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- Aqilla to Xero
Move from Aqilla to Xero without losing your analysis codes.
A reconciliation-led migration for finance teams simplifying off Aqilla’s multi-dimensional accounting — every fund, project and cost-centre code mapped to its new home in Xero before go-live.
Xero Gold Champion Partner
Xero Migration Specialists
AAT Licensed Accountant
What we migrate
Agreed entities, ledgers, transactions and analysis history
Complexity handled
Dimension mapping, multi-entity consolidation and funds
How we validate
Comparative control totals and a signed-off mapping register
What you receive
Configured Xero, dimension mapping and post-migration support
Clients We Migrated into Xero
What our client Says
- Direct answer
Can Aqilla be migrated to Xero?
Yes. Aqilla’s ledgers, transactions, balances and analysis-coded history can be extracted, mapped and migrated into Xero, but the two platforms are not structural equivalents. Aqilla is built around unlimited analysis dimensions and real-time multi-entity consolidation; Xero is a single-entity platform with two tracking categories. A successful migration is a mapping exercise as much as a data-transfer one.
eCloud Experts starts by cataloguing every analysis dimension in active use, the entity structure, and any fund or grant reporting, before agreeing the target design and conversion period. We then transform the source data and reconcile the agreed control totals, documenting any dimension that cannot be represented exactly in Xero.
Not every dimension survives the move
Aqilla customers often track fund, project, department, location and grant on a single transaction line. Xero supports two active tracking categories per organisation. We decide with your finance team which two matter most, and where the rest go.
- The dimension problem
Where each Aqilla dimension typically lands in Xero
This is the decision that shapes the whole project. Get it right and reporting continues with minimal disruption; get it wrong and month-end reporting quietly breaks a few weeks after go-live.
| Aqilla dimension | Typical use | Common Xero destination |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | Restricted, designated or unrestricted charity funds | A tracking category, or a separate Xero organisation for a materially large fund |
| Project | Job-level or project-level profit and loss | Xero Projects, or a tracking category where job costing needs are simple |
| Department | Team or business-unit reporting | A tracking category |
| Location | Branch or site-level reporting | A tracking category, or a contact group where reporting needs are lighter |
| Grant | Funder-specific reporting and compliance | A connected grant-management or reporting application |
Most organisations can only carry two of these forward as native Xero tracking. The rest need a deliberate decision, not a default.
- Why now
Why organisations move off Aqilla
Aqilla customers rarely leave because the platform has failed them. The trigger is almost always a change in how much dimensional depth the business still needs.
Entity carve-out
A subsidiary separated from a group’s shared Aqilla tenant typically loses access and needs its own standalone Xero file quickly.
Simplifying after fund closure
A charity or NFP that has completed a major programme or consolidated its funds may no longer need extensive fund-level dimensional reporting.
Standardising a portfolio
Accountancy practices and PE-backed finance functions sometimes move a smaller entity onto Xero to match the rest of a client or portfolio group.
Licensing review
Aqilla is typically priced for its dimensional and consolidation depth. An entity that no longer needs that depth may find Xero plus apps more cost-effective.
- Migration suitability
Who should move from Aqilla to Xero?
The right question isn’t whether Aqilla data can be imported into Xero — it usually can. It’s whether two tracking categories and a single-entity file can carry the reporting the business actually still needs.
Strong Migration Candidates
- A single entity separated from a group's Aqilla tenant
- Charities or NFPs with two or fewer active restricted funds
- Reporting needs met by two tracking categories plus Projects
- Practices standardising several smaller clients onto Xero
- Groups reviewing cost once consolidation is no longer required
Needs deeper assessment
- Live multi-entity, multi-currency consolidation in daily use
- Multiple active restricted funds with funder-compliance reporting
- More than two analysis dimensions used in routine reporting
- Configured approval hierarchies built deep into Aqilla
- A requirement to retain live drill-down rather than archived detail
When staying on Aqilla may be better
Aqilla may remain the better fit while live multi-entity consolidation, several active funds, or more than two reporting dimensions are essential day to day.
Replacing that natively in Xero can mean several connected applications without a clear reduction in cost. Discovery should test whether the reporting need has genuinely simplified first.
- Aqilla versus Xero
Where Xero can be the better fit after simplifying
Xero doesn’t out-feature Aqilla on dimensional depth. The advantage shows up in cost and everyday collaboration once that depth is no longer required.
| Business need | Why Xero can be a better fit | What to assess before switching |
|---|---|---|
| Analysis & reporting depth | Aqilla attaches unlimited analysis dimensions to every line; Xero supports two active tracking categories per organisation. | Identify which two dimensions are business-critical and where the rest will go. |
| Multi-entity consolidation | Aqilla consolidates multiple companies in real time; Xero uses one file per organisation with no native consolidation. | Confirm whether a connected consolidation tool is required afterwards. |
| Licensing and cost | Aqilla is typically priced for dimensional and consolidation capability; Xero is priced per organisation on a monthly plan. | Compare realistic Xero-plus-app costs against current Aqilla licensing. |
| Drill-down & audit trail | Aqilla allows live drill-down from summary to source transaction; Xero’s audit trail is transaction-level but structured differently. | Decide whether historical drill-down must be replicated or archived instead. |
| Workflow & approvals | Aqilla includes configurable approval hierarchies; Xero relies on user roles and, for complex chains, a connected app. | Map current approval rules to Xero roles or a bills-approval application. |
| Fund & grant accounting | Aqilla supports dimensional fund tracking natively; Xero handles this via tracking, Projects, or a specialist charity app. | Confirm ongoing funder reporting requirements before choosing the approach. |
| Everyday collaboration | Xero’s simpler interface and wide bookkeeper familiarity suit smaller teams once deep dimensional reporting isn’t required. | Confirm which users still need multi-entity or multi-dimension visibility. |
Feature references checked against Xero UK accounting software information. Final capability depends on plan, region and connected applications.
- Migration scope
What transfers from Aqilla to Xero
Final scope depends on which dimensions are actively used, the entity structure, and the reporting outcome the business needs after cut-over.
| Data area | Typical migration treatment | Key control |
|---|---|---|
| Chart of accounts | Retain, consolidate or redesign the account structure for Xero’s model. | Account mapping approved before import. |
| Entities | Map each Aqilla company to its own Xero organisation. | Entity-to-organisation mapping and intercompany treatment agreed. |
| Analysis dimensions | Select up to two dimensions for Xero tracking; map the rest to contact groups, Projects, or a connected app. | Dimension-mapping register signed off by finance. |
| Customers & suppliers | Clean and migrate contact records, balances and payment terms. | Duplicates and inactive records reviewed. |
| Sales & purchase transactions | Invoices, bills, credit notes, receipts and payments for the agreed period. | AR and AP ageing reconciled at conversion date. |
| Bank & cash accounts | Historical transactions and balances, followed by an agreed live-feed cut-over. | Statements, ledger balances and outstanding items reviewed. |
| Manual journals | Transform journals into supported Xero entries with correct dates and narratives. | Trial balance and journal totals compared. |
| Multicurrency & intercompany | Preserve transaction currency and agreed exchange-rate treatment. | Base and foreign-currency balances checked per entity. |
| Funds & grants | Migrate closing fund and grant balances as agreed opening data. | Fund and grant totals reconciled to the general ledger. |
| Approval workflow & attachments | Rebuild critical approval rules in Xero or a connected app; migrate attachments where feasible. | Workflow equivalence and file counts recorded. |
- Complex migrations
Dimensions, consolidation and fund accounting
Dimension mapping & tracking redesign
We identify every dimension in active use, agree which two become Xero tracking categories, and document a destination for the rest — contact groups, Projects, or a connected reporting app.
Multi-entity consolidation
Each Aqilla company is assessed and normally becomes its own Xero organisation. Intercompany balances and any ongoing consolidated reporting need are reviewed separately.
Fund & grant accounting
Closing fund and grant balances move as agreed opening data. Ongoing reporting continues through tracking, Projects, or a specialist charity application, depending on funder requirements.
- Risk management
How we protect accounting integrity
- Written scope and dimension-mapping treatment agreed in advance
- Approved chart of accounts and tracking-category register
- Controlled trial migration for multi-entity or fund-heavy projects
- Comparative trial-balance checks at agreed conversion dates
- AR and AP reconciliation, including fund and grant balances
- Dimension totals reconciled to the general ledger before sign-off
- Exception log for dimensions, workflows and unsupported records
- Finance-team review and agreed sign-off process
Common problems we prevent
Aqilla-to-Xero migrations can go wrong when dimensions are mapped inconsistently across transactions, fund or grant balances go unreconciled, approval workflows disappear without a replacement, or multi-entity eliminations are handled differently across organisations.
A matching closing trial balance is essential, but it isn’t the only test: dimension totals, fund positions and everyday usability matter just as much.
Important: the final control pack depends on the agreed scope and the reports available from Aqilla. Any unresolved source-data issue is documented rather than silently forced into Xero.
Written scope and hosting details agreed
Approved chart of accounts and tax-code mapping
Controlled trial migration for complex setups
Comparative trial balance checked at the conversion date
AR / AP reconciled, including recurring templates
Bank and cash balances validated against statements
Exception log for unsupported App Store functionality
Sign-off from you before go-live
Most problems we see elsewhere come from incomplete self-hosted exports, missed recurring templates, merged multi-company data, or App Store functionality quietly dropped without a replacement. This checklist exists to catch those before go-live, not after.
In practice, reconciliation happens twice: once on a trial migration using representative data, and once on the final cut-over using your actual closing figures. The trial run exists specifically to surface problems while there's still time to fix the mapping — not on the day you're trying to switch off Akaunting for good. Only after both trial balances match, and you've reviewed the exception log, do we call it done.
- Controlled delivery
Our 10-stage Aqilla to Xero migration process
01
Discovery and objectives
Confirm entities, users, reporting priorities, integrations, compliance needs and go-live target.
02
Data & dimension assessment
Review company structure, analysis-code usage, volumes, workflows and source-data quality.
03
Scope & acceptance criteria
Agree the migration period, inclusions, exclusions and control reports.
04
Xero target design
Design organisations per entity, chart of accounts, tax settings and the two tracking categories.
05
Extraction & staging
Export agreed Aqilla data and analysis-coded history into controlled working copies.
06
Mapping & transformation
Finalise the dimension-mapping register and prepare exception schedules.
07
Trial migration
Load representative data, test outputs and resolve issues before final conversion.
08
Final migration & cut-over
Process the agreed closing data and coordinate bank feeds.
09
Reconciliation & sign-off
Compare trial balances, AR, AP, fund and dimension totals; document variances.
10
Training & support
Handover Xero, train the team on the new tracking structure and support go-live.
- Investment
What shapes an Aqilla to Xero quote
Every quote is scoped and fixed before work begins. The typical project falls into one of three shapes — the exact price depends on entities, dimensions and fund complexity.
Single-entity clean migration
One Aqilla company, two or fewer dimensions in active use. Usually the fastest, most contained scope.
Multi-entity or fund accounting
Several Aqilla companies, or active restricted funds needing dimension mapping and a consolidation review.
Complex dimensional & workflow migration
More than two dimensions in daily use, configured approval hierarchies, or grant-compliance reporting.
Request a quote below and we’ll map your Aqilla environment onto one of these shapes with a specific, fixed number.
- Evidence
Reconciliation discipline, not just data transfer
Aqilla migrations follow the same discipline as our published accounting-platform work: full trial-balance tie-out, a signed-off mapping register, and finance-team sign-off before go-live.
We don’t yet have a published Aqilla-specific case study to link here. Our published migrations off Sage 50, NetSuite and Acumatica follow the same reconciliation-led approach — browse them, or ask us for the latest Aqilla examples at discovery.
Experience
12+ years in cloud accounting
Partner status
Xero Gold Champion Partner
Specialist fit
Multi-entity & dimension-mapping projects
Every project
Reconciled control-total sign-off
- Why eCloud Experts
Accounting-led migration expertise
eCloud Experts is a Xero Gold Champion Partner with more than 12 years of cloud-accounting experience and a specialist team supporting migrations globally.
We work with finance teams, groups and accountancy firms on complex historical-data projects, including mid-market ERP moves from Sage 100. Delivery can be direct to the end client or provided as a white-label migration service for accounting practices.
- Xero-certified advisers and migration specialists
- Experience with Aqilla, NetSuite, Acumatica and other platforms
- Analysis-dimension and tracking-category redesign
- Multi-entity consolidation and fund-accounting capability
- Documented reconciliation and control reporting
- Tailored Xero training and post-go-live support
EXPLORE MORE XERO MIGRATIONS
More Platforms We Migrate to Xero
We migrate businesses to Xero from a wide range of accounting platforms, with careful data mapping, reconciliation and support throughout the move.
- FAQ
Aqilla to Xero migration FAQs
Yes. Aqilla's ledgers, transactions, balances and analysis-coded history can be extracted, mapped and migrated into Xero once the target design and conversion period are agreed. The migration is a mapping exercise as much as a data-transfer exercise.
Xero provides transaction-level detail behind its reports, but the drill-down works differently from Aqilla's live, dimension-based drill-down. Historical detail that can't be replicated exactly is migrated as transaction history or kept in an archived, read-only copy of Aqilla.
Each Aqilla company is assessed individually and normally mapped to its own Xero organisation. Intercompany balances and any ongoing consolidation requirement are reviewed during discovery and may need a connected consolidation tool.
Usually a change in structure, not dissatisfaction: an entity separated from a shared Aqilla tenant, a charity that has consolidated or closed funds, a practice standardising clients onto one platform, or a licensing review once deep dimensional capability is no longer needed.
Validation normally includes comparative trial balances, AR/AP control totals, fund or grant balances where in scope, dimension totals reconciled to the general ledger, and an exception log.
Aqilla does not include a native payroll module, so payroll is typically run through a separate system already and isn't part of the accounting migration. Xero payroll setup can be scoped separately if needed.
Yes. Training is tailored to teams moving from Aqilla's dimensional reporting to Xero's tracking categories, covering everyday processing, reconciliation, payables, receivables and reporting.
Xero supports two active tracking categories per organisation, while Aqilla allows multiple dimensions per transaction line. We help select which two matter most and agree whether the rest move to contact groups, Projects, a connected app, or an archived reference.
Configurable approval hierarchies in Aqilla don't transfer directly. Each workflow is reviewed to decide whether it maps to Xero user roles, a connected bills-approval app, or a simplified process suited to the smaller entity.
Closing fund and grant balances can be migrated as agreed opening data. Ongoing fund reporting is then supported through tracking categories, Projects, or a connected charity or grant-management application, depending on funder requirements.
Timing depends on the number of entities, dimensions in active use, transaction volume, and fund or grant complexity. Most projects run from a few working weeks to a few months.
A discovery call plus read-only or reporting access to Aqilla, sample exports, a list of dimensions in active use, entity and fund details, transaction volumes, the required historical period and go-live date.
- Plan your migration
Get a properly scoped Sage 100 to Xero quote
Tell us your Sage 100 version, number of company codes, years of history, active modules, currencies, approximate transaction volume, required data types, integrations and target go-live date. We will assess the source environment and recommend the appropriate migration route.