Most businesses that leave Xero do so at a natural break: a new financial year, a VAT quarter end, or a change of accountant. The move itself is not complicated if you treat it as a cut-off rather than a copy of everything that ever happened in Xero.
What moves and what stays behind
| Data | How it reaches Nexbal |
|---|---|
| Trial balance at the switch date | entered as opening balances in Nexbal |
| Unpaid sales and purchase invoices | entered as open items, so payments can be matched |
| Customers and suppliers you still trade with | set up in Nexbal before the switch date |
| Fixed asset register | assets recreated with cost, depreciation to date and net book value |
| Transaction history before the switch | stays in Xero exports and reports, not imported |
Historical transactions are not needed in the new system: comparatives come from the opening balances and your Xero reports, which you keep for the record-keeping period.
Nexbal is launching in the UK, and beta users can set up the new company before the switch date. Join the Nexbal beta or ask for migration help.
Step by step
- Choose the switch date. The first day of a financial year is cleanest; the start of a VAT quarter is the next best.
- Close the period in Xero. Reconcile every bank account, clear suspense, post accruals if it is a year end, and submit or at least finalise the VAT return for the last quarter in Xero.
- Export from Xero. Trial balance at the switch date, aged receivables and payables, contact lists, fixed asset register, VAT returns, and the general ledger and attachments for your archive.
- Set up the company in Nexbal. Company details and VAT registration number. Nexbal uses one standard chart of accounts, so map each Xero account to the nearest Nexbal account and use sub-ledgers or projects where you need more detail.
- Enter opening balances from the Xero trial balance and check that debits equal credits.
- Enter open items. Each unpaid invoice is entered so that receipts and payments after the switch match the right document.
- Set up bank data. Create each bank account and upload the first PDF statement after the switch date; Nexbal suggests the postings line by line. See bank statements in Nexbal.
- Post the first month and reconcile. Agree each bank account and the debtors and creditors control accounts to the opening position plus the month’s activity.
VAT across the switch
Do not split a VAT period between two systems if you can avoid it: finish and file the last quarter in Xero, so each return comes from one set of records. Agree with your accountant before the switch how returns will be prepared and filed under Making Tax Digital from then on.
Keeping Xero’s history
HMRC requires business records to be kept for at least six years (companies) after the end of the relevant period. Export reports and attachments before closing the Xero subscription, or keep a read-only plan, so you can answer questions about earlier years.
Common pitfalls
- Opening balances that do not include year-end adjustments posted later by the accountant.
- Open invoices entered without their VAT, which breaks bad debt relief and cash accounting.
- Bank accounts in Xero that were never reconciled, carried over with an unexplained difference.
For the general process see how to switch accounting system; for a comparison of the two products see Nexbal vs Xero.
Make the switch at a clean cut-off. Join the beta.