The six phases at a glance
| Phase | Typical length, small business | Ends when |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Decide | Week 0 | The owner signs off scope, go-live date and who does what |
| 2. Clean the data | Weeks 0–1 | Masters are de-duplicated and balances agreed |
| 3. Set up | Week 1 | Company, GST, accounts, items, users and print formats are ready |
| 4. Migrate | Weeks 1–2 | The trial balance and stock match on the cut-off date |
| 5. Test in parallel | Weeks 3–4 | Three days in a row match in both systems with no manual fix |
| 6. Go live and settle | The first month | The first month is closed and GST files are made from the new system |
Medium and larger businesses, or those with custom work, take longer.
Phase 1: decide (owner tasks)
- Name one internal project owner with authority to decide.
- Fix the go-live date, preferably the 1st of a month.
- List the modules for day one; leave the rest for phase two.
- Decide approvals: who approves purchase orders, discounts, expenses and pay runs.
- Decide access: who sees costs, margins, salaries and bank balances.
- Agree how much history to bring across: balances only, or past years too.
Phase 2: clean the data
- Remove duplicate customers and suppliers; fill GSTIN, state and PAN for each.
- Check items: one unit of measure, HSN or SAC code, GST rate, opening stock by godown.
- Reconcile bank accounts up to the cut-off date.
- Agree outstanding balances with major customers and suppliers.
- For payroll: each employee’s UAN, ESIC number, PAN, bank details and PT state.
Phase 3: set up
- Company details, GSTINs, financial year and numbering series.
- Chart of accounts mapped to your CA’s reporting needs.
- Item groups, price lists and tax templates.
- Users and roles, with view-only access where people should only look.
- Print formats: tax invoice, quotation, delivery challan, payslip.
- Compliance settings: e-invoice, e-way bill, PF, ESI, PT and TDS.
Phase 4: migrate
- Import masters, then opening balances on the cut-off date.
- Check the columns and a sample of rows first, then import. Fix the rows that fail and import them again.
- Tie out: trial balance, party balances, stock quantity and value, GST ledgers.
- Get the CA to sign off the opening trial balance.
Phase 5: test in parallel
- Enter the same real transactions in both systems for one or two weeks.
- Compare each day’s sales, purchases, payments and stock.
- At the first month end, make the GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B files from the new system and compare with the old.
- Run one payroll and compare PF, ESI, PT and TDS figures.
- Fix differences at the source: masters, tax templates or the way people enter data.
Phase 6: go live and settle
- Train each role on its own tasks, one or two days before go-live.
- Lock the old system for new entries on go-live day.
- Keep a short daily check-in for the first week.
- Close the first month and file returns from the new system.
- Review: what still takes too long, and what to switch on next.
Signs you are ready to go live
- The opening trial balance is signed off.
- Every user can log in and do their three most common tasks.
- The parallel run matched for three days in a row.
- The GST files from the new system match what you would have filed.
How we run a MyRecords implementation
- Core ready in 1–2 weeks: your system with the modules you picked, set up and ready to use. Moving years of old data and running both systems side by side can add a week or two.
- Setup fee by size covers the modules you choose, standard setup and configuration, masters and opening balances from Tally XML or our Excel templates, and remote training sessions: 4 for small, 8 for medium and 12 for large.
- Hypercare after go-live: 30, 45 or 60 days by size. On your own server the AMC starts when hypercare ends; on MyRecords Cloud the monthly fee starts on go-live day.
- Payments by milestone: for small businesses, 50% on order and 50% at go-live.
- Quoted separately: past years’ history, data cleansing, extra training and custom work. See implementation or get a quote.
- A fresh MyRecords system installs in about 7.5–11 minutes, so set-up time goes into your data and decisions, not the install.