Part 4 · Using software and AI · Chapter 4.10
Going live
Draft: the wording may change.
The idea
Going live is moving the business from the old books to the new software on one chosen date. Four steps: move the masters, enter opening balances as of the cut-over date, run both systems side by side for a short time, then switch the old one off. The opening balances are the foundation; if they are wrong, every report after them is wrong.
Step 1: pick the date
Choose the first day of a month — the start of a quarter or the financial year is even better, because the old books close cleanly and the GST returns split neatly. Avoid the busiest week of the month and festival season.
Step 2: move the masters
Export customers, products, prices and staff from the old system. Clean them before importing (chapter 4.3): merge duplicates, fill missing GST rates, leave unknown GSTINs blank rather than guessed. This takes longer than people expect. Start two or three weeks before the date.
Step 3: opening balances
Close the old books on the last day before cut-over. Take the trial balance from them. That trial balance becomes the opening entry in the new software, through a journal voucher — the one place where a journal voucher is exactly right, because there is no business document for "where we started" (chapter 1.2).
But two balances need more detail than one line:
| Balance | Enter it as | Not as |
|---|---|---|
| Customers owe us ₹8,40,000 | Every open bill, by customer, with its date and amount | One figure per customer |
| We owe suppliers ₹3,10,000 | Every unpaid supplier bill | One figure per supplier |
| Stock ₹12,60,000 | Every product, batch, expiry, quantity and cost, from a physical count | One stock value |
At the counter: Ravi Stores owes ₹580 on bill #245 of 5 October and ₹1,770 on bill #301 of 28 October. Enter both bills, so on day one the software knows one is 27 days old and one is a few days old. A single "₹2,350 opening balance" would make the ageing useless for months.
Check: the open bills add up to exactly the debtors figure in the trial balance; the stock count adds up to the stock figure. If not, find the difference before you go live.
Step 4: run in parallel, then cut over
For two to four weeks, bill in the new software and keep the old one going for the same documents. Each evening, compare three totals: sales, receipts, stock of your ten fastest items. When they agree for a week, stop.
On cut-over day:
- The old system becomes read-only. Nobody enters anything in it again.
- Every new document is made in the new software.
- Keep the old data and a backup safely for as long as the law asks you to keep books; check the current retention period with your CA.
Common mistake
Running in parallel forever. "Let's keep the old one a bit longer, just in case." Staff enter some bills in one, some in the other, and soon neither is complete. Set the cut-over date in advance, tell everyone, and keep it.
Where you'll use this
Going live depends on the level scale (chapter 1.8): the opening entry must balance, and the new trial balance on day one must equal the old one on the last day. It uses pulling down the shutter (chapter 2.12): you close the old books properly before you open the new ones.
Check yourself
- What is the best kind of date to go live?
- Why enter customer opening balances bill by bill?
- What happens to the old system on cut-over day?
Answers
- The first day of a month — ideally a quarter or financial year — away from the busiest week.
- So the ageing and the receipt matching work from day one; one lump figure hides how old each amount is.
- It becomes read-only and is kept as a record; all new work goes into the new software.