Migration Best Practice

The best time to start moving to Rebased is today.

Your choice is not whether to wait. Your choice is which migration path fits your timing:

Both paths work for businesses with or without payroll.

Recommended path: choose Backdated Migration when you are ready to start using Rebased now. It gives you a clean accounting boundary while letting your team move immediately instead of waiting for a future date.

Choosing Your Path

Path 1: Pre Go-Live Setup

Use this when you are preparing for a future start date.

This path is chart-of-accounts preparation only. It does not complete final opening balances, BAS/PAYG close-out, invoice migration, bill migration, or bank migration.

You can set up now:

• Chart of Accounts
• Linked Accounts
• Item defaults
• Business details and branding
• Payment terms
• Bank account preparation
• Team members and payroll details, if you have employees

Then, on your go-live date, you bring across final migration data:

• Trial Balance or opening balances
• GST/PAYG position
• Outstanding invoices
• Outstanding bills
• Bank transactions from the start date

This is ideal when you know your start date and want your team ready before day one.

In the Migration tab, Pre Go-Live Setup changes the Trial Balance step into Chart of Accounts Import. You can upload a Chart of Accounts report or Trial Balance PDF, and Rebased will create missing accounts only. Existing account codes are skipped, balances stay empty, and no CONVERSION journal is created.

Path 2: Backdated Migration

Use this when you want to switch to Rebased now and use an earlier start date, often the start of the current BAS quarter.

Example:

In this path, you bring activity into Rebased from the start date:

• opening balances as at the day before the start date,
• invoices and bills from the start date,
• bank transactions from the start date,
• any payroll already processed in the old system as external payroll accounting.

This path is a little more work, but it lets you start using Rebased immediately.

In the Migration tab, Backdated Migration imports the final Trial Balance as at the day before Rebased starts. If accounts already exist from Pre Go-Live Setup, Rebased matches them by account code and applies the final opening balances instead of creating duplicate accounts. The opening balance journal uses source type CONVERSION.

BAS Quarter Starts

For Australian businesses, the start of a BAS quarter is usually the easiest accounting start date:

• 1 July
• 1 October
• 1 January
• 1 April

Quarter starts make BAS, GST, and bank reconciliation easier to explain and check.

If your timing lines up with 1 July, payroll is also simpler because the STP income year starts fresh. But you do not need to wait until 1 July to move payroll. You can switch payroll on your next suitable pay run.

Payroll

Payroll can move to Rebased at any clear pay-date handover.

The rule is simple:

Your old payroll software owns the pays it already processed. Rebased owns pays from your first Rebased pay date.

Before your first Rebased pay run:

1. Process the final pay in your old payroll software.
2. Lodge or finalise the payroll reporting required in the old software.
3. Set up employees, tax details, super, bank details, pay rates, and leave balances in Rebased.
4. Process the next pay in Rebased.

If you switch payroll during the financial year, employees may see income statements from both payroll providers for that year. That is normal when changing payroll providers mid-year, as long as each provider reports the pays it processed.

Do not import previous-provider STP YTD into Rebased. The previous provider remains responsible for payroll it processed and any required STP finalisation.

Payroll During a Backdated Accounting Period

If your accounting start date is before your first Rebased payroll date, payroll already processed by your old software is treated as external payroll.

Example:

The April and early-May pays stay in the old payroll software for STP. In Rebased, the bank payments are reconciled as external payroll accounting.

Typical treatment:

• net wages clear to wages payable or payroll clearing,
• super clears to superannuation payable,
• PAYG clears to PAYG withholding payable or BAS clearing,
• payroll provider fees are coded as normal expenses.

Do not create Rebased pay runs for pays already processed by your old provider.

Old Platform Close-Out

Before you complete final migration:

1. Finish reconciliation in the old platform up to the conversion date.
2. Export the final Trial Balance as at the day before Rebased starts.
3. Export invoice, bill, aged receivable, aged payable, and supporting reports needed from the conversion date onward.
4. Finalise or close out old-provider payroll according to STP obligations.
5. Stop entering new operational activity in the old platform once Rebased is live.

Bank Reconciliation

Bank reconciliation starts from your Rebased accounting start date.

For normal business transactions:

• match invoices and bills where they exist,
• code expenses and income to the right account,
• reconcile from the start date onwards.

For payroll already processed by your old provider:

• match to a payroll summary journal if one exists,
• or code the bank payment to the relevant payroll payable or clearing account,
• do not create a Rebased payroll run for that old-provider pay.

Opening Balances

Opening balances should include amounts that already exist at the start date and will not be generated again in Rebased.

Include things like:

• bank balances,
• Accounts Receivable,
• Accounts Payable,
• GST/PAYG amounts owing or refundable,
• super payable,
• wages payable,
• loans,
• fixed assets,
• equity.

Do not include a payroll obligation in opening balances if Rebased will create it from a future Rebased pay run.

Which Path Should I Choose?

Choose Pre Go-Live Setup if:

• your start date is in the future,
• you want to prepare your team ahead of time,
• final balances are not available yet,
• you want a clean handover day.

Choose Backdated Migration if:

• you want to start using Rebased now,
• your chosen start date is already in the past,
• you can bring in activity from that date,
• you are comfortable reconciling the period from that date to today.

When both paths could work, Backdated Migration is usually the better choice because it allows the business to start using Rebased now while still keeping a clear accounting cutover.

Related Pages

• Getting Started
• Migration from Other Systems
• Fresh Start Setup
• Opening Balances
• Setup Checklist
• Bank Reconciliation
• Payroll

Last updated: June 15, 2026