Guide

How to import a property portfolio into a new system

Migrations fail on rent-history, deposit-history, and open work orders. Plan for each.

The short answer

Import in dependency order — properties, then units, then residents, then active leases, then open balances — validating each stage before the next, and reconcile balances against your old system before you go live.

Overview

Migrations fail on rent-history, deposit-history, and open work orders. Plan for each.

Why it works this way

Every failed migration failed the same way: balances were imported before the charges that explain them, so the numbers matched on day one and diverged by month-end.

Import in order, and check a sample of leases by hand against the old system. The point of the reconciliation is not the total, it is finding the one charge type that mapped wrong.

Do it in this order

1. Export properties, units, leases, residents, ledgers, and open work orders from the current system. 2. Clean the CSVs: consistent addresses, no duplicate units, dates in ISO format. 3. Import in this order: properties → units → leases → residents → ledgers. 4. Reconcile ledger balances against the old system on a specific cutoff date. 5. Cutover date: new charges only in the new system after the cutover.

Common mistakes

  • Importing balances without the charge history behind them.
  • Letting two systems both send rent reminders during the overlap.
  • Going live without a hand-checked sample of leases.

Checklist

  • Export properties, units, leases, residents, ledgers, and open work orders from the current system.
  • Clean the CSVs: consistent addresses, no duplicate units, dates in ISO format.
  • Import in this order: properties → units → leases → residents → ledgers.
  • Reconcile ledger balances against the old system on a specific cutoff date.
  • Cutover date: new charges only in the new system after the cutover.
FAQ

Frequently asked

Can I bring historical data?

Bring what you would need to answer a resident or owner question: lease documents, ledger history, deposits, and open work orders. Deep archives can stay exported.

Related resources

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