How to switch POS systems without losing your data
The hard part of switching is not learning the new screen. It is finding out, too late, that the history stayed behind.
Short answer
Export everything BEFORE you tell them you are leaving. Your records (products, customers, suppliers) travel to any system in a spreadsheet. Balances you retype on a cut-off date. Sales and financial history, in practice, does not migrate between systems — keep it as files and do not count on getting it back later. People who cancel first and ask for their data afterwards usually get a PDF, or nothing.
Does any of this sound familiar?
- You want to switch, but years of history sit in the current system and you do not know what becomes of it.
- You typed 800 products in by hand once and have no intention of doing it again.
- You asked for your data and got a PDF — or an "I'll check with support" that never came back.
- You are switching mid-month and do not know what to do with open invoices and stock.
- You are afraid the team will not know how to work the new one on a Friday night.
Why this stops so many people
A management system holds three things that look like one, and they behave very differently in a move. Records are what you typed: product, price, customer, supplier — yours, plain text, travels anywhere in a spreadsheet. Balances are today's snapshot: stock on hand, money owed to you, money you owe — small, and retyped in an afternoon. History is everything that already happened: every sale, every movement, every payment — the largest volume, in the most vendor-specific shape, and the only one you cannot get back if you do not keep it before you leave. Confusing the three is what makes people postpone a switch for years, or switch and lose the part that mattered.
The steps
The steps below work with a notebook and a spreadsheet too. Software makes each one faster — the order is the same either way.
- 1
Ask for the export before you announce you are leaving
While you are an active customer, exporting is routine support. After a cancellation notice it becomes a negotiation, and the clock starts running against you. Ask in writing, in spreadsheet form (CSV or Excel), and keep the reply.
- 2
Separate records, balances and history
Three folders. Records: products, customers, suppliers. Balances: stock on hand, receivables, payables. History: sales, movements, payments. That split alone tells you what is work and what is not.
- 3
Move the records by spreadsheet
This is the part any decent system imports. Clean it before you upload: duplicate products, items you have not sold in two years, customers with no phone. A migration is the only moment nobody objects to you deleting dead records.
- 4
Pick a cut-off date and retype the balances on it
Stock counted that day, open invoices entered with their real due dates. Do not try to reconstruct how those numbers came to be — only today's number matters for trading tomorrow. An afternoon settles what looked like a month.
- 5
Keep the history as files, not as a system
Spreadsheets and PDFs, in two places. You will need it for your accountant, for tax and for the occasional customer dispute — not for selling. No system imports another's history reliably, and anyone promising that is selling you manual work under a different name.
- 6
Switch on a Tuesday morning, with both open for a week
Never a Friday, never the eve of a holiday. Keep the old system reachable (read-only is fine) while the team settles in — it is the cheapest insurance there is. What does not work is entering everything twice for a month: then nobody trusts either one.
What changes, concretely
You stop being locked in
With the export in hand, staying becomes a choice rather than the absence of an exit. That holds even if you decide not to switch.
The team trades on day one
Complete records and correct balances are what make the changeover an ordinary day instead of a lost one.
The history stays reachable
Kept as files, it serves your accountant and the tax office — which is what it is actually for.
Frequently asked
Does DoFast import my data from the old system?
Records yes, by spreadsheet, with a template to download: products (name, unit, barcode, SKU, tax code, category, price, stock), customers (name, e-mail, phone, tax ID) and suppliers. If you already sell on iFood, the catalogue comes straight from the integration. Sales and financial history we do not import — and it is only honest to say no system imports another's reliably. Promising it would sell better and produce a disappointed customer in week one.
Is my current vendor obliged to hand over my data?
For personal data — your customers' — Brazil's LGPD provides for portability, so that request has legal footing. For everything else (products, prices, sales history) your contract decides. What works in practice is asking in writing, with a deadline, while the contract is still active. If you are renewing with anyone, agree the export clause before you sign.
How long does it really take?
The spreadsheet part takes hours, and it is the part everyone fears. The real work is counting stock on the cut-off date and entering the open invoices — that depends on the size of your operation, not on the software. A small shop switches over a weekend; anyone with a lot of stock should set aside a full day just for counting.
Can I try it before cancelling the other one?
Yes, and you should: both open for a week, trading for real in the new one and keeping the old for reference. The common mistake is the opposite — entering everything in two systems for a month "to compare". Nobody sustains double entry, both end up wrong, and the comparison concludes nothing.
What if I switch and regret it?
That is why the export comes first and the history stays with you as files. If it goes badly you go back with your records in hand — the same material you used to leave. It is the difference between a reversible decision and a bet.
What handles this in DoFast
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