Move My Books is the specialist migration tool for moving accounting data from Sage and other legacy systems to Xero — cleanly, accurately, and without disrupting your business.
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Zero
Reconciliation issues at a properly timed and executed migration
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Clean
Chart of accounts from day one in Xero after migration
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Sage
Primary migration source — Sage 50, Sage 200, Sage One
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2–4wks
Typical migration timeline from start to go-live
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What Is Move My Books
The right way to move from Sage to Xero
Move My Books handles the technical side of migrating accounting data — chart of accounts, transactions, balances, contacts — from legacy software to Xero.
📦
Data extraction from Sage
Move My Books extracts your accounting data from Sage — chart of accounts, transactions, balances, contacts, bank transactions — and structures it for import into Xero.
🔄
Chart of accounts mapping
The chart of accounts in Sage is mapped to the equivalent Xero account structure. This is where the migration decisions are made — which accounts to merge, which to split, and how to structure the new chart.
📋
Opening balances
Opening balances are entered in Xero as of the migration date — ensuring the new system starts with the correct financial position and the balance sheet reconciles from day one.
👥
Contact migration
Customers and suppliers are migrated from Sage to Xero — names, addresses, payment terms, outstanding balances. The AR and AP ledgers are correct from day one.
📅
Transaction history
Historical transactions are migrated to provide comparative reporting in Xero — prior year figures, trend analysis, and year-on-year comparisons are available from the start.
✅
Post-migration reconciliation
After migration, Move My Books provides reconciliation reports to verify that the Xero opening position matches the Sage closing position exactly — confirming data integrity.
Why Move My Books
Why Move My Books is the right migration tool
Accounting migrations are high-stakes. Getting it wrong means reconciliation problems, data loss, or starting the new system with the old system's problems inherited.
Sage50/200
Primary migration source — all major Sage versions supported
CleanStart
Every Fintelwise migration starts with a chart of accounts review before data is moved
VATTimed
Migrations timed immediately after a completed VAT return for cleanest transition
ZeroIssues
Reconciliation issues at a correctly timed and executed migration
Why timing matters more than the tool: The most common migration mistake is moving at the wrong time. Migrating mid-year with unreconciled transactions, outstanding VAT periods, or an inconsistent chart of accounts means carrying the old system's problems into the new one. The right time to migrate is immediately after a completed VAT return, when the books are fully reconciled. Move My Books makes the data move clean. Fintelwise makes sure the timing and setup are right.
What You Can Do With It
What Move My Books migrates — and what it does not
Understanding exactly what gets migrated and what needs to be set up fresh is essential for a clean migration.
1
Chart of accounts migration and clean-up
The Sage chart of accounts is reviewed and restructured before migration. Redundant accounts are merged. New accounts are created to support better reporting in Xero. The new chart is agreed before any data moves.
Chart of AccountsAccount MappingClean-upXero Structure
2
Opening balance entry
Opening balances are entered in Xero as of the migration date — covering debtors, creditors, bank balances, VAT position, and all balance sheet items. The new system starts with a correct financial position.
Opening BalancesBalance SheetVAT PositionDay One Accuracy
3
Customer and supplier migration
All customers and suppliers migrate from Sage to Xero — contact details, payment terms, and outstanding balances. The AR and AP ledgers are correct from the first day in Xero.
Up to 2 years of historical transactions migrate to Xero to support prior period comparisons and trend reporting. Year-on-year analysis is available from day one.
Transaction HistoryPrior Year ComparativesTrend Reporting2-Year History
5
Bank transaction migration
Historical bank transactions migrate to Xero, enabling reconciliation of the opening bank position and providing a historical bank feed for reference.
Bank TransactionsBank ReconciliationOpening Position
6
Post-migration reconciliation check
After migration, a full reconciliation is run to verify that the Xero closing position matches the Sage opening position. Every balance sheet item is checked. No migration goes live until this check passes.
Reconciliation CheckData IntegrityBalance VerificationQuality Control
Better Together
What comes after the migration
The migration is the beginning, not the end. Here is what the full post-migration setup looks like.
Move My Books+Xero+ApprovalMax
Migration followed by proper controls
The migration moves the data. Fintelwise then implements the tools the business should have had all along — ApprovalMax for approval controls, Dext for automated bill capture, Fathom for management reporting.
→ ['Legacy system to modern finance stack']
Move My Books+Xero+Fathom
Migration followed by proper reporting
After migration, Fathom is connected to the new Xero instance to produce automated management accounts. Most businesses that migrate from Sage have never had proper management reporting before.
→ ['First management accounts post-migration']
Move My Books+Xero+Dext
Migration followed by AP automation
The move from Sage to Xero is the right moment to introduce Dext for automated bill capture. The new system starts clean and the AP process starts properly.
→ ['AP automation from day one in Xero']
Move My Books+Xero
Clean migration, clean start
The migration is completed cleanly at the right time. The new Xero instance is set up correctly from day one — chart of accounts, tracking categories, bank rules, and user permissions all configured before go-live.
→ ['Clean Xero from day one']
Who Benefits Most
Industries where a Sage to Xero migration makes the most sense
Legacy software is more common in established industries. These sectors have the highest concentration of Sage users who would benefit from migration.
⚖️
Legal Services
Established legal firms often on Sage for compliance reasons. Migration to Xero opens the door to ApprovalMax for matter billing controls and Fathom for financial reporting.
['Established legal practice migration']
🏗️
Construction & Trades
Construction businesses on Sage 50 miss out on job costing, subcontractor payment automation, and CIS tools available in the Xero ecosystem.
['Construction Sage to Xero']
🏥
Healthcare & Care
Regulated care businesses on legacy software unable to connect modern reporting or approval tools. Migration unlocks the full modern finance stack.
['Care sector legacy migration']
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Professional Services
Accountancy practices and consultancies on Sage that have grown beyond what legacy software can support efficiently.
['Professional services legacy migration']
📦
Manufacturing
Established manufacturers on Sage 200 or Sage 50. Migration unlocks purchase order controls, supplier payment automation, and real-time management reporting.
['Manufacturing legacy migration']
🏠
Property Management
Property businesses on legacy software missing out on multi-entity reporting, service charge management tools, and automated AP.
['Property management migration']
How Fintelwise implements Move My Books
A Move My Books migration done by Fintelwise is not just a data transfer. It is the beginning of a properly configured modern finance function.
Before any data moves, we review the Sage chart of accounts and design the Xero equivalent — with the structure needed to support better reporting, tracking categories for divisional analysis, and account codes that will work correctly with the tools we plan to connect afterwards.
We time every migration immediately after a completed VAT return. This means the books are fully reconciled, the VAT position is clean, and the new system starts from a confirmed, agreed financial position. This single timing decision eliminates the majority of post-migration reconciliation problems.
After the data moves, we set up the full Xero environment — bank connections, bank rules, user permissions, and connected tools — before handing over to the client.
Frequently Asked Questions
Move My Books — common questions answered
Move My Books is a specialist accounting data migration tool that transfers financial data from Sage and other legacy accounting systems to Xero — including chart of accounts, transactions, balances, contacts, and historical data.
Move My Books supports migration from Sage 50, Sage 200, and Sage One (now Sage Accounting). It also supports migrations from QuickBooks Desktop, FreeAgent, and other legacy accounting platforms to Xero.
A typical Sage to Xero migration using Move My Books takes two to four weeks from start to go-live — including chart of accounts design, data extraction, mapping, import, reconciliation check, and Xero configuration. More complex migrations with multiple entities or significant data clean-up requirements take longer.
Immediately after a completed VAT return. At this point the books are fully reconciled, the VAT position is confirmed, and the new system can start from a clean, agreed financial position. Migrating mid-period or with unreconciled transactions creates reconciliation problems that can take months to resolve.
A correctly executed migration transfers all key financial data without loss — chart of accounts, transactions, balances, contacts, and historical data. The original Sage file is always retained as a backup. Post-migration reconciliation confirms that the Xero opening position matches the Sage closing position exactly.
Your Sage data remains in Sage after migration. Fintelwise recommends keeping Sage accessible for at least 12 months post-migration for reference purposes. The original data is never deleted or modified by the migration process.
Ready to move from Sage to Xero?
Book a free 30-minute scoping call. We will understand your current Sage setup, identify the right migration timing, and give you an honest view of what a clean transition looks like.
