Peachtree to QuickBooks Migration in 2025: Zero‑Downtime Checklist by E‑Tech CA

 


Plan a Zero-Downtime Migration

Moving from Peachtree (Sage 50) to QuickBooks in 2025 should not interrupt billing, payroll, or reconciliations. The key is a staged approach: freeze non-critical edits, run a clean backup, perform a production-grade test conversion, validate with side-by-side reports, and only then execute a short cutover window. E‑Tech CA’s checklist below is designed to keep your team transacting while your accounting moves safely.

Choose Your QuickBooks Destination

QuickBooks Desktop vs Online

·         QuickBooks Desktop: Best for advanced inventory, heavy job costing, and large data files. Strong performance on local/hosted servers.

·         QuickBooks Online: Anytime, anywhere access, native app ecosystem, and easier collaboration. Ideal if you want reduced IT overhead.

Scope Your Data Depth

·         Full historical: Customers, vendors, chart of accounts, items, invoices, bills, payments, credits, journal entries, and inventory transactions.

·         Opening balance start: Bring accurate opening balances as of a cutover date, plus open transactions. Faster and leaner.

Pre-Migration Readiness Checks

Clean Your Peachtree File

·         Reconcile bank and credit card accounts up to the latest statement.

·         Post all batches, close open periods you do not plan to edit, and clear duplicate masters.

·         Resolve negative inventory and mismatched item costs.

·         Run data verification/repair utilities and archive a final, read-only backup.

Align Fiscal Settings and Lists

·         Confirm fiscal year/month setup and tax basis (cash vs accrual).

·         Standardize names: customer, vendor, item, class/job names, and inactive flags.

·         Map sales tax codes and rates you still use in 2025; retire obsolete ones.

Zero‑Downtime Framework by E‑Tech CA

Parallel Run Strategy

·         Freeze edits to prior periods. Allow new transactions in the current period only.

·         Take a gold backup of Peachtree, then enable read-only access for the team during conversion.

·         Continue daily operations in Peachtree while the conversion and validation happen in a separate environment.

Delta Capture Plan

·         Define your cutover date and a short blackout window (often an evening or weekend).

·         Log all new transactions created after the gold backup.

·         Prepare import sheets for deltas (invoices, receipts, bills, payments) to inject into QuickBooks at go-live.

Field‑By‑Field Mapping Essentials

Masters and Lists

·         Customers/Vendors: Names, contacts, terms, tax settings, currency, opening balances.

·         Items: Service, non-inventory, inventory, and assemblies; units of measure; income/COGS/asset accounts.

·         Chart of Accounts: Exact account names, numbers, types, and sub-account hierarchy.

Transactions and Balances

·         AR/AP: Open invoices, bills, credits, and unapplied payments.

·         Inventory: Quantities and costs as of cutover; confirm item valuation method alignment.

·         General Ledger: Trial balance as of cutover; retain historical detail if doing a full transaction migration.

Compliance and Local Tax

·         Sales tax: Map to QuickBooks tax centers (e.g., GST/HST/PST or VAT/GST). Validate rates and agency liabilities.

·         Payroll: Bring employee profiles and year-to-date figures to ensure correct remittances and slips/forms.

Test Conversion and Verification

Dry Run Validation

·         Reports to match within tolerance:

o    Trial Balance as of cutover date.

o    AR Aging and AP Aging detail.

o    Inventory Valuation Summary and stock counts.

o    Sales tax payable and agency summaries.

·         Spot-check customers, vendors, and items for correct terms, taxability, and classes/jobs.

User Acceptance Testing

·         Enter a sample invoice, bill, receipt, and payment.

·         Run a bank reconciliation workflow with test data.

·         Confirm custom fields and templates map to your operational needs.

Cutover Day Playbook

Finalize in Peachtree

·         Stop new entries at the agreed cutoff time.

·         Export the delta list of transactions since the test conversion.

·         Take a final backup and lock the file read-only.

Go‑Live in QuickBooks

·         Load the validated conversion file.

·         Import deltas (same-day invoices, receipts, bills, payments).

·         Re-run the four-key reports (Trial Balance, AR Aging, AP Aging, Inventory Valuation) and compare.

·         Connect bank feeds, set user roles, and enable integrations (payments, payroll, apps).

Post‑Migration Audit and Optimization

First-Week Checks

·         Reconcile bank and credit card accounts through the latest statements.

·         Verify sales tax calculations on new transactions and agency balances.

·         Confirm item costing on new POs, bills, and builds if you use inventory or assemblies.

Hardening and Training

·         Lock prior periods and enable closing passwords.

·         Document the new month-end checklist in QuickBooks.

·         Train users on new workflows: receiving, billing, payments, recurring transactions, and reports.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

·         Migrating unnecessary history that bloats performance. If detail is not required for audits, prefer opening balances plus open transactions.

·         Breaking item links by renaming items post-migration. Freeze structural edits until after your first close.

·         Misaligned sales tax codes leading to incorrect filings. Test a full tax cycle before your next return.

·         Ignoring user permissions. Set least-privilege roles on day one.

·         Skipping a dry run. The test conversion is where you find mapping issues, not during go-live.

What E‑Tech CA Delivers

·         Structured project plan with timelines and owner assignments.

·         Clean conversion of masters, transactions, and balances with reconciliation support.

·         Parallel-run coaching to keep operations live, plus delta-import assistance.

·         Post-go-live QA and a closedown checklist for your first month-end in QuickBooks.

Quick FAQ

How long does a typical migration take?

A standard small-to-mid file completes in one to three business days including validation, plus a brief cutover window.

Will I lose my audit trail?

QuickBooks houses its own audit trail. Keep archival PDFs and exports from Peachtree for historical reference and compliance.

Can I switch mid-quarter?

Yes. Use a clean cutover date, bring accurate YTD figures, and reconcile immediately after go-live.

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