Recovering historical accounting data

By the end of this guide, you will know how to bring the history of previous software (Sage, Ciel, Saari…) or Excel workbooks into SynkriaOps: which file to upload, how the assistant works and how to check the result. Everything happens in Settings → Opening balance import. This is also called accounting data migration.

Before you start

Migrate before entering data

Import your past fiscal years before you start day-to-day entry: opening balances (à-nouveaux) chain from one fiscal year to the next.

Three rules frame the migration:

• one fiscal year at a time, from the oldest to the most recent. Re-importing a fiscal year already migrated replaces it; a closed fiscal year can no longer receive anything;
• three open fiscal years at most: close or freeze the oldest before migrating one more;
• have your accountant validate the trial balance of the previous software: a wrong migration distorts every statement of the fiscal year.

Choosing your path

Your situation	The step-by-step guide
Your previous software exports a FEC	Migrating from the FEC
You have the general ledger as PDF, Excel or CSV	Migrating from the general ledger
You only have year-end balances	Migrating from the trial balance
You are switching software during the year	Migrating the current fiscal year
You want two or three years of history	Migrating several past fiscal years

Choosing the file to upload

Source	Formats	What is migrated
General ledger PDF	.pdf	Entry detail, third parties; journals and matching if the file contains them
General ledger Excel	.xlsx	Same
General ledger CSV or text	.csv, .txt	Same
Accounting entries file (FEC)	.txt, .csv	Entry detail, journals, matching, third parties
Trial balance	.xlsx, .csv, .pdf	Year-end balances and third parties, without the detail

A file is 50 MB at most; archives (ZIP, RAR…) are refused. Each file goes through an antivirus scan and is then read on SynkriaOps servers.

Scanned PDF

If the PDF is a scanned image with no readable text, SynkriaOps asks for your consent before handing it to a text recognition service (Mistral AI), for that reading only. Your consent is recorded in your name. You can decline and upload an Excel, CSV or FEC export instead.

How the assistant works

1. Open Settings → Opening balance import and click New migration.

2. Fiscal years: enter the Number of past fiscal years to migrate and check their dates. Each fiscal year opens once the previous one has been imported and closed; its closing balances become the next one’s opening balances.

3. Source: choose the document type, upload the file, then click Read the file.

4. Reading: SynkriaOps shows the lines read, the checked totals and the lines set aside or in error. The report can be downloaded as CSV.

5. Columns: check the suggested mapping between the file’s columns and the expected data, then click Confirm columns. Tick The amount is a running balance if the column gives the account’s running balance. You can save the mapping as a template for your next files.

6. Accounts: for each account in the file, accept the suggested chart account (Accept suggestions), choose another one (Map to the same account) or turn it into a third party (Create as third parties). The step ends when every account is handled.

7. Journals: designate the journal that carries the opening balances, or tick This file contains no opening journal if it only carries the period’s movements.

8. Checks: review the Overall balance, the Balance by journal, the Result for the year (to compare with your financial statements) and the Reconciliations. A line in error prevents the import.

9. Reconstruction: review what the migration will create (entries, accounts, third parties, matches) and whether the fiscal year will be created or completed.

10. Import: click Launch the import. The import carries on even if you leave the page.

If the import fails, nothing is written and your books stay unchanged: fix the file and upload it again. Once the fiscal year is migrated, click Migrate the next fiscal year to continue.

After the import

The import’s detail page offers:

• View the Trial Balance and View the filtered Journal to check the result;
• Generate opening balances when the next fiscal year is waiting for its opening balances (see Opening balances explained);
• Create records when fixed assets were detected in the file (see Taking over an existing asset register);
• Delete this import, in the danger zone, if you need to start again.

Checking the migration

1. Open Accounting → Trial balance on the migrated fiscal year: total debit equals total credit.

2. Compare the balances of accounts 411 and 401 with the previous software’s trial balance.

3. Open the general ledger of the bank account: its balance must match the statement at the migration date.

Frequent messages

Message	Cause	Solution
”This file type does not match the chosen source”	The extension does not match the document type	Choose the right source or export in an expected format
”This file exceeds 50 MB.”	File too large	Export one fiscal year at a time
”Designate an opening journal, or confirm this file contains none.”	Journals step incomplete	Designate the journal or tick the box
Lines in error at the Checks step	Unreadable or unbalanced lines in the file	Download the report, fix the file and upload it again
Cannot migrate one more fiscal year	Three fiscal years already open	Close or freeze the oldest

See also

• Opening balances explained →
• Closing a fiscal year →
• Taking over an existing asset register →
• Managing accounting journals →