We Migrated from Excel—Can Accounting Software Like Zoho Books, QuickBooks and Sage Reflect Our Old Balances Correctly?
If you’ve recently moved your business from Excel spreadsheets to proper accounting software, you might be staring at your screen wondering: “Why do my numbers look different? Where did my profit go?”
You’re not alone. This is one of the most common concerns we hear at Brattle Multiconcepts Consult when businesses migrate to platforms like Zoho Books, QuickBooks, or Sage.
The short answer? Yes, accounting software can reflect your old balances correctly—but only if the migration is done properly.
Let’s break down what that actually means.
Why Do My Numbers Look Different After Migration?
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Excel often hides problems.
Spreadsheets are flexible, perhaps too flexible. You can balance things manually, use “plug” figures to make totals match, and skip reconciliations without the system complaining. It feels like control, but it’s often masking underlying issues.
📊 Real-Life Example: The ₦2.3M Discrepancy
A Lagos-based retail client came to us after migrating to QuickBooks. Their Excel sheet showed a profit of ₦4.8 million for the year, but QuickBooks was showing only ₦2.5 million.
The problem? They had been recording sales of ₦1.2 million that were never actually invoiced to customers, and inventory worth ₦1.1 million that didn’t physically exist. Excel let them hide this. QuickBooks didn’t.
Result: The ₦2.5 million was their real profit. The “missing” ₦2.3 million was never real to begin with.
Accounting software, on the other hand, forces structure. And structure reveals reality.
When you migrate to Zoho Books, QuickBooks, or Sage, the software demands:
- Receivables must tie to specific customers with actual invoice history
- Payables must link to real vendors with documented bills
- Inventory quantities must match their values, not just estimated totals
- VAT or sales tax must connect to genuine transactions, not rounded guesses
- Bank accounts must be reconciled from verified starting points
When this structure is missing from your Excel data, your reports will shift. Sometimes dramatically.
Does That Mean the Software Is Wrong?
No. It means your migration was treated as data entry instead of accounting.
Simply importing a list of numbers into new software isn’t migration—it’s transcription. And transcription without context creates chaos.
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🎥 Watch FREE Zoho Training ✅ Join BMC Digital Accountant ProgramStep-by-Step Guide: How to Bring Your Balances from Excel
Here’s the proper way to migrate your financial data, with clear guidance on what to include and what to leave behind.
1Choose Your Migration Date (Cutoff Date)
What to do: Select a specific date to “freeze” your Excel records, typically the end of a month or quarter (e.g., December 31, 2024).
Why it matters: This becomes your “as of” date. All balances will be accurate as of this moment, and all new transactions will start in the new system from the day after.
Pro tip: Reconcile your bank statements up to this date before you begin. This ensures your starting bank balance is accurate.
2Prepare Your Chart of Accounts
What to include:
- All active accounts from your Excel workbook (Assets, Liabilities, Income, Expenses, Equity)
- Account names that match your actual business activities
- Proper categorization (Current vs Fixed Assets, Operating vs Non-operating expenses)
What to exclude:
- Duplicate or redundant accounts you created “just in case”
- Temporary holding accounts used to force Excel to balance
- Overly specific accounts that cluttered your spreadsheet
3Import Customer Balances (Accounts Receivable)
What to include:
- Customer name and contact details
- Each unpaid invoice separately with invoice number, date, due date, and amount
💼 Real Example: Customer Balance Migration
Wrong way: “Total Accounts Receivable: ₦3,500,000”
Right way:
- Dangote Industries – Invoice #1234 – ₦850,000 – Due: Jan 15, 2025
- ABC Limited – Invoice #1235 – ₦450,000 – Due: Jan 20, 2025
- XYZ Company – Invoice #1236 – ₦680,000 – Due: Jan 25, 2025
- Global Traders – Invoice #1237 – ₦920,000 – Due: Feb 5, 2025
- Prime Ventures – Invoice #1238 – ₦600,000 – Due: Feb 10, 2025
Total: ₦3,500,000 (properly documented)
What to exclude:
- Fully paid invoices (unless you need historical reporting)
- Lump sum “Total AR” figures without invoice details
- Invoices from customers who’ve ceased operations
4Import Supplier Balances (Accounts Payable)
What to include:
- Vendor name and contact information
- Each unpaid bill separately with bill number, date, due date, and amount
What to exclude:
- Fully paid bills
- Lump sum “Total AP” without supporting documentation
- Disputed amounts you don’t intend to pay
5Load Bank Account Opening Balances
What to include:
- Bank account name and details
- Reconciled balance as of your cutoff date (must match bank statement)
- Each bank account separately
🏦 Real Example: Bank Balance Setup
- GTBank Current Account – 0123456789: ₦5,847,250.00
- Access Bank USD Account – 9876543210: $12,450.00
- Zenith Bank Payroll Account – 5555666677: ₦1,250,000.00
Each balance verified against December 31, 2024 bank statements
⚠️ Critical Rule: Your opening bank balance MUST equal your actual bank statement balance on the cutoff date. If it doesn’t, find and fix the discrepancy in Excel before migrating.
6Enter Inventory Opening Balances (If Applicable)
What to include:
- Each inventory item with item name/SKU, quantity on hand, unit cost, and total value
📦 Real Example: Inventory Migration
| Item | Qty | Unit Cost | Total Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laptop HP-2024 | 45 | ₦285,000 | ₦12,825,000 |
| Office Chair OC-101 | 120 | ₦35,000 | ₦4,200,000 |
| Printer Canon MX-500 | 28 | ₦95,000 | ₦2,660,000 |
| Total Inventory Value: | ₦19,685,000 | ||
What to exclude:
- Obsolete or damaged stock (write off before migration)
- Items you can’t physically verify
- Inventory “adjustments” made just to match a desired total
7Record Fixed Assets
What to include:
- Each major asset separately (vehicles, equipment, computers, furniture)
- Original purchase cost, purchase date, accumulated depreciation, current net book value
🚗 Real Example: Fixed Assets
- Toyota Hilux 2022 – Purchase Cost: ₦18,500,000 – Accumulated Depreciation: ₦4,625,000 – Net Book Value: ₦13,875,000
- Office Generator 25KVA – Purchase Cost: ₦3,200,000 – Accumulated Depreciation: ₦960,000 – Net Book Value: ₦2,240,000
- Computer Equipment – Purchase Cost: ₦5,800,000 – Accumulated Depreciation: ₦3,480,000 – Net Book Value: ₦2,320,000
8Enter Loan and Credit Balances
What to include:
- Lender name, outstanding principal balance, interest rate, payment terms
💳 Real Example: Loan Balances
- First Bank Term Loan: ₦8,450,000 outstanding @ 18% p.a. – Monthly payment: ₦450,000 – Next due: Jan 15, 2025
- Sterling Bank Overdraft: ₦2,100,000 utilized of ₦5,000,000 limit @ 22% p.a.
9Set Opening Equity Balance
What to include:
- Owner’s capital contributions (actual cash or assets put into business)
- Retained earnings from prior periods
What to exclude:
- Balancing figures invented to make Excel work
- Personal drawings incorrectly recorded as expenses
How to calculate: Your opening equity should equal Total Assets minus Total Liabilities as of the cutoff date. If it doesn’t balance, you have errors in your other opening balances.
10Enter VAT/Tax Balances (If Applicable)
What to include:
- VAT payable or VAT receivable balance as of cutoff date
- Must match what you actually owe to or expect from tax authorities
📊 Real Example: VAT Balance
- Output VAT collected (7.5%): ₦1,875,000
- Input VAT paid (7.5%): ₦945,000
- Net VAT Payable to FIRS: ₦930,000
11Run a Trial Balance Check
What to verify:
- Total debits equal total credits
- Your opening equity equals assets minus liabilities
- Each account balance makes sense and matches your Excel records
⚠️ If things don’t balance: Don’t use a “suspense account” to force it. Go back and find the error.
12Record Your First Transaction in the New System
What to do: Start recording all new transactions from the day after your cutoff date in the accounting software. Stop using Excel for bookkeeping entirely.
Pro tip: Run parallel systems for one month if you’re nervous, but make the new software your primary record from day one.
What Definitely Should NOT Be Migrated
Let’s be clear about what to leave behind:
Don’t migrate:
- Years of historical transactions (unless legally required for audit)
- Transactions already reflected in your opening balances
- Rough estimates and placeholder figures
- “Balancing entries” created to force Excel to reconcile
- Personal expenses incorrectly mixed into business records
- Voided, cancelled, or duplicate transactions
- Adjustments you made without supporting documentation
Why? Garbage in, garbage out. Bringing bad data into good software creates bad reports.
So Yes—Your Old Balances Can Be Reflected Correctly
And if they can’t be reflected accurately, it’s usually because your old books needed fixing first.
That’s not a failure of the software. It’s actually the software doing its job: revealing what was wrong so you can finally fix it.
✅ Success Story: From Chaos to Clarity
A manufacturing client with ₦45 million annual revenue came to us with 3 years of Excel records. After proper migration to Sage 50:
- Discovered ₦3.2 million in unpaid customer invoices they’d forgotten about
- Identified ₦1.8 million in duplicate vendor payments
- Found ₦2.5 million in inventory shrinkage
- Recovered ₦1.4 million through proper VAT claims
Net improvement: ₦2.1 million in recovered value within 6 months
If your profit “changed” after leaving Excel, that’s often the first time you’re seeing an honest set of books. It might be uncomfortable, but it’s the foundation you need to make sound business decisions going forward.
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The Bottom Line
Migrating from Excel to accounting software like Zoho Books, QuickBooks, or Sage is more than a technical process—it’s a financial reset. Done properly, it gives you:
- Accurate, real-time financial reports
- Proper audit trails for compliance
- Confidence in your numbers when making decisions
- A scalable system that grows with your business
Done carelessly, it creates confusion, mistrust in your data, and months of cleanup work.
Need Help with Your Migration?
At Brattle Multiconcepts Consult (BMC), we specialize in Excel-to-software migrations that are done right the first time. Whether you’re moving to Zoho Books, QuickBooks, or Sage 50, we ensure your balances are clean, your reports are trustworthy, and your transition is smooth.
We handle the entire process: cleaning your Excel data, importing opening balances correctly, reconciling discrepancies, training your team, and ensuring you can trust your numbers from day one.
Because your business deserves books you can actually trust.
Get in Touch with Brattle Multiconcepts Consult
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