Data Migration from E-Conomic

What is this page about: The full move from E-Conomic to Light: what comes across, what to handle differently, how to export and reshape your data, the order to import it in, and how to validate and cut over. Read it before you set a cutover date, since several steps need doing in your E-Conomic account first.

On this page

• Migration overview
• What transfers from E-Conomic
• Pre-migration steps
• Exporting from E-Conomic
• Preparing E-Conomic data for Light
• Creating mapping templates
• Data transformation process
• Importing to Light
• Validation after import
• Parallel running period
• Cutover execution
• Post-cutover reconciliation
• Handling E-Conomic-specific features
• Common migration challenges
• Team training
• Ongoing E-Conomic archive
• Related articles

This guide walks through migrating from E-Conomic to Light, covering data export, transformation, import, and cutover validation. E-Conomic is a cloud accounting system used mainly in the Nordic countries.

# Migration overview

Migrating from E-Conomic involves:

1. Prepare: Understand what data transfers to Light
2. Export: Export data from E-Conomic
3. Transform: Convert E-Conomic format to Light format
4. Import: Import transformed data to Light
5. Validate: Verify migrated data is accurate
6. Cutover: Switch to Light as primary system

The process typically takes 2 to 4 weeks depending on data volume and complexity.

# What transfers from E-Conomic

Light can import from E-Conomic:

• Chart of accounts: GL accounts and structure
• Customers: create customers individually in Light or through the API
• Suppliers: vendor information, payment terms
• Invoices: outstanding AR invoices (unmatched payments)
• Bills: outstanding AP bills (unpaid)
• Budgets: budget data, where you use them

What to handle differently:

• Fixed assets: enter fixed assets by creating journal entries, bills, or sales invoices with a Fixed Asset release template on the lines. The fixed asset register lives at Accounting → Releases, where you filter by Fixed asset type to see only fixed assets. See Configuring Releases for setup details
• Historical transactions older than one year: bring these across as opening balances
• Closed invoices and bills: bring these across as GL balances
• Payment history: opening balances and outstanding document balances carry the effect forward
• Internal notes: copy across by hand anything you need to keep

# Pre-migration steps

Before exporting from E-Conomic:

1. Close prior year: Close all prior-year transactions in E-Conomic
2. Reconcile: Complete all bank reconciliations
3. Validate GL: Ensure trial balance balances
4. Document processes: Note E-Conomic-specific processes that will change in Light
5. Set cutover date: Decide when to switch to Light (typically month-end)
6. Prepare team: Train your team on Light before cutover

# Exporting from E-Conomic

Export all necessary data:

1. Log into E-Conomic

2. Navigate to Settings → Data → Export

3. Export each module:

   • Chart of Accounts: General → Account (export structure, names, balances as of cutover date)
   • Customers: CRM → Customers (names, addresses, terms, contact info)
   • Suppliers: Suppliers (names, addresses, terms, payment methods)
   • Invoices: Sales → Invoices (outstanding AR only)
   • Bills: Purchases → Bills (outstanding AP only)

4. Export as CSV or Excel format

5. Store exports safely

# Preparing E-Conomic data for Light

E-Conomic and Light have different data structures. Transform E-Conomic exports:

Chart of Accounts mapping:

E-Conomic uses 4-level account structure (Main Group, Main Type, Sub Type, Group). Light uses flat account codes.

• E-Conomic: 4.5000.1 (liability, payables, trade payables, individual)
• Light: 2010 (Accounts Payable)

Create mapping between E-Conomic and Light account structure.

Customer mapping:

Use your E-Conomic customer export as a reference and create customers at Business partners → Customers with + Create customer, or create them programmatically through the API.

Invoice and bill migration:

E-Conomic invoices have line item detail. Transform to:

• Document number, customer/vendor, date, total amount, tax
• Line items with account coding and amounts

# Creating mapping templates

Create Excel templates for transformation:

Template 1: Account Mapping

Template 2: Customer Mapping

Template 3: Invoice Mapping

# Data transformation process

Transform E-Conomic data to Light format:

1. Accounts: Map E-Conomic accounts to Light account codes based on nature (asset, liability, etc.)
2. Customers: Create Light customer records from E-Conomic customer exports
3. Suppliers: Create Light vendor records
4. Invoices: Transform E-Conomic invoice format to Light format
5. Bills: Transform E-Conomic bill format to Light format
6. Opening balances: Create JE for opening balances as of cutover date

Tip: Use Python, Excel, or specialised migration tools to automate transformation. Manual transformation is error-prone for large datasets.

# Importing to Light

Once transformed, import to Light:

1. Each import lives on the page for the records it creates, rather than one central import screen:

   • Chart of accounts: Settings → Chart of accounts (CSV)
   • Vendors: Business partners → Vendors (CSV upload with column mapping)
   • Journal entries: Accounting → Journal entries (bulk CSV, including opening balances)
   • Sales invoices, credit notes, customer credits: the corresponding page for each document type, with a separate CSV import per type
   • Bills: the Bills page, using Upload in the header menu. The Upload Bills drawer takes a CSV for bulk import, and also accepts a single PDF or image that Light reads into a bill
   • Budgets: Planning & Reports → Budget

2. Import in this order:

   • Chart of accounts (so accounts exist for other data)
   • Vendors (customers are created individually or through the API)
   • Opening balances (GL accounts initialised)
   • Outstanding invoices (AR)
   • Outstanding bills (AP)
   • Budgets, where you use them

3. Validate each import before moving to the next

4. Light validates each file and reports errors so you can review and fix lines before completing

Good to know: Use the CSV import for your bill backlog. The PDF and image path takes one file per upload and reads it with AI extraction, which suits day-to-day bills rather than a migration.

See Data Import and Migration Tools for detailed steps per import type.

# Validation after import

After importing, validate data is accurate:

1. Trial balance: Compare Light GL trial balance to E-Conomic trial balance (should match)
2. AR aging: Compare Light AR aging to E-Conomic AR aging
3. AP aging: Compare Light AP aging to E-Conomic AP aging
4. Account balances: Spot-check major accounts (cash, AR, AP, equity)
5. Customer/vendor counts: Verify number of active customers/vendors matches

A discrepancy points to a transformation error to fix.

# Parallel running period

Optionally run both systems in parallel for verification:

1. Continue posting to E-Conomic for 1 to 2 weeks
2. Also post to Light
3. Compare results between systems
4. Once confident Light is accurate, switch over
5. Archive E-Conomic as backup

This reduces cutover risk but requires duplicate data entry.

# Cutover execution

When ready to switch to Light:

1. Final E-Conomic close: Close E-Conomic for the cutover month (month-end typical)
2. Final GL balances: Export GL as of cutover date from E-Conomic
3. Final import to Light: Import final GL balances and any last-minute invoices/bills
4. Announce cutover: Notify team Light is now primary system
5. Disable E-Conomic posting: Stop posting to E-Conomic (archive only)
6. Begin Light posting: All new transactions post to Light

Cutover typically happens on a Friday, which gives you a full week in Light before the next close.

# Post-cutover reconciliation

After cutover, reconcile accounts:

1. Bank reconciliation: Reconcile cash accounts to bank statements
2. AR reconciliation: Reconcile AR subsidiary ledger to GL
3. AP reconciliation: Reconcile AP subsidiary ledger to GL
4. Fixed asset verification: Verify fixed assets were entered correctly via journal entries, bills, or sales invoices with Fixed Asset release templates applied. Review the register at Accounting → Releases, filtered by Fixed asset type
5. Customer contact verification: Contact customers to verify AR balances

# Handling E-Conomic-specific features

Some E-Conomic features need rebuilding in Light:

E-Conomic workflows: Rebuild these in Light using its own workflow tools.

E-Conomic integrations: Redirect integrations from E-Conomic to Light.

E-Conomic custom fields: Map these to Light custom properties.

E-Conomic approval workflows: Build equivalent workflows in Light.

Document these changes and update your processes to match.

# Common migration challenges

Multi-currency: E-Conomic handles currency differently from Light. Test FX conversion carefully.

Custom accounts: E-Conomic accounts that sit outside a standard GL structure need matching Light accounts. Create them before you import.

Complex tax: E-Conomic's tax handling differs from Light's. Test VAT calculations in Light.

Dimensional accounting: E-Conomic supports dimensions. Use Light cost centers and custom properties to replicate them.

# Team training

Train your team on Light before cutover:

1. Accounting basics: How transactions work in Light
2. Invoice processing: Creating AP and AR invoices
3. Reconciliation: Bank and account reconciliation in Light
4. Reporting: Generating reports in Light
5. Month-end close: Light's close process

# Ongoing E-Conomic archive

Keep E-Conomic available for reference:

1. Export the final state of all E-Conomic data
2. Archive it securely, in cloud storage or on an archive server
3. Keep a login available for password-protected access
4. Maintain it for historical reference, since audits can require it
5. Decommission it once your retention policy allows. Many finance teams keep records for at least seven years, so check your own obligations

# Related articles

• Data import and migration tools
• Data migration from QuickBooks
• Cutover fundamentals and execution
• Audit-ready record keeping