How you move from Excel or paper to POSfix
If you keep your accounting in Excel, Google Sheets or even on paper — moving to POSfix is simpler than you think. You don't need complicated exports or an outside consultant. You need the trial balance (or its equivalent) and a few hours of focused work.
If you don't have a proper trial balance, don't panic. Below we explain how you rebuild it from the source documents (bank statements, invoices, registers).
Why you move to an automated system
| Problem with Excel/paper | How POSfix solves it |
|---|---|
| Formula errors — one accidentally edited cell destroys the report | Accounting formulas are validated automatically: Debit = Credit |
| No audit trail — you don't know who changed what and when | Every document has a change history |
| Time lost on reports — the trial balance, the account card, the balance sheet are made by hand | Reports are generated instantly, with one click |
| Tax risk — omissions, lost documents, missed deadlines | Notifications, checklists, e-Factura integration |
| No backup — a broken laptop = the records are gone | Data in the cloud, automatic daily backup |
| Collaboration impossible — one Excel file, one person | Simultaneous access for several users |
| Scalability — at 100+ documents a month, Excel becomes unmanageable | POSfix handles thousands of documents without slowing down |
What data you need
Whatever form your records are in now, for the migration you need:
Mandatory
- The trial balance at the transition date — the balances of every account (asset, liability, revenue, expense)
- The list of main partners — suppliers and customers you have unsettled balances with (invoices in progress)
- The bank balances — the account statement at the transition date (for checking)
Recommended
- The list of fixed assets — name, entry value, accumulated depreciation, commissioning date
- The stock list — products/materials with quantity and value
- Amounts owed to employees — unpaid salaries, advances
Optional
- The register of issued/received invoices — useful for reconciliation, but not mandatory if the balances are correct
Step by step: from Excel to POSfix
Step 1: Set the transition date
Pick a clear date from which you start working in POSfix:
- Ideal: 1 January (revenue/expense accounts start from zero)
- Good: the first day of a quarter (1 April, 1 July, 1 October)
- Acceptable: the first day of any month
At the transition date, the balances of the revenue (6xx) and expense (7xx) accounts reflect the turnover since the start of the fiscal year. If you migrate on 1 January, those balances are zero, which simplifies the process dramatically.
Step 2: Rebuild the trial balance
If you have a structured Excel with accounts and balances — turn it into a trial balance on analytical accounts.
If you don't have a trial balance, rebuild the balances from the documents you have:
| Account | How you find the balance |
|---|---|
242.1 Current account in MDL | Bank statement at the transition date |
243.1 Current account in foreign currency | Foreign-currency bank statement (currency accounts sit in class 243, not 242) |
241.1 Cash in national currency | Physical count of the cash |
221.1 Domestic trade receivables | Sum of issued invoices not yet collected |
521.1 Domestic trade payables | Sum of received invoices not yet paid |
217.1 Goods purchased for resale | Physical count × purchase price |
123.x Fixed assets | Entry value from the documents (123.1 buildings, 123.3 machinery and equipment, 123.4 transport, 123.5 tools and furniture) |
124.x Depreciation of fixed assets | Computed according to the useful life, on the same analytical account as the asset |
531.1 Payroll payables | Outstanding salaries |
311.1 Share capital | From the articles of incorporation |
332 Retained earnings of prior years | The cumulated result of previous years; if you can't rebuild it from documents, you enter it as the balancing difference |
The current year's result (333.1 / 333.2) is not entered at migration — it forms from the
operations you record after the transition date.
Step 3: Create the organization in POSfix
- Create an account on cp.posfix.md
- Add the organization with the correct IDNO
- Check which modules you have active — Sidebar → Settings → the Billing tab. On registration you get every module on trial; after the trial expires, only the modules in your contract stay active.
Detailed guide: The first month of accounting
Step 4: Check the chart of accounts
Where to find it: Sidebar → Accounting → Classifiers → the Chart of Accounts tab
POSfix comes with the SNC chart of accounts preloaded — 654 accounts. Check that you have the analytical accounts your activity needs. Add the missing ones.
More details: Chart of accounts
Step 5: Set the accounting policy
Where to find it: Sidebar → Settings → the Accounting policy tab
The accounting policy is where every document you create afterwards gets pre-filled from. That's why you set it now, before the balances and the first invoices — changing the method later costs you.
The document is versioned: each version has an Applies from, and Applies until derives itself from the next version. Documents take their rules from the version in force on their date, so the start date matters as much as the options.
What you decide here:
- Typed price on new documents — VAT included, VAT on top, or no VAT
- VAT on purchases — deductible or included in cost, plus the account and the cost article the non-deductible VAT goes to
- Inventory valuation method — FIFO or weighted average cost
- Retail goods valuation — at acquisition cost or at sale price
- Fixed-asset depreciation starts and Intangible-asset amortization starts — the month after commissioning or on the commissioning date
- Fiscal year starts in
The approval order stays an internal company document — POSfix does not generate it.
Step 6: Add the partners with balances
Where to find it: Sidebar → Partners
Add only the partners who have a balance at the transition date (unpaid invoices). New partners you add as you go.
For each partner, enter the IDNO — POSfix fills in the data from the State Register automatically.
More details: Partners
Step 7: Add the fixed assets (if you have any)
Where to find it: Sidebar → Accounting → Assets → the Fixed Assets tab
For each fixed asset:
- Name, commissioning date, entry value
- Accumulated depreciation at the transition date
- The depreciation method — Straight-line, Reducing balance or Units of production — and the remaining useful life
More details: Fixed asset register
Step 8: Enter the opening balances
Where to find it: Sidebar → Accounting → the Opening Balances tab
The opening balances document has three sections, chosen from the Section field: General Balances, Fixed Assets and Intangible Assets. You need one document for each section that concerns you — fixed assets and intangibles have their own line forms, different from the general one.
Using the trial balance you rebuilt at Step 2:
- Pick the section and the date of the balances
- Enter the debit or credit balance of each analytical account
- For accounts with partners (
221.1,521.1) — enter balances per partner, through the subconto - Press Validate Balances
The header shows the breakdown across the three sections, with debit and credit, then the verdict: Document balanced (all sections) or Document difference, with the exact amount. The balance is checked on the whole document, not on the current section — so a section subtotal that doesn't close on its own is normal.
On save, the Section field locks permanently. If you picked wrong, you delete the document and make it again. On a saved document you instead get tabs for the sibling sections — you see them, but you can't edit them from here.
If the totals don't balance, don't go on. The cause is usually a missed account or a wrong amount.
Coming from 1C? Import the balances
The Import from 1C button sits on the opening balances list, not on the form — at the top, next to New Document. It opens a three-step wizard:
- File Selection — you drag in the
.contfixor.jsonfile (50 MB maximum)..contfixfiles are encrypted, so it also asks for the password. - Account Mapping — you match the 1C accounts onto the POSfix chart. The proposals come ready-made; you confirm them or change them.
- Preview — you see what will be created before you press import.
More details: Opening balances
Step 9: Check against the real documents
After entering the balances, check a few key accounts:
| Check | How |
|---|---|
| Bank account in MDL | The 242.1 balance = the bank statement balance |
| Bank account in foreign currency | The 243.1 balance = the foreign-currency statement balance |
| Cash | The 241.1 balance = the physical cash |
| Suppliers | The 521.1 account card = the list of unpaid invoices |
| Customers | The 221.1 account card = the list of uncollected invoices |
Where to find it: Sidebar → Accounting → the Account Card tab — see also Account card
Step 10: Start the day-to-day work
From this moment on, every operation is recorded in POSfix:
- Received invoices → Supplier invoices
- Issued invoices → Sales documents
- Bank operations → Bank statements
- Salaries → Salary calculation
Step 11: Close the first month
At the end of your first full month in POSfix, walk through the month-end close checklist:
The special case: paper records
If you have no electronic file at all — only physical invoices, paper cash registers and printed bank statements — the process is the same, but it takes more effort at Step 2.
How you rebuild the trial balance from source documents
- Gather all the documents for the last month (or the last quarter): issued invoices, received invoices, bank statements, cash receipts, employment contracts
- Start with what you know for certain:
- Bank balance = the bank statement at the transition date
- Cash = count it physically
- Share capital = from the articles of incorporation
- Rebuild the payables:
- Unpaid supplier invoices →
521.1account balances - Uncollected issued invoices →
221.1account balances - Unpaid salaries →
531.1account balance
- Unpaid supplier invoices →
- Estimate the stock:
- Physical count × the purchase price (from the last invoice)
- Fixed assets:
- The list of assets (equipment, furniture, vehicles) with the entry value, the residual value and the commissioning date
- Accumulated depreciation at the transition date, computed from your own records
- Account 332 (result of prior years):
- You enter it as the balancing difference (see Step 2 above)
If you rebuild the records from source documents, the balances will be approximate. That's acceptable — what matters is starting from a reasonable base. Small differences get corrected as you go, as new documents come in.
Advice for the first year
If you move from paper to POSfix at the start of the fiscal year, you can ignore the revenue and expense balances (6xx, 7xx) — those start from zero. You only have to rebuild the asset (1xx-2xx) and liability (3xx-5xx) balances.
Advice for the first month
The first month is the most intense. A few recommendations:
- Don't try to do everything on the first day — set yourself up on days 1-3, start the documents on day 4
- Start with the bank operations — importing the bank statement is the fastest way to see the system "in action"
- Don't be afraid of mistakes — as long as a document is a Draft you correct it directly, and a Posted one is brought back to Draft with Unpost
- Generate the trial balance after the first week — even if it's incomplete, it helps you see whether you're on the right track
- Ask for help — the POSfix support team can walk you through any step
Full guide: The first month of accounting
Frequently asked questions
I don't have a trial balance. Can I migrate?
Yes. Rebuild the balances from the documents you have (bank statements, invoices, physical count). The "The special case: paper records" section above explains the process step by step.
Do I have to enter all the invoices of the current year?
No. You enter only the balances at the transition date — not the individual invoices. The balances reflect all previous transactions, cumulated. You enter individual invoices only from the moment you start working in POSfix.
My Excel has a different structure from the chart of accounts. What do I do?
Open the Chart of Accounts and map each Excel category onto the matching analytical account. The search on that screen works on the name too, not only on the code — type "goods" or "suppliers" and it shows you the candidates.
How long does migrating from Excel take?
| Situation | Estimated time |
|---|---|
| Structured Excel, small company | 1-2 days |
| Unstructured Excel, small company | 2-4 days |
| Paper records, small company | 3-5 days |
| Medium company (any format) | 5-10 days |
Can I keep using Excel for some things?
You can, but there's no point. POSfix covers every function of an accounting Excel — trial balance, account cards, reports — and generates them automatically, with no manual formulas. The only exception: if you have specific internal analyses that aren't standard accounting reports, you can keep those in Excel.
Do I need accounting knowledge?
Yes, the basics of accounting are necessary (debit/credit, chart of accounts, document types). POSfix automates the calculations and the reports, but the accounting decisions (which account I record on, which accounting formula I apply) stay with the accountant.
What do I do if I got an opening balance wrong?
Correct it while the opening balances document is a Draft and the period isn't closed. If the document is already posted, press Unpost, correct it and post it again. After the correction, regenerate the trial balance to confirm it balances.
Is it legal to move from paper to an electronic system?
Yes, records may be kept electronically and you don't have to announce to anyone that you changed systems. Document retention periods stay the ones in the archiving rules — check them for each category, don't assume a universal period.
How do I prove the continuity of the records?
The opening balances in POSfix, corroborated with the archived source documents (invoices, bank statements, contracts), demonstrate continuity. Keep the original documents, physical or scanned.
I have several companies. Can I migrate them all?
Yes. POSfix supports several organizations in the same account. Migrate them one at a time, starting with the simplest one (fewer accounts, fewer partners) — you'll learn the process and be faster on the next ones.