Go-live is the day the old system stops and the new one becomes the only record of the business. Most of the risk sits with finance, because every error elsewhere ends up in the ledger. Use this list with your implementation partner.
Two weeks before
- Chart of accounts, cost centres and tax templates signed off
- Opening balances agreed: trial balance, debtors, creditors, bank and stock, all as at the cut-over date
- Open documents listed: unpaid invoices, unpaid bills, open orders and advances
- Approval limits and user roles confirmed for every finance user
- A test month-end run in the training system, with reports compared to the old system
The cut-over
- Stop posting in the old system at an agreed date and time
- Count stock and record the count
- Load opening balances and open documents
- Reconcile: the new trial balance must equal the old one, line by line
- Lock the old system so nobody posts to it by mistake
Go-live day
- Super users on the floor in each department
- A named person from the implementation team on site or on call
- A simple log for every question and problem, reviewed at the end of the day
The first month-end
The first close on a new system is where most projects wobble. Plan it as a project task, not a routine job.
- Reconcile every bank account
- Review stock valuation against the count
- Check that tax reports agree with the tax authority portal
- Compare the management accounts with the old format your board is used to
- Write down what took longest and fix it before the second close