Moving your books to Ledgable
Migrating accounting software has a reputation because people do it badly — mid-quarter, without agreed opening balances, and with the old subscription cancelled on day one. Done properly it is an afternoon.
Six steps, one afternoon, no surprises
Pick your changeover date and tell your accountant
1 July is cleanest; the start of any BAS quarter works. Agree the opening balances at that date with whoever does your year end — every check afterwards is measured against those numbers.
Export everything from your current system
Chart of accounts, contacts, trial balance as at the changeover date, plus a full set of reports for the year to date and a general ledger detail. Save these somewhere permanent. You are keeping them for your five-year record obligation, not just for the migration.
Create your Ledgable workspace
Ledgable looks your business up on the Australian Business Register so your ABN, entity name and GST status are right from the start rather than typed in twice.
Run the importer and check the mapping
Pick your old system in the wizard. Ledgable proposes how your account codes map to its chart of accounts and shows a preview. Nothing posts until you commit — so read the mapping properly. This is the step that determines whether your reports make sense later.
Prove the trial balance ties back
Opening balances post as a single dated journal. Compare Ledgable's trial balance at the changeover date against the one you exported. They should agree to the cent. If they do not, stop and find out why before entering anything new.
Connect your bank and set up the ongoing work
Connect a feed on Pro or Business, or import statements on Free. Set your BAS cycle, add your employees if you run payroll, and let the AI start categorising.
Run both systems for one BAS quarter, then cancel
Keep the old subscription for a quarter. Reconcile GST, bank balances and profit at quarter end. When they agree, cancel — and keep your exports.
How your data actually gets across
Each source has its own guided importer with account mapping and a preview. CSV importers need nothing from your old vendor; the connected importers use the vendor's own authorisation screen, so you never hand over a password.
Xero
CSV upload
- In Xero, export your Chart of Accounts, Contacts and Trial Balance as CSV.
- Upload the files to Ledgable's Xero importer - no API connection or adviser access needed.
- Ledgable maps your Xero account codes to its chart of accounts and shows you the mapping before anything is posted.
- Review the preview, then commit. Opening balances post as a single dated journal so your trial balance ties back to Xero.
MYOB Business
Connected import
- Start the MYOB importer and sign in to MYOB AccountRight Live when prompted.
- Ledgable reads your accounts, contacts and balances over MYOB's own API - you never hand over a password.
- Check the account mapping Ledgable proposes and adjust anything it guessed wrong.
- Commit the import. The MYOB connection is used once for the migration, not kept open as a live sync.
QuickBooks Online
Connected import
- Start the QuickBooks importer and authorise Ledgable in Intuit's own consent screen.
- Ledgable pulls your chart of accounts, customers, suppliers and balances through the QuickBooks API.
- Review the proposed account mapping and the import preview.
- Commit. Opening balances post as a dated journal so you can reconcile against your last QuickBooks trial balance.
Coming from spreadsheets, a bank export, or something not listed? There is a generic CSV importer too, and if your migration is complex, email us before you start rather than after.
The five ways migrations go wrong
Cancelling the old subscription immediately
You will want to look something up, and you will want to reconcile a quarter. Keep it alive for one BAS cycle. It is the cheapest insurance in this process.
Switching mid-quarter
A BAS split across two systems means reconciling two GST reports into one lodgement. Wait for 1 July, or at least the first of a quarter.
Importing a mess and hoping the new system fixes it
It will not. If your current books have a large suspense balance or unreconciled bank accounts, clean those up first — otherwise you have moved the problem and added a migration to it.
Accepting the account mapping without reading it
The mapping decides what your reports mean for years. Five minutes in the preview screen is worth more than any other five minutes in this process.
Not telling the accountant until afterwards
They need to agree the opening balances. Finding out in October that they disagree with your 1 July position is a genuinely bad day.
Switching, answered
Start with an import, not a decision
Create a free workspace, run the importer, and check the trial balance ties back. If it does not convince you, you have lost an afternoon and no money.
Free forever on the Free plan. No credit card required. Cancel anytime.