Key points
- Start from your processes and reporting needs, not from feature lists.
- Canadian sales tax handling, bank feeds and user permissions are non-negotiable.
- Plan the migration: clean data in, opening balances reconciled, and a cut-over date.
Selection criteria
| Area | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Sales tax | Does it handle GST, HST, PST and QST rates correctly, and produce return-ready reports? |
| Banking | Reliable bank and credit card feeds for your institutions? |
| Payroll | Built in, or integrated with a Canadian payroll provider? |
| Inventory and projects | Do you need inventory costing, job costing or project tracking? |
| Controls | Role-based permissions, approval workflows, period locking and an audit trail? |
| Multi-currency and entities | Needed now or within two to three years? |
| Integrations | CRM, e-commerce, expense and receipt capture, document storage? |
| Data | Can you export everything if you leave? Where is data stored? |
| Support | Accountant access, local support, and a community of Canadian users? |
Migration checklist
- Clean up the old system first: reconcile banks and clear stale AR and AP.
- Design the chart of accounts before importing. See our guide.
- Choose a cut-over date, ideally a fiscal year or quarter start.
- Import opening balances and open items, then reconcile them to the old system.
- Run both systems in parallel for one period if the business is complex.
- Train users, and document the new month-end routine.
Official sources
Need help applying this to your business?
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