When Plimsoll Publishing Limited invested thousands of pounds into a Sage 200 to Xero migration with a third-party provider, they expected a smooth transition into cloud accounting. Instead, they were left with a broken Xero setup, unreliable reports, and a frustrated finance team.

What should’ve been a transformation became a roadblock — until eCloud Experts stepped in to fix it.

What Went Wrong?

Despite the cost, the original migration had several critical flaws:

  • Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivable (AR) balances didn’t match Sage 200
  • Foreign currency bank accounts were misaligned, with incorrect GBP equivalents
  • Sales invoices were missing item descriptions, breaking reporting workflows
  • Manual journals weren’t migrated, including FX revaluations and year-end entries
  • Tracking categories were completely ignored
  • Opening balances were either missing or inaccurate
  • Foreign currency bill payments and customer receipts were not linked to the correct bank accounts — or used wrong exchange rates altogether

The finance team had to juggle between Sage 200 reports and an unreliable Xero file just to close their month-end.

Our Solution: A Purpose-Built Rescue Approach

At eCloud Experts, we don’t guess — we diagnose, rebuild, and validate. We approached Plimsoll’s rescue with a structured, tool-driven strategy, starting from scratch.

1. Wipe & Rebuild

We archived the faulty Xero setup and created a clean environment, avoiding inherited issues and corrupt data.

2. Smart Re-Extraction from Sage 200

We extracted all relevant ledgers, reports, and transactional data directly from Sage 200, including:

  • Sales, purchase, and credit note history
  • Customer and supplier records
  • Manual journals and year-end adjustments
  • Exchange rates, currency mappings, and multi-currency transactions
  • Departmental breakdowns for tracking categories
  • Opening balances for all nominal accounts

3. Powered by Automation — Precision at Scale

For this rescue, we deployed our internal automation tool — developed in-house specifically for high-volume, high-accuracy migrations.

It allowed us to:

  • Map and import foreign currency transactions with their exact historical exchange rates
  • Ensure foreign currency bill payments and customer receipts were correctly recorded against the proper currency bank accounts
  • Maintain data integrity across thousands of line items
  • Save hours of manual rework and eliminate human error in key areas like FX and journal imports

This tool gave us the precision we needed — and gave the Plimsoll team a Xero setup that matched Sage 200 to the decimal.

Deep Validation: Every Number Checked

We didn’t just import data. We proved it matched, in detail.

a) AP and AR Reconciliation — By Contact and Currency

We generated aged receivables and payables reports by individual customer and supplier, split by currency, and reconciled them line-by-line with Sage 200. This confirmed:

  • All open items were correctly brought in
  • Currency balances were accurate
  • Nothing was duplicated or dropped

b) Comparative Trial Balance

We produced a full comparative trial balance, mapping Sage 200’s closing balances to Xero’s opening balances across:

  • Every nominal ledger
  • All foreign currency and control accounts
  • Manual journal entries and adjustments
  • Departmental breakdowns using tracking categories

The Outcome: Xero Done Right

With our help, Plimsoll Publishing was finally able to experience the benefits of Xero — the right way:

  • A fully rebuilt and reconciled system
  • Accurate foreign currency handling, including correct historical payments and receipts
  • Detailed sales invoices with item descriptions
  • Proper tracking categories for departmental reporting
  • Month-end reports that balanced and made sense
  • Confidence across the finance function

Not All Migrations Are Equal

Even expensive migrations can go wrong when done by providers who don’t understand both systems or lack the tools to manage the complexity of Sage 200.

At eCloud Experts, we use more than experience — we use purpose-built technology, like our internal automation tool, to ensure even the most detailed migrations are done with absolute accuracy.

Planning a Migration or Fixing a Broken One?

If your Sage 200 to Xero migration hasn’t gone to plan — or you just don’t trust the numbers — we can help.

Book a free consultation with our migration team today and let eCloud Experts give you the clean, accurate setup your business deserves.