Move your books to Xero

Download the kit for Xero from Ledger › Accounting › Move to QuickBooks or Xero, then follow 00-READ-ME-FIRST.pdf from the ZIP. It carries your own figures, so work from that. This article shows the shape of the job and the places Xero surprises people. On a small test book, the whole job took about 20 minutes.

Before you import

Know your financial year end before you create the organisation, and enter it when Xero asks. If you have already created it, set it at Accounting › Accounting settings › Financial settings › Financial Year End before you import anything.

Import the files, in order

1. Chart of accounts, file 01, from Accounting › Chart of accounts › Import. Answer YES to "contain account balances" and set the conversion date to the month the guide names. Xero's confirm screen shows its own Adjustments figure, so Debits and Credits differ by that amount. Then, on the bank account screen, choose Bank in place of Current Asset and fill in the country, currency and account number. Xero archives any account not in the file.
2. Contacts, files 02 and 03, from Contacts › All contacts › Import. A warning about tracking defaults is expected. Click Complete import.
3. Products and services, file 04, when your kit has one.
4. Invoices, file 05, from Sales › Invoices › Import. Choose tax exclusive, and Skip for now if Xero offers an invoice template. On the Draft tab, select them all and click Approve.
5. Bills, file 06, from Purchases › Bills, the arrow beside New bill, then Import. Choose Tax exclusive again, then approve them on the Draft tab.
6. Conversion balances, at Accounting › Accounting settings › Conversion balances. Check them against the check sheet, then click Save.

Imported invoices and bills arrive as drafts, which is why steps 4 and 5 approve them. Until they are approved they do not count.

A successful Save on Conversion balances shows no message. The orange banner just goes away. If Xero shows "Enter invoices..." or "Balance out by", some invoices or bills are still drafts. Approve them and click Save again, and do not add anything on that screen.

Check it

Run the Trial Balance dated the day Xero starts, then the Aged Receivables Summary and Aged Payables Summary. The guide prints the figure each one should show.

Enter the rest by hand

The guide gives each foreign or overpaid invoice or bill its own step. Date each one the day Xero starts, not its original date, or Xero leaves it out of its reports. Code each line to the clearing account the guide names, with the tax rate Tax Exempt, and approve it. That account then reads zero, or the small difference the guide names. If you have foreign items, add the currency first; Xero asks for the rate as 1 CAD = ? USD.

Sales tax you owed on the move date stays in its own named account. Pay it from there.