MYOB to Xero, done properly.
Moving from MYOB AccountRight, MYOB Business or AccountEdge to Xero - payroll, open invoices, balances and an agreed slice of history brought across and reconciled to the cent. Fixed quote, one to two weeks for most files, and nothing cancelled until your records are safe.
Rated 4.9 from 126+ Google reviews · Registered BAS Agents · Xero Platinum Partner
Which MYOB are you on?
It changes the job. The three MYOB products convert differently, and the quote and the timeline depend on which file you are holding.
MYOB AccountRight
The desktop-born product, and usually the biggest job: long history, inventory, jobs and payroll all living in one file. Expect the top of the one-to-two-week range, and expect us to ask about jobs, inventory and payroll before we quote.
MYOB Business and Essentials
The browser-based product, including the older Essentials files MYOB moved onto it. Simpler data, fewer moving parts, and generally the fastest to convert - most sit comfortably inside the one-to-two-week window.
MYOB AccountEdge
The Mac desktop product. Still entirely convertible - the file just comes to us as a backup rather than a login, and we tell you exactly how to take one.
"The team have been exceptional in managing our transition from MYOB to Xero. The migration was completed with minimal disruption, and they are always proactively suggesting further improvements for our business."
What comes across, and what stays in MYOB.
A conversion is not a photocopy of the old file. Here is the honest inventory - agreed in writing before we start, so nothing is a surprise afterwards.
Contacts and the chart
Customers, suppliers and your accounts list - with the chart rebuilt with you rather than copied, because this is the one free chance to fix a decade of accumulated clutter.
Open invoices and bills
Every unpaid sale and unpaid supplier bill, brought across individually, so debtors and creditors still age correctly from day one.
Opening balances
Bank, GST, PAYG withholding, super payable, loans and equity - reconciled to the cent against MYOB on the conversion date. Nearly right is wrong.
Payroll
Employees, leave entitlements and year-to-date figures, so STP continues and a mid-year switch does not restart the payroll year.
Transaction history
An agreed slice of history, defined before we start. Not everything, and never a surprise - you know exactly how much you are getting before anything is touched.
What stays behind
Attachments, custom report layouts, bank rules, recurring templates and inventory movement history. We export what matters to PDF before the MYOB subscription ends, so staying behind never means becoming unreachable.
Where MYOB conversions go wrong.
Rarely in the data transfer - the tools for that are mature. They go wrong in the mapping decisions either side of it, because MYOB and Xero organise the same information differently, and every difference is a place to lose something quietly.
Payroll categories mapped in a hurry
MYOB payroll categories and Xero pay items are not a one-to-one match. Allowances, leave loading and super treatment each need a deliberate decision, because a lazy mapping changes gross pay, and a wrong gross flows straight into STP. This is the mapping we check employee by employee before the first pay run.
Jobs flattened into nothing
If your MYOB file uses jobs or categories, that reporting has to be rebuilt as Xero tracking categories or it simply ends at the conversion date. Xero gives you two active tracking categories, so the real work is deciding which two views of the business you actually use.
Undeposited funds carried across dirty
MYOB's undeposited funds and electronic clearing accounts collect years of half-finished transactions. Convert them as they stand and the junk lands in your Xero opening balances, where it is much harder to unpick. They get emptied and explained before the conversion, not after.
Tax codes assumed to match
MYOB's tax code list does not map neatly onto Xero's tax rates, and capital purchases are where it bites - a CAP transaction coded as an ordinary purchase changes what the BAS reports. As registered BAS agents we map the codes deliberately and check the GST accounts against your last lodged BAS.
Inventory expected to move whole
Your item list and stock value come across. Years of movement history do not - that is a limit of conversion generally, not of us. For an AccountRight file running inventory, this gets agreed up front and the old file's reports get exported so the history stays readable.
The last MYOB BAS left hanging
The final activity statement covering the MYOB period has to be tied off against MYOB's figures before Xero takes over, or the first quarter in Xero starts from numbers nobody has agreed. We time the conversion date around your lodgement cycle so there is a clean line, not a smear.
The move, start to finish.
One to two weeks for most files. The sequence matters more than the speed, because everything after the opening balances assumes they were right.
- 01
Look at the file, fix the date, fix the price
We look at your MYOB file, pick a conversion date around your BAS cycle and payroll year, and give you a fixed quote with the scope in writing - what is coming across, what is staying, and what that means for you.
- 02
Convert and map
The data comes across. The chart is rebuilt with you rather than copied, payroll categories are mapped to Xero pay items one by one, and jobs become tracking categories where they earn it.
- 03
Balance it against MYOB
Opening balances agreed line by line back to MYOB - debtors invoice by invoice, creditors bill by bill, bank to statement, GST and payroll to the last lodged BAS and pay run. Nothing goes live until every control account ties.
- 04
Go live, and let go of MYOB safely
Bank feeds connected with the start date set against the conversion date, the first reconciliation done with us watching, and training for your team the same week. MYOB reports go to PDF and a backup into your own storage before the subscription is cancelled.
Frequently asked questions.
What happens to my payroll history?
Employee details, leave entitlements and year-to-date payroll figures come across, so STP reporting continues and a mid-year switch does not restart the payroll year. Individual historical payslips and old pay runs stay in MYOB - they do not convert as payslips. Before the MYOB subscription ends we export the payroll reports to PDF, so the records outlive the software.
How long does a MYOB to Xero conversion take?
One to two weeks for most files, timed around your BAS cycle so nothing falls between systems. Large AccountRight files with inventory or a big payroll take longer, and we tell you that up front rather than partway through.
Will I lose my old MYOB data?
No. An agreed slice of history comes across into Xero, and everything else stays readable in MYOB until you choose to cancel. Before that happens we export the reports that matter - profit and loss and balance sheet by year, trial balances, general ledger detail, payroll records - and put a backup in your own storage. The ATO expects business records kept for five years and Fair Work expects employee records for seven, so nothing gets switched off until the records can outlive the software.
What does a MYOB to Xero conversion cost?
A fixed quote based on which MYOB product you are on, the size of the file and the payroll - agreed before we start and honoured when we finish. We do not quote conversions over the phone, because a price given before seeing the file is a guess.
Can we run MYOB and Xero at the same time?
Briefly, yes. Where it earns it, we run one full cycle in parallel and compare the two, so the first BAS out of Xero is checked rather than hoped for. Running both long term is a different thing and a bad idea - two systems means two versions of the truth, and sooner or later they disagree.
What happens to my bank feeds?
They do not transfer - bank feeds are set up fresh in Xero. The detail that matters is the start date: feeds usually pull a period of prior transactions when connected, and those land on top of what the conversion already brought in. We set the feed start date deliberately against the conversion date and do the first reconciliation with you, so the overlap gets removed rather than reconciled twice.
Do we have to tell MYOB we are leaving?
No. There is no notification, no exit process and no permission to ask - you simply cancel the subscription under its own terms once your records are exported and the conversion is checked. We handle the timing so the file is never cancelled before the data is safe.
Which MYOB products can you convert from?
MYOB Business, the older Essentials files it replaced, AccountRight and AccountEdge. Browser-based files convert from a login; desktop files come to us as a backup. If you are not sure which one you are on, that is a thirty-second question at the start of the call, not a problem.
When is the best time to switch?
The first day of a financial year is cleanest, because payroll starts from zero and nothing has to be balanced mid-year. The first day of a quarter is next best. Mid-quarter is the awkward one - a single BAS then has to be assembled from two systems - so if you are close to a quarter boundary, waiting a fortnight usually saves more time than it costs.
Is Xero actually better than MYOB?
For most small businesses we think so, and we are openly a Xero house - Platinum Partner, and Xero is what we work in. But a conversion is not the fix for a bookkeeping problem, and if MYOB is genuinely working for you and your accountant, staying put is a legitimate answer. If you are still weighing it up, read our Xero vs MYOB vs QuickBooks comparison, then call - we will say honestly if the switch is not worth it for your setup.
Ready to leave MYOB?
A fixed quote, an agreed conversion date, and most files trading in Xero within two weeks. Call 07 3899 8311 or book a free chat to map the move.