SAP Business One

PUBLIC

Data Migration Guide

Release Family 8.8

August 2011

Instructions
Use this guide to plan and scope data migration activities during the implementation project.
 Table of Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................... 4

2. Assessing the Data Migration Scope..................................................................................5

2.1. Companion Documents............................................................................................... 5
2.1.1. Data Migration Assessment............................................................................5
2.1.2. Migration Object List Worksheet.....................................................................5

3. Cleansing and Transforming Legacy Data..........................................................................6

3.1. Data Cleansing............................................................................................................ 6
3.2. Data Transformation.................................................................................................... 6
3.3. Tools............................................................................................................................ 6

4. System Setup and Configuration......................................................................................... 7

4.1. Cutover Period............................................................................................................. 7
4.2. Working with a Test Database Parallel to Production..................................................7
4.3. Document Numbering.................................................................................................. 7
4.4. Currency Exchange Rates........................................................................................... 8
4.5. Posting Periods............................................................................................................ 8

5. Data Migration Order............................................................................................................. 9

6. Master Data.......................................................................................................................... 11
6.1. Options for Master Data Migration.............................................................................11
6.2. Chart of Accounts...................................................................................................... 11
6.3. Business Partners...................................................................................................... 12
6.4. Items and Item Prices................................................................................................13

7. Item Quantities and Costs.................................................................................................. 14

7.1. Options for Migration of Item Quantities and Costs...................................................14
7.2. Inventory Opening Balances Transaction..................................................................14
7.2.1. Perpetual Inventory.......................................................................................15
7.3. Data Transfer Workbench – Stocktaking Template...................................................15
7.3.1. Step 1 - Stock Taking....................................................................................15
7.3.2. Step 2 - Stock Posting...................................................................................15
7.4. Goods Receipt w/o PO.............................................................................................. 16
7.4.1. Data Transfer Workbench – Goods Receipt w/o PO.....................................16
7.4.2. Manual Goods Receipt w/o PO.....................................................................16
7.4.3. Perpetual Inventory.......................................................................................16

8. Open Transactions.............................................................................................................. 18
8.1. Options for Migrating Open Transactions..................................................................18
8.2. Open Documents without Impact on GL....................................................................18
8.3. Open Documents with Impact on Inventory...............................................................18
8.4. Historical Data........................................................................................................... 19
8.5. Open Documents with Impact on GL but not Inventory.............................................19
8.5.1. Importing Open Invoices from Previous Fiscal Year.....................................20

9. Final Opening Balances (at Go-Live).................................................................................21

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9.1. Usage of the Opening Balance Account....................................................................21

9.2. Opening Balances for Business Partners..................................................................22
9.2.1. Using the Opening Balances Transaction.....................................................22
9.2.2. Payments...................................................................................................... 23
9.3. Opening Balances for Inventory.................................................................................23
9.4. Opening Balances for GL Accounts...........................................................................23
9.4.1. Opening Balances Transaction.....................................................................23
9.4.2. Importing Journal Entries..............................................................................24
9.4.3. Cash Accounts..............................................................................................24
9.4.4. Bank Accounts.............................................................................................. 25
9.4.5. Opening Balances and the Fiscal Year.........................................................25

10. Reconciliation...................................................................................................................... 26
10.1. Reconciliation of Inventory Balances.........................................................................26
10.2. Reconciliation of Business Partner Balances............................................................26
10.3. Reconciliation of G/L Balances..................................................................................26
10.4. Reconciliation of Other Open Items...........................................................................27

11. Copyrights, Trademarks, and Disclaimers........................................................................28

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1.Introduction
Most implementations require the migration of legacy data into the new SAP Business One
system. Legacy data can include master data (for example, chart of accounts, customer, vendor
and product information), open transactions such as sales and purchase orders, and GL
account balances that should be transferred to the new system.

This document, the Data Migration Guide, provides a structured approach to data migration
during an implementation project.

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2.Assessing the Data Migration Scope

Due to the complex nature of data migrations, many of the details are not fully discovered during
the sales cycle. This makes it hard to accurately scope the effort required for data migration.

2.1. Companion Documents

Two other documents are provided with the AIP materials to assist with the data migration
process.

2.1.1. Data Migration Assessment

The Data Migration Assessment can help to scope the time and effort for data migration during
the Blueprint phase when the implementation team can examine the legacy data.
The Data Migration Assessment document captures:
 Inventory of legacy applications (location, platform, application, purpose)
 Inventory of business objects (volumes, migration requirements and dependencies)
 Migration methods
 Connectivity to legacy systems
 Data retention requirements (open, historical, or inactive documents)
 Required changes to legacy data, for example, new accounts or customer codes
 Customer resources (locations, business owners, data owners, and data analysts)
 Language requirements
 Currency requirements
 Security requirements
The Data Migration Assessment document establishes the baseline for the project team to plan
and manage data migration activities throughout the implementation. Change is common within
data migration projects due to business decisions and data quality discovery. The Data
Migration Assessment document enables the project team to establish the foundation for
managing change throughout the project.

Note
SAP recommends that data migration is proposed separately, or on a time and
materials basis, to reduce risk from potential data migration project overruns.

2.1.2. Migration Object List

Worksheet
The Migration Object List worksheet complements the Data Migration Assessment document. It
shows the entire list of objects than can be imported in SAP Business One.
After the migration assessment, you can select the objects in this worksheet, and track the
migration status of each object.

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3.Cleansing and Transforming Legacy

Data
Data cleansing and data transformation should be discussed clearly with the customer as these
activities can significantly increase the effort for migration of documents. In most projects, this
task is done by the customer and is not part of the data migration scope. SAP recommends that
you only perform these activities if the customer does not have the expertise, and that you work
on a time and materials basis.

Note
In most cases data migration cannot start until the legacy data has been cleansed and
transformed. Therefore you need to track the completion of these activities in the
project plan.

3.1. Data Cleansing

The customer should be encouraged to clean up the legacy data before migrating it to the new
system. This might include:
 Removing duplicate master data
 Removing old, inactive business partners or products
 Consolidating price lists or introducing new price lists.

3.2. Data Transformation

Some customers use data migration as an opportunity to rebuild and change the master data.
This might include new numbering schemes for customer and vendor codes, product numbers,
or chart of account numbers.

3.3. Tools
Microsoft Excel provides many functions and formulas to help clean and transform legacy data,
for example, Concatenate, Vlookup, Search and Replace, etc. In addition, you can use the
Conversion Values feature of the Data Transfer Workbench to convert old values to new values
during data migration import runs.

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4.System Setup and Configuration

Before the actual migration of data can start, the system initialization and setup definitions must
be completed. Prerequisite data for objects, such as business partner groups, warehouses,
payment terms, and bank accounts should be in place.
The chart of accounts should be imported or finalized, and the G/L account determination
implemented, before any transactional data is migrated.

4.1. Cutover Period

Data migration normally takes place during the cutover period, which is a period of time before
the go-live switch. This time period might be one day, one week, or longer. During this period,
you and the customer must decide when to freeze the legacy system. The decision of freezing
the legacy system is influenced by the customer need to process master data, historical data
and/or operational data during the cutover period.

You should also determine the best possible time for a stock count. Ideally this should be after
the legacy system is frozen. For the implications of migrating open transactions that affect
inventory, refer to the section on Open Transactions in this document.

4.2. Working with a Test Database Parallel to Production

Once you create a production database, use the backup and restore function to duplicate the
database. This allows you to have a production database and one or more test databases. Make
sure your production database only contains real, production data and is never used for testing.
1. Every time you make changes to the production database, for example, setup or
configuration changes, or user-defined fields and tables, you must backup the database and
restore it to the Test database.
2. Import the legacy data to the Test database. Ask the customer to validate the migrated data
using the Test database.
3. Once the migrated data is validated on the Test database, re-import the legacy data to the
production database.

4.3. Document Numbering

Before you import transactional data, you must clarify with the customer if legacy documents
should be entered with the original number. If the customer needs the legacy numbers, use
manual document numbers:
 AR documents can be imported or entered with manual numbers. You must ensure that
there are no overlapping numbers when defining the document numbering series in SAP
Business One.
 AP documents can be imported with manual numbers; however, manual numbering is not
possible when entering the invoices manually.

Note
If the customer needs to separate legacy and non-legacy transactions, you can
use separate transaction codes in SAP Business One when importing G/L
balances.

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4.4. Currency Exchange Rates

If the system currency is different to the local currency, you need to consider exchange rates
before you enter or import open legacy transactions.
SAP recommends that you migrate foreign currency transactions with the original exchange
rates (same as in the legacy system) in order to realize the correct gains and losses according
to those exchange rates at the time of payment. Otherwise, the sub-ledger will not align with the
GL balances from the legacy system because of exchange differences.
Therefore you need to supply the legacy exchange rates for the required fiscal years in SAP
Business One.

Note
 When creating opening balances via marketing documents, you can specify the
legacy exchange rate in the document directly.
 For journal entries (including journal entries generated by the Opening Balances
utility in SAP Business One), the exchange rate is not recorded in the journal
entry transaction. Therefore, you need to either populate the exchange rate table
in SAP Business One before with the legacy rates, or specify the actual foreign
currency amounts in your data files.
 If exchange rates are needed for the system currency, you must enter them in the
exchange rate table in SAP Business One prior to entry or import of transactions.

4.5. Posting Periods

To avoid postings into the wrong periods during data migration import runs, SAP recommends
that only the periods for one fiscal year are open in SAP Business One.
If you are migrating data for a fiscal year, create only the periods for this fiscal year, and do not
create the future fiscal years until the data migration is completed. If you do create periods for
future fiscal years, make sure that all future periods are set to Locked status.
To import historical data, create the relevant posting periods for the time line you wish to cover.
For example, if you want to have the history of the last two years, create posting periods for
three fiscal years – two for the history, and one for the current.

Note
If you have already created the current period in the production database, you
can change the code and name of the current period to match the historical
period. You can also change the date ranges for the period. You must do this
before any posting to the current period. After you have made these changes,
you can create a new posting period for the current period.
When creating a new posting period, the G/L account determination for the new
posting period will default to the account determination for the current active
period. This applies whether the new posting period dates are earlier or later
than the existing periods.

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5.Data Migration Order

Due to object dependencies in SAP Business One, you need to migrate data in a predefined
order.

Object Check

1. Master Data
1) Chart of Accounts
2) Budget
3) Business Partners
4) Items
5) Bills of Material
6) Sales Forecast
7) Price Lists
8) Special Prices
9) Catalogue Numbers
10) Employees
11) Service Contract
12) Service Templates
13) Customer Equipment Card*
14) Knowledgebase Solutions
*Consider that this object has dependencies on other master
data objects.
2. Item Quantities and Costs*
 Item quantities and costs can be entered or imported using:
¡ Goods receipt without PO documents,
¡ Purchase orders from the legacy system, or
¡ The SAP Business One inventory stock posting
transaction
 Using the goods receipt without PO document allows for
batches and/or serial number recording of items in stock
 For standard cost items, the item cost can be entered with the
master data
 For moving average and FIFO items, the customer should
determine how to enter item costs based on price volatility
*Should follow a cycle count
3. Open Transactions
1) Open documents* with no impact on GL: Open Sales
Quotations, Sales Orders, Purchase Quotations and Purchase
Orders
2) Open documents* with impact on inventory: Open Goods
Receipts without PO. Note: only import open Delivery Notes
and Goods Receipts PO if absolutely required

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3) Open documents* with impact on GL but not on inventory

account: Open AP and AR Invoices, Incoming Payments and
Vendor Payments (On Account payments)
4) Contacts with business partners (Activities)
5) Sales Opportunities
6) Service Calls
7) Production Orders
*Open documents are transactions that have not been closed with a full
payment.
4. Final Opening Balances (at Go-Live)
 Business Partner Balances*
 Inventory Quantities and Value**
 GL Account Balances
 Bank Transactions

* If all open AR or AP documents have been imported, the final

balances for business partners should already be correct.
** If item quantities have already been imported using the goods receipt
document, take care not to duplicate inventory quantities or affect
valuation

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6.Master Data
Master data can be entered or imported at any time. It does not affect accounting. The
advantage of importing master data early is that training and system testing can be conducted
using the real data.

If you start importing the master data early, the customer will need to track any updates to the
master data in the legacy system.

6.1. Options for Master Data Migration

Tool/Option Recommended For:

Data Transfer Import of bulk data, including chart of accounts, business
Workbench partner master data, item master data, and price lists.
Import of setup data such as banks, etc.
Note:
 Data can be manipulated in Microsoft Excel before
import.
 User-defined fields and user-defined tables can be
imported into objects using Data Transfer
Workbench.
Import from Excel utility Import of business partner, item and price list master data.
in SAP Business One Note:
 Data can be manipulated in Microsoft Excel before
import.
 Not all object fields can be imported using this
utility. In this case, use the Data Transfer
Workbench.
 Business partner groups are created automatically.
Manual Data Entry Low volume of data, especially setup data such as
warehouse data.

6.2. Chart of Accounts

If the chart of accounts is defaulted when creating a new company, a data migration of the Chart
of Accounts is not necessary. The chart of accounts needs only to be revised and completed
manually.
If the legacy chart of accounts is required, select the option for a user-defined chart of accounts
when creating a new company. The chart of accounts can then be either entered manually or
imported via the Data Transfer Workbench. A user-defined chart of accounts has the level 1
drawers predefined.

When importing the chart of accounts using Data Transfer Workbench, follow these tips:

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 The DTW template for the chart of accounts provides tooltips for required column data
formats.
 In a user-defined chart of accounts, the drawers are automatically created and are
identified by a sequential number followed by 14 zeros. When referencing a draw, use the
15 digit draw number, for example:
100000000000000 for Assets, 200000000000000 for Liabilities
 If you include the 15 digit drawer number in a cell, make sure the cell is formatted as text,
or insert a quote mark in front of the number, to prevent Excel from truncating the number.
 In the father account key field, type the account code of the level above the account to be
inserted. If the level above is a title, you need to type the code of the title exactly as it has
been defined.
 If you insert a title account at level 2, the parent account is the drawer number.
 When using account segmentation, the FormatCode column must contain the complete
account code including all segments. The account code must be entered without any
separator, and as a string; for example: 6000000100101.

6.3. Business Partners

When importing business partners using Data Transfer Workbench, consider these points:
 Business partner groups must be created in advance. If you use the Import from Excel
utility, these groups will be automatically created if they do not exist in the system.
 There are multiple DTW templates for business partner master data:

 The header template (OCRD) covers the basic data. Child templates are optional and
cover contacts, addresses, bank accounts, payment methods, and so on.
 Use the CardCode column as the record key to link the parent and child templates.
 The Contact Person field in the header template defines the default contact person if more
than one contact will be imported.
 The default CardType is customer.
 The mail address in the header corresponds to the default ship-to address. If more than
one ship-to address should be imported for the business partner, use the CRD1 child
template for the remaining ship-to addresses.
 If you wish to update existing contact persons or address information, use the LineNum
column in the child template to identify the relevant record for updating.

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6.4. Items and Item Prices

Items and price lists can be entered manually, imported using the Import from Excel utility in
SAP Business One, or imported via the Data Transfer Workbench.

When importing Items using Data Transfer Workbench, consider these points:
 Item groups and warehouses must be created in advance.
 GL Account determination needs to be completed before items are imported.
 There are multiple templates for the item master data object:

 To enter item cost for an item with standard cost valuation, you can enter the cost when
you import the master data, in the AvgPrice field in the OITM template.
 For items with G/L account determination set at the item level, you can import the G/L
accounts for the item. Enter the accounts in the OITW – ItemWarehouseInfo template, and
enter a value in the LineNum field to identify the warehouse. If desired, you can import
different G/L accounts for the item in each warehouse, by entering multiple rows in the
template.
 You can import the item’s price into one or more price lists using the ITM1 – Items_Prices
template. The price list number can be found by running a query on the OPLN table.

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7.Item Quantities and Costs

Item quantities and costs must be entered before open transactions that release inventory can
be imported. There are two things to consider, the physical in stock quantity for the item, and the
item cost. The item cost is used for calculation of inventory valuation.

The client should conduct a physical inventory or stock count beforehand.

7.1. Options for Migration of Item Quantities and Costs

Tool/Option Recommended For:

Item Quantities Inventory Opening Low number of items. See section 7.2
and Costs Balances
transaction in SAP
Business One
Data Transfer High number of items.
Workbench (using Note: two steps are necessary. See section
stock taking 7.3
template)
Data Transfer High number of items.
Workbench (using This enables serial numbers and batches to
goods receipts be assigned to the items in stock. See
without PO section 7.4
documents)

Manual Data Entry Low number of items.

(using goods This enables serial numbers and batches to
receipts without PO be assigned to the items in stock. See
documents) section 7.4

7.2. Inventory Opening Balances Transaction

The opening balances transaction is located under Stock Management → Stock Transactions →
Stock Opening Balances, Stocktaking and Stock Posting. Select the Stock Opening Balances
tab.
This transaction is recommended when there is a low number of items, and allows you to enter
the in stock quantity and the item cost for each item, from a single screen. This transaction
updates the in stock quantity in SAP Business One.
The transaction updates the items for a single warehouse, therefore you need to run the
opening balances transaction for each warehouse.
You have the option to reference an existing price list if one exists in the system, in which case
the price from the price list will be shown for each item. Otherwise you can enter the item cost
directly in the opening balances window.

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A best practice is to set the date in the opening balances window as the go-live date. This
enables you to report the opening balances as of the first day of working with SAP Business
One.

7.2.1. Perpetual Inventory

If you are working with perpetual inventory, the opening balances transaction posts a journal
entry. The journal entry has origin code OB. The journal entry debits the inventory account
defined in the GL account determination, and credits an offsetting account that you specify. This
offsetting account ensures there is no effect on other general ledger accounts.

Note
To enter the item cost, consider the valuation method:
 For moving average price, create a price list with all the latest moving
average prices from the legacy system and choose this price list for the
opening balances transaction.
 For FIFO pricing, you can enter the opening balances transaction
multiple times with different quantities at different cost prices, to
represent the FIFO layers in the legacy system.
 For standard price, you must maintain the correct standard prices in the
item master data before you enter the opening balances. Either do not
select a price list and enter the item’s purchase price, or, if purchase
orders have been imported, choose Last Purchase Price as the price list
in the opening balances transaction.

Warning
If you have different stock valuation methods for different item groups or items,
you may have to import the opening quantities separately, and choose only
items with the same price source.

7.3. Data Transfer Workbench – Stocktaking Template

This option achieves the same results; however, two steps are necessary.

7.3.1. Step 1 - Stock Taking

The first step is to import the counted quantities for all items. You can do this using the OITW-
Stock Taking template in DTW, or you can use the Stock Taking transaction in SAP Business
One (Stock Management → Stock Transactions → Stock Opening Balances, Stocktaking and
Stock Posting) and select the Stocktaking tab.
Whichever method you use, the item quantities will show as “counted” in the inventory posting
transaction.

7.3.2. Step 2 - Stock Posting

The second step is to post the stock quantities using the Stock Posting transaction in SAP
Business One (Stock Management → Stock Transactions → Stock Opening Balances,
Stocktaking and Stock Posting). Select the Stock Posting tab.
This transaction updates the in stock count and will create a journal entry to reflect the stock
value in the GL. The increasing and decreasing accounts are defaulted from the G/L account

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determination, but you should overwrite these accounts with the opening balance offsetting
account. This ensures there is no effect on standard general ledger accounts.

Since the inventory account is affected, you must avoid duplicating these postings when
creating the final G/L account opening balances (see the section on Final Opening Balances).

A best practice is to set the date in the inventory posting window as the go-live date. This
enables you to track and report stock value as of the first day of working with SAP Business
One.

Note
In the Stock Posting transaction, follow the rules for determination of the item cost
price according to the valuation method. Use the correct price list or item cost so that
item valuation is accurate.
You need to run the Stock Posting transaction even if perpetual inventory is not in
use.

7.4. Goods Receipt w/o PO

Importing item opening balances using a goods receipt is recommended if you wish to have a
document as the source of the opening balances.

7.4.1. Data Transfer Workbench –

Goods Receipt w/o PO
In DTW, use the OIGN – Documents and the IGN1 – Document_Lines templates. Enter the
document rows on the IGN1 template.
You can enter serial or batch numbers using the related templates SRNT – SerialNumbers and
BTNT – BatchNumbers. Enter each batch or serial number on a separate row in the template
and relate back to the parent item row using the DocLineNum field.

7.4.2. Manual Goods Receipt w/o PO

You can find the manual goods receipt transaction under Stock Management → Stock
Transactions→ Goods Receipt. When you run this transaction, enter the item quantity from the
stocktaking. You will be prompted to enter serial numbers or batch numbers for the items if the
item is managed by serial numbers or batch numbers.

7.4.3. Perpetual Inventory

The goods receipt document posts a journal entry that debits the inventory account and
credits an offsetting account.
SAP recommends that you use an opening balance account as the offsetting account so there
is no effect on other general ledger accounts:
 In DTW, the account code for the offsetting account can be entered in the IGN1 –
Document_Lines template.
 In the manual Goods Receipt, the default offsetting account is shown for each item
row, and you can easily select an opening balance account instead.

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If you have a large number of items to receive, you can temporarily change the default
offsetting account in the G/L account determination before you create the goods receipts
manually or import them using DTW.

Warning
The journal entry posted by the goods receipt does not have the origin as OB.
Therefore you should enter information in the reference fields in the goods
receipt, so you can later track the journal entries for opening balances.

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8.Open Transactions
When open documents are entered into SAP Business One, automatic postings to the general
ledger occur. You need to consider the type of document and its effect on inventory levels.
If perpetual inventory is in use, you also need to consider the effect of a document on
accounting, including stock values.

8.1. Options for Migrating Open Transactions

Tool/Option Recommended For:

Data Transfer Import of bulk open transactions.
Workbench Data can be manipulated in Microsoft Excel before import.
User-defined fields and user-defined tables can be imported
into objects using Data Transfer Workbench.
Manual Data Entry Low volume of data.
Document Generation Generation of sales documents from a source sales
Wizard document*
*Based on the kind of documents you want to reflect

8.2. Open Documents without Impact on GL

Open sales quotations, sales orders not linked to deliveries, purchase quotations, and purchase
orders not linked to goods receipts do not affect accounting or inventory levels. These
documents can be entered manually or loaded via the DTW.

Note
§ The delivery date should be the original delivery date from the legacy
system
§ The posting date can be the first day of the current fiscal year
§ The document should include the correct item codes
§ Purchase orders affect the last purchase price

8.3. Open Documents with Impact on Inventory

Open documents such as delivery notes, goods receipt POs, returns, and credit notes will affect
inventory levels and also inventory values if perpetual inventory is in place.

SAP recommends that these documents are not migrated, since this can lead to an imbalance
between stock quantities and valuation. For example, a delivery note on the legacy system has
reduced the inventory quantity. If the same delivery note is migrated to SAP Business One, it
will reduce the inventory quantity again. Similarly, a goods receipt has increased the inventory
quantity on the legacy system. If this is migrated, it will increase the quantity again.

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Instead the customer should try to invoice or close open delivery notes and goods receipts on
the legacy system. If it is not possible to close out these transactions before go-live, the
customer should retain these documents and process them on the legacy system until they are
closed. You may need to correct the stock levels in SAP Business One or predict in advance
the materials in the legacy system and take this into account when entering the initial stock
values.

8.4. Historical Data

Normally, closed documents are only migrated for reporting purposes. However, the customer
might want to track batch/serial number assignment or stock positions historically over a period
of time.
When you migrate documents that affect stock counts and value, you should load the incoming
documents (goods receipt PO) before the outgoing documents (delivery notes), to avoid
negative stock.
Importing historical data involves significant handling of related transactions, including
subsequent marketing documents and payments, to ensure that the documents are closed in a
proper way in SAP Business One. You should carefully consider the time and effort of this
migration.

8.5. Open Documents with Impact on GL but not Inventory

Sales and purchase invoices can be migrated from the legacy system but should be migrated as
“service type” invoices so there is no effect on inventory.
If an “item type” invoice is migrated to SAP Business One, and there are no preceding
documents such as deliveries or goods receipt POs, the invoice will assume the role of the
delivery or goods receipt and will increase or decrease inventory quantity levels. If perpetual
inventory is in use, there will also be an automatic posting to the inventory account. For these
reasons, SAP recommends that sales and purchase invoices are migrated as “service type”
invoices. This will cause the business partner balance to be updated but will not affect inventory.
Service type invoices can be entered manually or loaded via the DTW, or generated from
imported sales or purchase orders by the Document Generation Wizard.

Note
To assign the invoice number from the legacy system, enter a manual document
number when importing the invoice. You must make sure that manual numbers
do not overlap with the document series defined in SAP Business One for new
documents.
The posting date and delivery date should match the original posting and
delivery date on the legacy invoice.

When importing service invoices using Data Transfer Workbench, follow these tips:
 In the DTW template, the service type is specified in the DocType column.
 In the DTW child template for the row, use the service description column to enter
meaningful text so you can track the original invoice as an opening balance transaction.
 Manual document numbering is specified in the Handwritten column and the document
number is specified in the DocNum column. For automatic numbering, leave the
Handwritten and the DocNum columns blank.
 Make sure you enter the correct date for the posting date. Use the original posting date or
the last date of the previous fiscal year.

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 If you use the original posting date, the due date will be calculated automatically. If you
use the last date of the previous fiscal year, you must enter the original due date.
 The G/L account code is mandatory for service documents. Make sure you add the G/L
account code in the child template, and consider the effect on the P&L accounts:
¡ When you import AR service invoices, you can use the original revenue account
or a separate revenue account dedicated to opening balances.
¡ When you import AP service invoices, use the opening balance account as the
liabilities account.

8.5.1. Importing Open Invoices from

Previous Fiscal Year
To migrate invoices from a previous fiscal year, you have two options:
1.Importing open invoices from previous fiscal years without G/L history (G/L opening
balances for current fiscal year only).
2.Importing open invoices from previous fiscal years with G/L history (periodic balances
only).

For option 1:

Import open invoices for the earliest fiscal year, then run period-end closing before
importing open invoices for the next earliest fiscal year.
Since revenue in the previous fiscal year is affected by the open AR invoices,
you must run the period-end closing process using the opening balance account
instead of the retained earnings account.
The GL opening balances will be posted for the first day of the current fiscal year
including the full amount of the retained earnings account.

For option 2:

The GL balances including P&L accounts will be posted for the previous fiscal
years so there is no need to post GL opening balances for the first day of the
current fiscal year.
Since revenue in the previous fiscal year is affected by the open AR invoices, you
must subtract the open invoices revenue amount from the revenue account
balances.
You must run the period end closing process for every fiscal year using the
retained earnings account.

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9.Final Opening Balances (at Go-Live)

At go-live, opening balances must match the legacy system trial balance for:
1. Business Partners (Customers and Vendors)
2. Inventory Items
3. General Ledger Accounts
4. Outstanding transactions for cash accounts and external bank statement

Many of the balances, such as business partner balances and inventory accounts, have been
already set by the migration of open documents. The remaining final opening balances need to
be recorded just before the cutover. Carefully read the notes that follow in this document
regarding going live in the middle of the fiscal year.

9.1. Usage of the Opening Balance Account

During the import of opening balances, you will use the opening balance offset GL account to
balance all journal entries. This offset account must be added to the chart of accounts in
preparation for entering the opening balances.
In order to clarify the usage of the opening balance account, here is an example of a simple trial
balance to be entered into SAP Business One. Note that this example assumes that P&L
balances do not need to be entered.

Account Name Debit Credit

Assets:
Cash 5.000
Inventory 500
Receivables 1.500
Liabilities:
Loans 2.000
Employees 1.500
Payables 700
Equity:
Equity 200
Revenues 5.100
Cost of Sales 1.500
Expenses 1.000
Total: 9.500 9.500

This trial balance can theoretically be entered as one journal entry. In this case, the journal entry
will be balanced. In real life, the trial balance will be entered as separate transactions (separate
steps for customer opening balances, vendor opening balances, inventory opening balances
etc.).

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The opening balance account is used as the offsetting account for each transaction. At the end
of the process, the balance of this opening balance G/L account will be zero, based on the fact
that your trial balance is balanced.

9.2. Opening Balances for Business Partners

If you have imported open AR and AP invoices as service type invoices, together with all partial
payments, down payments, or payments in advance not based on invoice, the total AR and AP
balances in SAP Business One should match the receivables and payables in the legacy trial
balance. No further action is required apart from matching the AR and AP balances with the
legacy system.
If you have any open business partner balances outside of the open invoices total (for example
prepayments), you need to record these balances. You can record these balances using the
opening balances transaction in the SAP Business One application.

9.2.1. Using the Opening Balances

Transaction
You can find this transaction in SAP Business One under Administration → System Initialization
→ Opening Balances → Business Partners Opening Balance.

When you enter opening balances for a business partner, a journal entry is posted to the
business partner and the offset opening balance account. The journal entry has the origin code
OB so can be easily tracked and reported.

Note
§ When the business partner opening balance is updated, the control account
linked to it will be updated as well.
§ Since you enter total amounts, you will not be able to view open invoices or
credit memos of the customer or vendor.
§ If you are entering historical GL balances and do not wish to record the
balance for each business partner, you can create a general business
partner and enter all the historical balances for this business partner. The
disadvantage of this action is that you do not have the detail in SAP
Business One.
§ You can enter multiple opening balances for the same customer or vendor,
for example, one balance per month. Enter each balance with a different
date.
§ Opening balances entered in this transaction appear as journal entries in the
incoming and outgoing payments window. Since the opening balance
usually includes several invoices, you will have to manually match the
journal entry when the payment is made.
§ The journal entries posted by opening balances are included in the dunning
wizard.
§ In the Aging Report – just one amount will be displayed for each balance
entered.

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Warning
When entering opening balances using this transaction, you must enter the minus sign
for credit balances if the Display Credit Balance with Negative Sign checkbox is set in
Administration → System Initialization → Company Details.

9.2.2. Payments
Incoming and outgoing payments should only be imported when they represent down payments,
partial payments, or payments on account not based on an invoice. These payments can be
entered manually as incoming or outgoing payments if loads are low, or imported using the
DTW.

Warning
In countries working with VAT, cash discounts have to be considered. If you have open
items where a cash discount is still applicable, you need to assign the correct VAT code in
order to have the system perform the VAT correction. As a result, the journal entries
additionally affect the VAT accounts.
If no discounts are applicable, you can migrate the transactions with zero amount VAT.

9.3. Opening Balances for Inventory

If you have imported item quantities and item costs using the inventory opening balances
transaction, or by importing goods receipts documents, the in stock item counts should match
the item counts from the legacy system. The inventory account GL balance in SAP Business
One should match the legacy balance. If the accounts do not match, you need to investigate
and post adjustments.

9.4. Opening Balances for GL Accounts

At cutover, you need to enter the opening balances for GL accounts other than the AR and AP
control accounts and the inventory account.
You have two options for entering GL opening balances:
1.Use the Opening Balances transaction in the SAP Business One application
2.Load balances by importing journal entries using DTW.

9.4.1. Opening Balances Transaction

Use the transaction Administration → System Initialization → Opening Balances → G/L
Accounts Opening Balances to enter legacy balances.
The Origin of an opening balance journal will be ‘OB’ which helps you to identify these journal
entries for reporting.
If the fiscal year does not begin in January, you can change the date in the entry screen of the
opening balances.
You can enter several balances with different dates for the same account.

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Warning
Ensure that GL balances are not entered twice:
If opening balances have been entered for items, or goods receipt documents
have already been imported, do not reenter the inventory account balances
(when using perpetual inventory).
The GL control accounts (receivables/payables) appear in this screen. You
should not enter the opening balances for the control accounts. The opening
balances must be entered separately for each individual business partner using
the business partners opening balance transaction.

Note
When entering opening balances using this transaction, you must enter the minus
sign for credit balances if the Display Credit Balance with Negative Sign checkbox is
set in Administration → System Initialization → Company Details.

9.4.2. Importing Journal Entries

Opening balances can be imported as journal entries using the Data Transfer Workbench. Use
the OJDT – JournalEntries template.

The Origin in the journal entry will be recorded as a manual journal entry, not as opening
balance.

9.4.3. Cash Accounts

When entering the opening balances for bank accounts, you need to consider outstanding
transactions for cash accounts and external bank statements.

Before you enter the opening balances for cash bank accounts, you should sort the transactions
into open and closed transactions:
 Closed transactions are all transactions that were cleared and reconciled in the legacy
system. You can enter the balances for these accounts using the GL Accounts Opening
Balances transaction. Alternatively, you can import the opening balances as journal
entries using the Data Transfer Workbench. In both cases, the offsetting account should
be the opening balance account.

 Open transactions are detailed transactions that remain open from the legacy system to
be reconciled in SAP Business One. Open transactions contain un-cleared checks,
bank transfers and other transactions that have been recorded in the books but were
not yet reconciled with the bank statement. You can import these transactions using the
Data Transfer Workbench as individual journal entries or as one large journal entry with
multiple rows. In both cases, record one line per open transaction. This will make it
easier to reconcile these transactions later. The offsetting account should be the
opening balance account.

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9.4.4. Bank Accounts

You need to enter the opening balances of the external bank statements for each bank account.
The opening balance amount should match the closed transactions amount entered for the bank
account.
You should reconcile closed transactions with the bank statement. Open the Reconciliation
screen under Banking → Bank Statements and External Reconciliation → Reconciliation.
Choose the bank account and reconcile externally.

9.4.5. Opening Balances and the

Fiscal Year
The process is slightly different depending on whether balances need to be recorded for
previous fiscal years.

Requirement for Opening Recommendation

Balances
Go-Live at start of new 1. Conduct the period end procedure on the legacy
fiscal year. No historical system
balances required. 2. Enter opening balances in SAP Business One only for
balance sheet accounts (retained earnings), not for
profit and loss accounts
3. Use the first day of the current fiscal year as the date
on the opening balances transaction
4. Match the balance sheets on both systems and make
any necessary adjustments
Go-Live at start of new For each historical fiscal year:
fiscal year. Historical 1. Enter opening balances in SAP Business One for the
balances required for oldest fiscal year, for all accounts, including profit and
previous year or years. loss accounts
2. Use the last day of the period as the date on the
opening balances transaction
3. Conduct the period-end closing process in SAP
Business One after the balances have been entered for
a fiscal year to transfer balances to the next fiscal year
Repeat the process for the each fiscal year.
The opening balances for the current fiscal year will be
created automatically by the period-end closing process.

Go-Live during fiscal year. 1. Enter opening balances in SAP Business One for all
No historical balances accounts, including P&L balances
required. 2. For reporting purposes, run reports from both systems,
and run P&L reports from SAP Business One
Note: If the customer goes live in the middle of the fiscal
year, there is no need to conduct the period-end closing
process on legacy system

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10. Reconciliation
Regardless of how you perform the migration of open items and balances (manually or via the
Data Transfer Workbench), you need to reconcile the accounts between SAP Business One and
the legacy system.
Print and retain a hard copy of all reconciliation reports from SAP Business One and the legacy
system to prove the migration correctness.

10.1. Reconciliation of Inventory Balances

You must ensure that the inventory opening balances (quantities and values) migrated to SAP
Business One match the legacy system.

Run the Stock Audit Report. When you run this report, make sure that:
 The system date information is selected properly.
 The Display setting is set to “Items”
 The indicator for “Display OB for items/accounts with no transactions” is selected.

Match the item quantities in SAP Business One with the quantities in the legacy system.
Make sure the stock account balances in SAP Business One match the stock account balances
in the legacy system.

Note
If a variance remains after reconciliation between SAP Business One and the legacy
system, for example, due to different prices, you have to correct this difference
manually.

10.2. Reconciliation of Business Partner Balances

You must ensure that the business partner opening balances migrated to SAP Business One
align with the legacy system.

Run the Customer Receivables and Vendor Liabilities Aging Reports with a posting date range
until the start of the current fiscal year.
Make sure the total open balance for all vendors matches the total Payables balance and the
total for customers matches the Receivables balance in the G/L.

10.3. Reconciliation of G/L Balances

You must ensure that the G/L opening balances migrated to SAP Business One align with the
legacy system.

Run the Balance Sheet as per the first day of the current fiscal year. It must be identical to the
balance sheet of the legacy system.
Run the P&L Statement as per first day of the current fiscal year and make sure it is zero.

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Run the Trial Balance for the previous fiscal year(s). The balance must be identical to the
balance in the legacy system for each account.

10.4. Reconciliation of Other Open Items

If you migrated other open items such as sales orders and purchase orders, you need to match
the total balance migrated to SAP Business One with the legacy system.

Run the Open Items List report in SAP Business One and compare the total with the total
balance of the corresponding item in the legacy system.

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11. Copyrights, Trademarks, and

Disclaimers
© Copyright 2011 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

The current version of the copyrights, trademarks, and disclaimers at

http://service.sap.com/smb/sbocustomer/documentation is valid for this document.

© SAP AG 2011