Moving from Excel, or from a system that is failing you
The reason schools stay on software that is not working is almost never the software. It is the fear of the move, and specifically the fear of losing fee balances. So we do the move, and we do not charge for it.
Your history comes with you
A migration that only brings current learners and current balances throws away the thing that settles disputes, which is what happened last year.
- Learners, including those who have left, so your history stays intact
- Parents and guardians, with the contacts you actually use
- Staff records
- Classes, streams and the structure of your school
- Fee structures and vote heads
- Outstanding fee balances, per learner
- Past payments and receipts
- Academic results and report history
- Transport routes and who is on them
We look at your records before we promise a date
Every school believes its records are broadly fine, and almost none are. The same parent appears three times with different phone numbers. Two spreadsheets disagree about a fee balance. Learners who left two years ago are still on the class list.
None of that is unusual and none of it is a reason to delay. But it is the reason we look first and tell you honestly what we find, rather than quoting a fortnight and then explaining the overrun later.
Where two records genuinely conflict, we bring it to you rather than picking one. Only the school knows which balance is right.
Training is part of it, and it does not stop
Your team is trained by role, because a bursar and a class teacher need completely different sessions. Parents are onboarded onto the portal by us rather than left to work it out.
Schools lose staff, and a system only one person understood becomes a system nobody understands. We retrain as your team changes, at no extra cost, for as long as you are with us.
What schools ask about moving
How long does migration take?
It depends entirely on how tidy your existing records are, which is why we look before we promise. A school with a clean export from another system moves faster than a school coming from paper registers and several spreadsheets. We give you a real timeline after looking, not before.
Do we have to enter everything ourselves?
No. Migration is our job. You will be asked to check things and to make decisions only you can make, such as which of two conflicting fee balances is correct.
Does migration cost extra?
No. It is part of the subscription rather than a separate implementation invoice.
Can we move mid term?
Yes, and plenty of schools do. Moving between terms is tidier, but waiting six months for a convenient date usually costs more than moving now.
What if our records are a mess?
Most are, and we will tell you rather than pretend otherwise. Migration is often the first time a school gets an honest picture of its own data, and cleaning it up is part of the value.
What happens to our old system?
Keep it read only for as long as it reassures you. We do not ask schools to switch off their old system on day one.
Let us look at what you have
Send us an export or a spreadsheet and we will tell you honestly how big the job is.