tool as often as you like, a practice load costs nothing extra. When go-live comes, you repeat the steps with the final numbers.