Practice Pre-migration Checklist

Review the following checklist and complete all items before beginning migration.

Research

Review Best Practices. See Using Best Practices for more information.

Verify your Practice version. You must be using version 8.0 or higher.

Print and review the other help articles. Review all help articles that pertain to your data migration. These articles are found in the Migrating Practice section of the Table of Contents.

Verify the Firm’s System Administrator. This can be found in the Administrative area in CCH® ProSystem fx® Practice (existing foundation suite) under the Firm Setup > Firm Properties > System/Other tab. This login and password and its password (if applicable) are necessary to run the PA DM Fix Utility, and the Data Migration Utility.

Data Preparation

Standardize Entity Types. Entity is required information in CCH Axcess. Review all client entity assignments in the existing foundation suite. No Selection is not a valid entity type for CCH Axcess. Any client currently selected without an entity type will need to have a valid type selected. See Importing Client Types for more information.
Entity types are now referred to as client types in CCH Axcess. All clients in CCH Axcess must be assigned to a client type. You can assign the client to one of the standard client types, or create a new client type during migration.
ClosedWhat are the standard entity types?

  • Individual
  • Fiduciary
  • Partnership
  • Corporation
  • Sole Proprietor
  • Employee Plan
  • Non-Profit

Assign Email addresses. Email address is a required field for all staff in CCH Axcess. Verify that all active and inactive employees in the existing foundation suite possess a valid and unique internal email address prior to migration. See Using the Save Staff Data Spreadsheet for more information.

Client Engagements. Decide if your firm will use engagements, which are called sub-IDs in CCH Axcess. ClosedExplain the differences.

  • Engagements. Verify that the existing foundation suite engagement setting is activated by going to the Administrative > Firm Setup > Firm Properties > System/Other tab. Also verify that the CCH Axcess client ID and client sub-ID option is selected by going to Dashboard > Application Links > Firm > Settings and defaults > Setup Defaults. Activate the client ID and client sub-ID option and fill in the default sub-ID of your choice or with the default engagement from your existing foundation suite.
  • No engagements. If suite preferences are set not to use engagement numbers and they were used in Practice, the engagement number will be combined with the main client ID during the migration to make a unique client ID number. All history for the engagements will be migrated to the CCH Axcess client ID.
  • Verify that the existing foundation suite’s engagement setting is deactivated by going to the Administrative > Firm Setup > Firm Properties > System/Other tab. Also verify that CCH Axcess client ID and client sub-ID option is cleared by going to Dashboard > Application Links > Firm > Settings and defaults > Setup Defaults tab.

Standardize individual client names. Individual clients' first and last names are entered in separate fields in CCH Axcess. The transformation of individual client names to a First and Last Name format will occur during the migration process. You will be given options to transform the names. ClosedWhat are my options?

  • Use the last word in the existing foundation suite Client Name field as the last name and use the first words as the first name. (Example: John & Mary Smith becomes FirstName: John & Mary LastName: Smith)
  • Use the words before a comma in the existing foundation suite Client Name field as the last name. If there is no comma, the first word is the first name. (Example: Smith, John & Mary becomes FirstName: John & Mary LastName: Smith AND John & Mary Smith becomes FirstName: John LastName: & Mary Smith)

    • Important: Because Individual client types are split into separate fields for first and last name during the migration, it is important that all clients in the existing foundation suite be named using a consistent format.

Delete or purge unwanted projects. The migration will have an option to not migrate any projects or to migrate all projects. Delete any unwanted projects prior to migration.

Note: Projects with a frequency other than one time only will migrate as a frequency of annual.

SSN and FEIN. Although it is not a required field in the existing foundation suite or in CCH Axcess, all CCH ProSystem fx Practice clients and staff should have a SSN/FEIN for migration. This will make migrating clients and staff from multiple existing foundation suite products less complicated by having a single field that will easily identify common client and staff entities. This is especially useful where client and staff IDs are not common across all existing foundation suite products used by the firm.

Analyze your existing foundation suite Client Types 1 & 2. Decide if you want the Client Type 1 and Client Type 2 assignments from the existing foundation suite to migrate into CCH Axcess as client groups. Print reports showing the Client Type 1 and Client Type 2 assignments in the existing foundation suite.

Important: Because the client groups in CCH Axcess will be created based on the current Client Type 1 and Client Type 2 assignments, it is important to decide if you want those groups to be created in CCH Axcess and to remove any assignments you do not want created as a client group.

Note: Client groups in CCH Axcess are not case sensitive. If Client Types 1 and 2 assignments in the existing foundation suite rely on capitalization as a form of determination, that data will be combined in CCH Axcess. For instance, Client Types 1 of TAX and Tax in the existing foundation suite will both migrate into a single client group of TAX in CCH Axcess. Additionally, any spaces used in the existing foundation suite will become underscores in CCH Axcess so the appearance may be different.

NAIC Codes. NAIC codes are optional in the existing foundation suite and can be assigned to all client types for client reporting. Custom NAIC codes and descriptions can be added in the existing foundation suite. ClosedHow are NAIC codes handled in CCH Axcess?

  • NAIC codes in CCH Axcess are standardized and cannot be edited. Clients with an Individual or Fiduciary client type cannot be assigned NAIC codes. During migration, Individual and Fiduciary clients can save assigned NAIC codes from the existing foundation suite as custom fields, or the NAIC code can be ignored.
  • Any code that was customized in the existing foundation suite can be associated to a standardized code in CCH Axcess during migration. Custom NAIC codes from the existing foundation suite have the option of migrating into CCH Axcess as custom fields, client groups, or not at all.

Import all Remote, PDA, ASCII and GTE transactions. Import transactions from time-tracking programs into your existing foundation suite database if applicable.

Post all Time, Billings and Payments/Adjustments. The migration utility verifies that all transactions are posted before migration. We recommend generating the three Edit reports in your existing foundation suite > Reports > Edit Reports. The following configurations will provide you with the correct results:

  • ClosedTime and Expense Edit
    • Sort/Subtotal. Set to your preference. Date–A or Employee–AS are good sort/subtotals if you are not sure what to use.
    • Select. Verify that all selection criteria is blank so the program will search and report back on all unposted time and expenses.
    • Format Options.
      • Report Options. Select Time and Expense Edit.
      • Hash Totals. Clear all totals.
      • Display Options. Select Show Unsubmitted, Show Submitted, Show Reviewed, Show Client Name, Show Invoice Description, and Show Internal Notes.
  • ClosedPayments and Adjustments Edit
    • Sort/Subtotal. This tab can be set with your preference. Date–A or Client-Engagement–AS are good sort/subtotals, if you are not sure what to use.
    • Select. Verify that all selection criteria is blank. We want the program to search and report back on all unposted payments and adjustments.
    • Format Options.
      • Report Options. Select Payments and Adjustments.
      • Hash Totals. Clear all totals.
      • Display Options. Select Show Client Name, Show Description, and Show Notes.
  • ClosedBilling Review
    • Sort/Subtotal. This tab can be set with your preference. Date–A or Client-Engagement-AS are good sort/subtotals if you are not sure what to use.
    • Select. Verify that all selection criteria is blank. We want the program to search and report back on all unposted bills.
    • Format Options. Select Show Unsubmitted, Show Submitted, Show Reviewed, Show Client Name, and Show Memo.

Run all standard month end reports. Use them to verify data after the migration is complete. These typically include the WIP and AR Reconciliation Reports, the WIP and AR Ledger Reports, the Employee Time Analysis Report, and the Billing Realization Report.

Migration Preparation

Back up the database. Make a backup of your database prior to running the migration utilities and beginning the migration.

Use available utilities to assist in preparing your database for migration.

  • Run the Data Scan. Ensure all users have logged out of the CCH ProSystem fx Practice database so you can have exclusive access to the database. Create a backup of the database and run a thorough Data Scan through Database Utilities. Address any errors that may appear prior to beginning any migration steps.

  • Review your database. Review Knowledge Base article SW28166 to learn which fields of comparison will also be available during data migration. Make any necessary changes to your primary database before beginning the migration.

  • Choose a primary database. Choose a primary database.

  • Run Diagnostics. On the Data Migration Utility Welcome window, select Migration diagnostics to run the diagnostic report on each of your databases. This will check for questionable data and allow you to address possible issues before you begin the migration.

Complete the migration quickly. Once the migration is started, the existing foundation suite database will be locked. It is extremely important that you choose a time when users will not require access to the database. Please plan accordingly.

Save migration reports. At several points during the migration you will have the opportunity to save reports of migrated data. Please save these reports to a location where they can be easily accessed later, if necessary.

Print and review the post-migration/startup checklist. Available here.