Frequently Asked Questions
Migration to Xero
There really is no limit. Typically we find our clients migrate the current financial year and one prior year's data to enable comparisons to be carried out on reports.
If you require more data to be migrated then this can be discussed and added into our fixed price proposal. Options include full migration of transactional data, migration of trial balance movement on a monthly basis, a combination of the above. Perhaps you want 3 years of transactional data and then trial balance movement for an additional 4 years. That is not a problem for us!
A standard migration can take up to 5 working days, slightly longer if departments and/or foreign currency are involved. During this time, we would ask that nothing is posted to your old accounting system, to maintain the clean cut off between systems.
When we are planning the migration, we can liaise with you to ensure that any downtime is not at critical times of the month, i.e. when customer statements etc need to be sent.
However, we know that is not always possible to have no accounting system in place, no matter how short a time. You have to still maintain the running of your business. In such a case, we would advise you to continue posting on your existing system, but keeping the transactions to a bear minimum.Â
Once the migration is complete, we would then complete a final exercise to bring across any additional transactions from your old system to Xero, so that everything is up to date. During this time, you would be able to start posting on Xero and we would work in the background, to enable a seamless switch between systems.
Of course! Projects and departments can both be migrated from Sage to Xero. Our migration service also includes a full reconciliation back to Sage, to ensure that everything has been allocated to the correct project/department in Xero.
Yes! When we complete a migration, we will migrate all foreign currency transactions as at the exchange rates that were used in your original system.Â
Moving forwards, Xero uses XE.com for daily rates for all of your foreign currency transactions.
We would aim to have a standard migration completed within 5-7 working days of starting. If there are a lot of unreconciled items in your existing system, departments/projects or foreign currency then this can take up to 10 working days.
The timeframe would be outlined to you as part of your fixed price proposal for the migration.
We would love to! Here at BookCheck X our staff are all Xero Certified and from a bookkeeping or accounts background. We have the skills in house to train you and get you set up and ready to go with Xero.
In a word – anything. The most common we’ve handled are: Sage Line 50, QuickBooks and Excel. Sage 200 is an example of an unusual conversion, completed successfully. It doesn't matter what software you're using, we can migrate it. BookCheck X - a safe pair of Xero certified hands.
Yes you are in full control. We do like to have a clean cut off for a migration - normally a the end of a VAT period or your financial year end. However, we can discuss and timetable the migration to best suit you and your schedules!
Add-on Development
BookCheck X will conduct several scoping sessions with you to list your requirements for an add-on. Generally these are split into 'Must haves' and 'Nice to haves'.Â
Once we have a list of your requirements and the pain points you are trying to solve, we would then begin our research.Â
We identify the leading add-ons that are designed for your needs - usually there are 5 - 6 add-ons that appear to fit at first glance. We then critique these against your list of 'Must haves' and 'Nice to haves'.
As part of our research, we also test the software to ensure that we are confident that it meets the scope that has been defined at the beginning of this process.
We then report back to you with our findings. This will include detail of all the add-ons we have looked at, even if some have been discounted as viable options to show you why we have rejected an add-on. This report also contains information on the costs of the add-ons (excluding any BookCheck X onboarding fees - this will be quoted separately if required), to enable you to make an informed decision of which add-on to proceed with.
In a word - Yes! We have vast experience of add-ons, including cases where multiple add-ons have been onboarded in conjunction with each other, to provide a solution to a complicated set of needs.
Quote often, Xero has been discounted as a viable option for a client's accounting software until add-ons have been looked at.
Once Xero and add-ons are considered, all needs can be met and this combined solution is often a lot more cost effective than moving to a system such as SAP.
Of course! We appreciate that sometimes you have already searched the add-on marketplace and know exactly which one you want to use.
That is not a problem for BookCheck X - we can be on hand to assist with the onboarding, or even manage the whole project if that is what is required.
Here at BookCheck X we understand that sometimes needs change, or a feature becomes more of a priority once you start looking at changing software. This is not a problem.
If we are still in the research stage, then we can tweak the specifications of your project and take the research in another direction.Â
If the research has been completed, but further research is needed, then we can discuss and arrange for this to be undertaken.
Even if we are halfway through onboarding an add-on and needs change, we can adjust our timetable and conduct further research (if needed).Â
All of the above may be subject to an additional proposal, but this will be discussed depending on the progress of the project.
The key objective is to get you up and running with the right add-on for you, so that you can start seeing the time and money savings.
This really depends on the type of add-on. Some are simply bolt-ons to Xero which will help with a single process. Typically these can take as little as 2 working days to get set up.
Other add-ons are complete changes to front-end systems, where Xero is almost a bolt-on to the add-on! Inevitably these take more time and careful planning.
When your fixed price proposal is issued for the onboarding of an add-on, approximate timings will be detailed.
Before any work on add-on installation commences, a timetable will be set out with you so that you are fully aware of the expected timeframe and anything that falls within your responsibilities, i.e. providing certain data.
Sometimes this does happen. At BookCheck X our solutions are not always an add-on.
We can draw on our expert team to build complex models in excel and google sheets to manipulate data outside of any software for easy import into Xero, if this is required.
Add-ons Audit
Nothing! Our Xero Add-on Audit is a free of charge service which is completed under a non-disclosure agreement.
Our Xero Add-on Audit will provide a report in a traffic light colour coded design. This shows the following;
- Definite areas where improvements can be made
- Possible improvements can be made
- Everything appears to be set up ina the most efficient way
Following the Add-on Audit, BookCheck X can then assist you with any of the areas where there is room for definite improvement. This may be an add-on or something within Xero.
This additional work would be covered by a fixed price proposal.
In order to complete a Xero Add-on Audit, we would require access to your Xero company.Â
All work is complete under a non-disclosure agreement.
