Start with a cut-off date
A spreadsheet rarely has a trial balance in it, so the first job is to write down what the business owns and owes on one day. Your accountant can help, and the guide on debit and credit explains the idea.
Pick one date, called the cut-off date. Everything up to and including that day stays in your spreadsheets as your history. Everything after it is recorded in Faas. You do not bring across every old transaction: you bring across what stands on the cut-off date, and then check that it agrees.
The end of your financial year is the easiest cut-off, because the year's profit has just been closed off. The end of any month also works. Talk to your accountant before you choose, and stop recording in your spreadsheets for dates after the cut-off once you start in Faas.
In plain words: cut-off dateThe last day your old system is the record. If you choose 31 December, the opening figures in Faas are the balances at the end of 31 December, and Faas records from 1 January.
What to prepare from your spreadsheets
Prepare each of these as at the cut-off date and save the lists as CSV files. Keep a copy of every file: they are your record of what was brought across.
- A list of balances on the cut-off date. What the business owns and owes: bank and cash, what customers owe you, stock if you count it, equipment, what you owe suppliers, loans, SST payable, and what the owner put in. With your accountant, this becomes your trial balance as at the cut-off date.
- Customers and suppliers. One row each with name, email, phone and, where you have them, registration number, TIN and SST number. Save the sheet as CSV for the Contacts import.
- Unpaid customer invoices. One row per invoice still unpaid on the cut-off date: date, invoice number, customer and the amount still owed. Save it as CSV for the Opening receivables import.
- Unpaid supplier bills. One row per bill still unpaid. You enter the total in Faas and keep the sheet for reference.
- Bank statements. The statement closing balance on the cut-off date for each account, and the next statement so you can reconcile your first month in Faas.
Where each file goes in Faas
Faas takes the files in Full Mode, mostly under Accounting. The import page reads a CSV, shows a preview, and writes nothing until you press Import. Each import type has a template you can download, and the columns also accept common names such as "Debtor", "Outstanding" or "Doc No".
- Chart of accounts goes to Accounting, Chart of Accounts. Faas starts with a Malaysian SME chart. Compare it with your list and add any account you need, by hand. There is no file import for accounts, and you rarely need more than a handful.
- Customers and suppliers go to Accounting, Import, type Contacts. One row per contact, with its type (customer, supplier or both), email, phone, registration number, TIN and SST number.
- Bank balances go to Bank, Accounts. Add each bank account and set its opening balance: the statement balance at the end of the cut-off date, with the day your books begin in Faas (the day after the cut-off) as its date.
- Open customer invoices, and customer deposits not yet used, go to Accounting, Import, type Opening receivables. One row per open item: date, number, customer and the amount still outstanding. A negative amount is money the customer has paid you in advance.
- Every other balance from the trial balance goes to Accounting, Opening Balances: assets, what you owe suppliers, loans, SST payable, capital and retained earnings.
- Documents dated after the cut-off, if you kept working in your spreadsheets for a few days, go to Accounting, Import as Invoices, Bills, Receipts or Supplier payments. Invoices, quotations, credit notes and bills printed as PDF can also be read by the import page's PDF reader.
The order to bring it in
The order matters, because each step leans on the one before it.
- Chart of accounts. Add the accounts you need, so every balance has somewhere to go.
- Contacts. Import customers and suppliers, so open invoices can find their customer.
- Bank accounts. Add each one with its opening balance from the statement, dated the day your books begin in Faas.
- Opening receivables. Import the open customer invoices and unused deposits. Their total becomes Accounts Receivable, so leave Accounts Receivable empty on the Opening Balances page.
- Opening balances. Enter every other balance from the trial balance, as at the cut-off date.
- Check. Compare the Faas Trial Balance with the old one, as described below, before you record anything new.
One rule for the Opening Balances pagePut this year's profit and last year's together under Retained Earnings. Faas holds any difference in Opening Balance Equity, and a finished move leaves that account at zero.
Unpaid supplier bills
Faas brings open customer invoices across one by one. It does not yet do the same for supplier bills. Enter the Accounts Payable total from your trial balance on the Opening Balances page, and keep your sheet of unpaid bills as your list of who you owe and when. When you pay one of those bills, your accountant can record it against Accounts Payable.
New bills dated after the cut-off are entered or imported in Faas as usual, and are tracked one by one.
Check the trial balance matches
This is the step that tells you the move worked. In Faas, open the Trial Balance report and set it as at the day your books begin (the day after the cut-off), before anything dated that day is recorded, so it includes the bank opening balances. Put it next to the list of balances you prepared with your accountant and compare them account by account.
- Bank in Faas equals the bank statement balance at the end of the cut-off date.
- Accounts Receivable equals the total of your list of unpaid invoices.
- Accounts Payable, loans, SST and every other balance sheet account equal the old trial balance.
- Retained Earnings in Faas equals the old retained earnings plus this year's profit up to the cut-off.
- Opening Balance Equity is zero. If it is not, something was missed or entered twice.
| Account | Old trial balance | Faas |
| Bank | RM 18,400.00 | RM 18,400.00 |
| Accounts Receivable | RM 6,250.00 | RM 6,250.00 |
| Accounts Payable | RM -3,900.00 | RM -3,900.00 |
| Capital | RM -10,000.00 | RM -10,000.00 |
| Retained Earnings | RM -7,500.00 | RM -10,750.00 |
| Income less expenses this year | RM -3,250.00 | in Retained Earnings |
| Opening Balance Equity | RM 0.00 |
Credits are shown as negative amounts. Retained earnings of RM 7,500.00 plus the year's profit of RM 3,250.00 is RM 10,750.00, which is what Faas shows. Every other line agrees, and Opening Balance Equity is zero, so the move is complete.
If the bank figure in the old trial balance differs from the statement because of cheques or deposits that had not cleared, ask your accountant how to bring those items across before you compare.
After the move
Spreadsheets often mix business and personal money. Before you enter the opening balances, take out anything that is not the business's, and agree with your accountant how the owner's money is shown.
- Tax codes. Faas starts with the current SST codes. Your old system may use different code names, so match them by rate and by what they apply to, not by name. Confirm the rates with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department or your accountant.
- Run both for a month if you like. Record in Faas and compare a month of figures with your spreadsheets before you stop using it.
- Keep your old records. Do not delete anything. Your history before the cut-off stays in your spreadsheets and in the files you exported. Ask your accountant how long to keep them.
The Switching to Faas page has the short version, and the guide to bank reconciliation helps with the first month.
General education onlyThis guide explains how things usually work, using invented numbers. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice. Your accountant can tell you what applies to your business.
Let the books look after themselves.
Faas does the recording for you, in words you already use. Start with Easy Mode and bring your accountant in when you are ready.