ERP Data Migration Checklist

When an ERP go-live slips, the cause is rarely the software. It is master data: duplicated customers, items with three unit-of-measure conventions, opening balances nobody can tie back to the trial balance. This is the checklist we work through before the real load runs.

A Malaysian project team reviewing records before an ERP data migration

Decide what does not come across

The cheapest migration decision is exclusion. Ten years of dormant customer records and obsolete SKUs cost money to clean and slow the system afterwards. Agree a cut-off and archive the rest outside the ERP.

Active masters only, with a defined activity window.
Open transactions, not full transactional history.
Historical reporting stays in the archive or a Power BI dataset.

Name an owner per data domain

Customers belong to sales, items belong to operations, the chart of accounts belongs to finance. Without a named owner per domain, cleansing decisions bounce and the loading window closes.

Rehearse the load twice

Every load runs through the same repeatable template, so the run that matters is the third time we have done it, not the first. Rehearsal one exposes mapping errors; rehearsal two proves the timing fits inside the cutover window.

Reconcile before anyone signs

Opening balances are reconciled to the trial balance, stock valuation to the last count, and open orders to the outgoing system — in writing, by the owner of each domain. UAT sign-off without reconciliation is not sign-off.

Written by

Awansoft consulting team

Practical guidance from the team that scopes, implements and supports ERP systems for Malaysian businesses.