Before you start
Signs you are ready to make the move
If any of these sound familiar, a conversation with LimeLedger is the right next step.
Business signals
Project-level cost tracking is creating gaps
Your current system cannot give you reliable WIP, committed costs, or project profitability without manual spreadsheet work.
Month-end close is taking longer than it should
If your finance team is spending significant time on manual reconciliation, the system is the bottleneck - not the people.
You manage retentions, WIP, or progress claims manually
These are construction-specific requirements that Xero cannot handle without significant manual workarounds. Sage Intacct handles them natively.
You have more than one legal entity or cost centre
Xero requires a separate subscription per entity. Sage Intacct manages multi-entity consolidation natively within a single subscription.
Your board or CFO cannot see project-level profitability in real time
If getting a project P&L requires exporting to Excel, the reporting infrastructure needs replacing.
Not sure? Take our free Construction Finance Assessment at limeledger.com/diagnostic. It takes 15 minutes and gives you a clear picture of where your current system is creating the most risk and cost.
Data readiness
Preparing your financial data
LimeLedger handles the data extraction, cleaning, mapping, and migration. During discovery, we will assess your Xero data together and identify anything that needs attention before the migration window opens.
Chart of accounts
Review your chart of accounts for redundant accounts
Look for duplicate accounts, unused accounts, and accounts that no longer reflect how your business operates. Now is the best time to rationalise.
LimeLedger will redesign your chart of accounts as part of discovery. A review now reduces the back-and-forth.
Document your current project cost tracking structure
How do you currently categorise project costs - by phase, by cost type, by subcontractor? Bring this to the discovery session.
Identify which tracking categories you use in Xero
Xero tracking categories map to Sage Intacct dimensions. We will need to understand how you use them before we can design the dimension structure.
Customers, vendors, and contacts
Resolve any duplicate contacts
Xero allows duplicate contact names. Sage Intacct does not. Merge duplicates before migration.
Confirm subcontractor ABNs and payment details are current
These flow into TPAR reporting. Incorrect ABNs will require manual correction after migration.
Open transactions
Identify all outstanding AR invoices
Open AR balances will be migrated as opening balances in Sage Intacct. Ensure they are accurate before migration starts.
Identify all outstanding AP bills
Same as AR - open AP balances become opening balances. Resolve any disputed bills before the migration window.
List all outstanding retention amounts (receivable and payable)
Retention balances need to migrate correctly. Prepare a schedule of current retention held and retention owed.
Prepare a WIP schedule for active projects
Current work in progress values by project. LimeLedger uses this to set up project opening balances in Sage Intacct.
Historical data
Consider how many years of history to bring across
How much transaction history you need in Sage Intacct depends on your reporting requirements and compliance obligations. We will work through this with you during discovery.
Confirm bank reconciliation is up to date
Migration works best when your Xero books are fully reconciled. If there is a backlog of unreconciled transactions, now is the time to address it.
People and process
Setting your team up for a smooth go-live
The most common cause of implementation delays is not technical - it is availability. These items help protect the timeline.
Identify your finance lead for the project
One person with decision-making authority over your chart of accounts and financial processes. They are the primary contact throughout the 14 weeks.
Make your finance lead available during the build phase
They will review configuration decisions, sign off on the chart of accounts design, and lead user acceptance testing.
Plan the go-live date ahead of time
LimeLedger recommends starting a new financial period (ideally a new financial year or quarter start). Block the go-live week in key people's calendars now.
Identify all Sage Intacct users and their roles
Who needs access? Finance team, project managers, approvers. Each role gets different permissions. Prepare a list before the discovery session.
Brief your team that the migration is happening
Change management starts before the system does. People who know what is coming are significantly more likely to adopt the new system quickly.
Integrations
Connecting Sage Intacct to your other systems
LimeLedger builds and tests integrations as part of the standard engagement. Here is what to confirm before the project starts.
List every system that currently integrates with Xero
Project management, payroll, AP automation, expense management, bank feeds - every integration needs to be confirmed before migration begins. LimeLedger will assess each one.
Confirm which integrations are priority for go-live
Not all integrations need to be live on day one. Agree with LimeLedger which are essential versus which can follow in the first month post-go-live.
Check that you have admin access to each integrated system
LimeLedger will need API credentials or admin access to build and test each integration. If your IT team or another vendor manages those systems, loop them in early.
Confirm your payroll setup
Sage Intacct does not process payroll natively. Your payroll system will be connected via integration - raise this in the discovery session so it is scoped from day one.
Responsibility split
What LimeLedger does vs what you do
LimeLedger handles this
- Full Sage Intacct configuration
- Chart of accounts redesign and build
- Data extraction, cleaning, and migration
- Opening balances validation
- Integration build and testing
- Report and dashboard design
- User acceptance testing coordination
- Role-based training delivery
- Go-live coordination and support
- Post-go-live first-week support
Your team provides this
- Data exports from Xero (template provided)
- Attend the discovery session
- Approval of chart of accounts design
- User acceptance testing sign-off
- Training attendance for all users
- API/admin access to integrated systems
- Finance lead available during build
- Go-live sign-off
What to expect
Your 14-week migration timeline
Weeks 1-3
Discovery
Process mapping, COA design, SOW signed
Weeks 4-8
Build
Configuration, integrations, UAT
Weeks 9-11
Migration
Data extraction, cleaning, load and reconcile
Weeks 12-14
Go-Live
Training, cutover, first week support
Your business continues operating in Xero throughout. Sage Intacct is built and tested in parallel. The go-live cutover takes approximately two business days.
Ready to plan your migration?
Walk through this checklist with us.
30 minutes, no obligation.
We will review your current Xero setup, work through your readiness against this checklist, and give you an honest assessment of what migration would look like for your business.
Questions? Email info@limeledger.com or call +61 423 613 612