Go-live checklist for Business Central

Go-live is the day the company starts posting in Business Central instead of the old system. It rarely goes wrong because of one big error, but because of many small things that were not checked. Here is a checklist divided into the week before, the day itself and the week after, which you can adapt to your project. Use it as a starting point and add your own items.

The week before

The aim is no surprises. Everything must be tested, and everyone must know what will happen.

Trial migration completed and reconciled in a sandbox.
Users created with a licence, permission sets and the right security groups.
Number series, posting groups and VAT setup reviewed.
Bank connection, payment formats and email setup tested.
Printouts, invoice layout and reports approved by the users.
Integrations tested with real examples.
Training held and guides shared.
Decision made on who may post in the old system, and up to which date.

The day before and the day itself

Lock the old system against new postings and take a final extract. Load the opening figures into production and reconcile them against the old system, as you rehearsed in the sandbox.

Check that the jobs in Job Queue Entries are running and that email and bank work. Have a short list of key people who can answer questions, and agree where users report errors. Post a test invoice and a test payment early, to see the whole flow.

Reconciliation and the week after

You must be able to show that the opening balance in Business Central equals the closing balance of the old system. Customer and vendor balances must match the open entries. Inventory value must match the inventory account.

Keep the reconciliation. The auditor will ask for it.

Meet the users daily in short meetings, and collect questions on a list. Most problems are missing permissions, wrong posting groups or a journal that has not been set up.

Run the job queue and check for error status.
Check bank reconciliation and the first payment proposal.
Run the first VAT report as a trial and compare it with what you expect.
Check that number series count correctly.
Go through users' questions, and fix the setup rather than creating workarounds.

Roles and after the first close

After the first month's close, you should hold a short lessons-learned meeting. What worked, what needs fixing, and what needs more training? Also plan when you will check the update window and notification recipients in the admin center, so that Microsoft's updates do not surprise you.

Divide the responsibilities. One person leads the day and makes decisions. Another reconciles figures. A third is the contact for IT and suppliers. Super users sit with their colleagues and help.

Write a short escalation plan. Who do you call if the bank does not work, or if posting stops with an error you do not understand?

Fallback and communication

Decide in advance what is required for you to postpone go-live, and what you do if you have to go back. Once the old systems are locked, a rollback is difficult, so agree the limit while there is still time. Keep a backup of all extracts, and document what was loaded when.

Tell everyone in the company when the switch happens, what changes for them and where they get help. Also tell customers and vendors if the invoice layout, bank details or email senders change.

Give short status updates during the day, so that nobody has to guess whether the switch is on plan.

Help with go-live

Addverk is a new Business Central partner with consulting at open, fixed prices. See our implementation service if you want a checklist and a sparring partner for go-live.