Choose the accounting path around the workflows and reports your team needs. Datum Accounting keeps the books in Datum; a supported external setup keeps them in QuickBooks Online or Xero. In either case, agree record ownership, opening data, review responsibilities and the work included in your proposal.
Where the books live is one part of an operational-system decision. Your team also needs to manage orders, stock, projects and the records that explain financial results. A useful choice starts with those workflows and the responsibilities around them.
Start with the work
Use a representative purchase and sale to test the setup. Follow the order, receipt or delivery, bill or invoice, payment and reporting view. Then include a correction: a return, credit, cancelled line or changed price. Routine transactions show the path; corrections show whether the team can maintain it.
List the reports, currencies, tax requirements and review controls you need. Separate essential requirements from familiar habits. A system should be assessed against the work it must support, including the requirements your accountant needs to confirm.
The two accounting paths
| Decision | Datum Accounting | Supported external books |
|---|---|---|
| Where the books live | Within Datum's accounting workflows | In the selected QuickBooks Online or Xero setup |
| Primary evaluation | Fit of the native workflows, controls and reports | Fit of the external product and the supported connection |
| Opening data | Agree the balances, records and history to bring into Datum | Agree what remains external and what Datum needs for operations |
| Ongoing review | Review postings and the operational evidence behind them | Review supported transfers or imports and differences between systems |
Neither choice removes the need for clear responsibilities. A native setup still needs posting and review controls. An external setup also needs an explicit connection boundary.
Decide who owns each record
Write a simple ownership list for customers, suppliers, accounts, items, tax settings and financial documents. For each, identify where it is created, where changes are made and how another system recognises the same record.
For example, importing a supplier should not make every later supplier edit an assumed two-way update. Decide how an address correction is handled, how inactive records are represented and who resolves a duplicate. Keep the process understandable to the people maintaining the data.
Prepare opening data and cutover
Choose a cutover date and define the information needed at that date. Depending on scope, this can include customer and supplier records, opening balances, outstanding documents, stock quantities and valuations, and project work already in progress.
Reconcile the opening position before treating it as the baseline for new work. A stock quantity without its valuation, or a project budget without its existing commitments, can make later reports difficult to explain. Agree which historical detail will be migrated and which will remain accessible in the previous system.
Use a rehearsal with representative records to identify mapping and review work. The cutover plan should assign responsibility for final changes made between that rehearsal and the agreed start date.
Assign ongoing review
Name the people who handle day-to-day exceptions and period-end checks. Purchasing may explain a receipt difference, while finance confirms its treatment. A technical connection cannot decide those responsibilities for the business.
- Who reviews failed or duplicated records?
- Who approves corrections and confirms that both sides reflect them?
- Which date, company and currency basis are used for reconciliation?
- Who checks that stock and project-cost evidence support the financial view?
What to check in your setup
Review the Accounting page against your requirements, then agree the edition, accounting path and implementation scope. Each edition includes its standard modules together; it is not a menu of individually switched modules.
The proposal should identify opening-data work, supported integrations, training, support and any company-specific custom modules. Ask for a walkthrough of the required workflow and its correction path before relying on an assumed capability.
Related questions
Do I have to replace my existing accounting system?
No. Compare the native accounting path with the supported external connection your team would need. Make the decision from required workflows and reports, not from an assumption that either approach fits every business.
Does connecting QuickBooks or Xero move every record?
No. Agree supported record types and directions individually. Importing master data does not imply that all financial transactions or inventory journals synchronise.
Can we keep editing the same records in both systems?
Define an owner and correction process for each record type. Uncontrolled editing in both products can leave the team with competing versions, even when both versions look plausible.
What should the implementation proposal include?
The edition and its standard modules, accounting setup, opening-data work, supported integrations, training, support and any company-specific custom development.