ERP Migration Risk Checklist
Thirty checks across data, integrations, controls, cut-over, people and governance. Mark where you stand and watch your readiness score, cut-over signal and top five gaps update as you go. Then reconcile record counts before anyone signs off.
Step 1 · Checklist
Mark each check Done, In progress, Not started or N/A. Critical checks count three times as much as standard ones. Add an owner to any open item and it goes into your export.
Sample data A fictional mid-size company eight weeks from cut-over. Change any answer to make it yours.
What this means
Top five gaps
Ranked by weight, then by how early they need to be true. An item in progress counts half as open.
Suggested timeline
Each check is placed at the milestone it must be true by. Open items are listed; finished ones are counted.
If the data loaded without errors, the migration worked.
A clean load log only proves the records fit the new fields. It does not prove they are all there, or that balances still add up. That takes a reconciliation, signed by the business.
Step 2 · Reconcile
Enter what the legacy system holds and what landed in the new one, object by object. Any difference, even one record, needs a written explanation before sign-off.
Sample data Fictional counts. Replace them with yours.
| Object | Legacy count | New count | Variance | Status and explanation | Remove |
|---|
In our experience, the variances that cause trouble are small. Seven missing vendors looks like rounding until one of them is due a payment on day two. Explain every variance, however small, and have the business owner sign it, not the migration team. Automated matching can do the counting; a person should own the sign-off.
Field guide
What finance and IT leaders should insist on before anyone flips the switch.
Start with counts per object: customers, vendors, open invoices, GL accounts. Then match control totals, such as the open AP balance and the trial balance by account. Finish with a sample of individual records checked field by field. Each layer catches what the one before it misses.
Rule of thumbCounts, then balances, then samples. A business owner signs each one.
A parallel run processes the same period in both systems and compares the results. It costs extra effort for a few weeks, but it turns hidden logic differences, such as tax rules or rounding, into a list you can fix before the old system is gone. Run it on the processes where an error reaches customers, suppliers or employees.
Rule of thumbRun payroll and payments in parallel at least once. Spot-check the rest.
The go/no-go decision should be the easiest meeting of the project, because the criteria were written weeks ago. Walk each criterion: green, amber with a named mitigation, or red. Any red on a critical item means no-go. The sponsor decides, in the room, and the decision and its reasons are written down.
Rule of thumbAgree the criteria at T-30. Decide against them at T-2. Never invent them on the day.
We build custom assessments, skills and internal apps as part of our engagements. Tell us what you need.