Stockovaa Team7 min read
What to migrate when you change POS systems
Not everything in the old system deserves a seat in the new one. A short list of what to carry over, what to archive, and what to leave behind entirely.
The instinct when switching systems is to bring everything. It is the wrong instinct. A migration is the one moment you are allowed to leave behind ten years of duplicate products and customers who bought once in 2018.
Carry over
- Active products, with their barcodes, cost prices and current stock levels.
- Suppliers you have ordered from in the last twelve months.
- Customers with an outstanding balance, a loyalty balance, or a purchase in the last two years.
- Opening balances for every account, agreed with whoever signs off your books.
Archive, do not import
- Historic transactions. Export them, store them somewhere you can search, and do not load them into the new system.
- Discontinued products with zero stock.
- Staff accounts for people who have left.
Keep the old system readable for at least as long as your tax authority requires. Archiving is not deleting.
Do the count on the day you cut over
Whatever the old system says your stock is, it is wrong by a little. Physically count on switchover day and let the new system start from a number you have actually seen.