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Migrating historic data into Planyard (Ongoing Projects)

Written By Ekke

Last updated About 1 hour ago

This guide explains how to migrate ongoing projects into Planyard by bringing historic financial data into the platform.

There is no single recommended way to migrate data into Planyard.

The correct setup depends entirely on:

  • How your company works today
  • How much historic detail do you want available in Planyard
  • How much time do you want to spend on data migration

This guide outlines the available options, explains the trade-offs of each, and helps you choose what best fits your business.

Cut-Off Date and Scope

When migrating ongoing projects, it is important to define a clear cut-off date. This date serves two purposes: it acts as the go-live date for using Planyard in daily operations, and it defines the boundary for which financial data is considered historic and needs to be uploaded during the migration.

All costs, values, and commitments incurred up to the cut-off date are treated as historic data and are brought into the system as part of the migration. From the cut-off date onwards, all purchasing, invoicing, and approvals are processed directly in Planyard.

As a best practice, historic costs should be aligned using the accrual date (typically the invoice date) rather than the date the invoice was received or processed. This ensures that costs are reflected in the correct period and that project reporting remains accurate and consistent before and after the go-live date.

Establishing this boundary ensures a clean transition, avoids duplicate data, and provides a clear starting point for ongoing project management.

The cut-off date ensures:

  • No duplication of costs
  • Clear ownership of processes
  • Clean reporting going forward

A short transition period is normal, but the responsibility for processing costs should clearly switch to Planyard from a defined date.

Cost to Date

When migrating an ongoing project, “cost to date” refers to all costs incurred before the cut-off date.

Planyard supports two different ways of bringing historic costs into a project.

Both approaches are valid — the right choice depends on the level of detail you want available in the platform.

This approach mirrors how costs are normally processed in Planyard. Each historic invoice is uploaded individually and allocated to the correct budget items.

What this involves:

  • Uploading each invoice as a separate cost entry
  • Assigning suppliers, references, and dates
  • Allocating costs against the relevant budget lines
  • Optionally attaching the original invoice documents

What you get:

  • Full visibility of every individual historic cost
  • All invoices are accessible directly in Planyard
  • Maximum traceability for audits and reviews
  • Consistent data structure across historic and future costs

Things to consider:

  • This is the most time-consuming migration option
  • Best suited when invoice volumes are manageable
  • Requires access to historic invoice documentation

If completed, this approach results in historic costs being indistinguishable from future costs in terms of structure and reporting.

Instead of uploading every invoice individually, historic costs can be entered as summary values per budget item.

What this involves:

  • Preparing a cost report or spreadsheet showing totals per cost heading and item
  • Creating cost entries in Planyard for those totals
  • Allocating the amounts to the relevant budget items
  • Optionally attaching supporting spreadsheets or reports

What you get:

  • Accurate cost position as of the cut-off date
  • Significantly faster migration
  • Clean budgets ready for future transactions

Things to consider:

  • Individual historic invoices are not accessible inside Planyard
  • Invoice-level analysis is done outside the platform
  • Historic costs function primarily as opening balances

This approach is commonly used when historic invoice data already exists in another system (eg, accounting system) and does not need to be actively managed in Planyard.

Choosing the Right Cost Migration Approach

Both approaches result in correct cost reporting from the cut-off date onwards.

  • The choice depends on:
  • Time available for migration
  • Volume of historic invoices
  • Internal audit requirements
  • Level of historic detail needed in Planyard

NOTE: It is also possible to mix approaches across different projects if required.

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