Data Migration Without Tears: The 5-File Cutover Plan for SMB Teams

October 30, 2025

Migrate what you need, not everything you own

Migrations stall when teams attempt to move every historical detail. The result is risk without extra control. A better path: five CSVs, validated flows, and a practiced fallback. You go live faster and keep the core clean, then backfill selectively as needed.

The five CSVs that get you live

1. Items (unique ID, description, UoM, active flag).
2. Locations (warehouse, zone, bin).
3. Opening stock (item, location, quantity, lot/serial if applicable).
4. Vendors (code, name, terms, active flag).
5. Users & roles (login, role, status).
These five unlock receiving, put away, transfers, counts, and purchasing—the daily work that proves value.

Integrity checks that prevent rework

Validate unique IDs and consistent UoM. De-dupe look-alikes (“SKU-001”, “SKU001”, “SKU 001”). Load into a sandbox and run key flows with scanners—receive, put away, transfer, pick, count. Fix errors before production. Good data is kinder to both users and auditors.

Readiness Gates (pass/fail beats timelines)

Replace the calendar mentality with five gates you either pass or fix:

Gate A – Data fit: the five CSVs validate (IDs, UoM, duplicates=0).
Gate B – Flow fit: sandbox runs 5 core flows with scans and no blockers.
Gate C – Role fit: least-privilege permissions and active logs.
Gate D – Label fit: standard placement + ≥99% scan success in tests.
Gate E – Recovery fit: backups and a practiced rollback drill (you’ve actually tried it).

If a gate fails, you fix the cause—not the calendar.

Verification after go-live

Prove stability with a blind pick on 10 SKUs, a mini cycle count across two aisles, and reconciliation of opening balances. Publish week-one KPIs to build confidence across ops, finance, and QA. Transparency reduces rumor and stress.

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KPIs that matter

Time to first receipt (minutes after go-live).
% of transactions with scans (discipline indicator).
Import error rate (per 1,000 rows).
Hours to reconcile opening balances.
Exceptions cleared within SLA.

What to postpone (on purpose)

Deep accounting history, rare BOM variants, and edge-case workflows. Migrate the work you do every day first. Auditors prefer a clean cutover with evidence to a bloated initial load that nobody trusts.