Moving from MYOB to Xero is mostly a data job, and the trial balance is the part that has to be exactly right. Get it wrong and every report from day one is wrong with it. Get it right and the rest of the move — contacts, items, bank feeds — is straightforward.
This guide walks through converting a MYOB trial balance into Xero conversion balances: the order to do things in, what to check, and the mistakes we see most often. It applies to MYOB AccountRight, Essentials and Business. The menu names in each product move around between versions, but the steps don't.
What “Converting the Trial Balance” Means
Xero doesn't import a trial balance as a report. Instead, you set a conversion date and enter conversion balances — the balance of every account as at the day before Xero takes over. Receivables and payables are the exception: they are built up from the individual open invoices and bills you load.
When it's done properly, the Xero trial balance at the conversion date matches the MYOB trial balance account for account, and Xero's Historical Adjustment account is zero. That's the finish line.
Step 1: Pick the Conversion Date
Xero conversion dates are always the first day of a month. The balances you enter are as at the last day of the month before — so a 1 July conversion uses the MYOB trial balance at 30 June.
- 1 July (start of the financial year) is cleanest. Profit and loss accounts start at zero, payroll year-to-date figures reset, and no BAS period is split.
- The start of a BAS quarter is the next best option. You'll carry year-to-date profit and loss balances across, but GST periods stay whole.
- Any other month works, but means a split BAS and more checking.
Step 2: Finalise MYOB Up to That Date
Most conversion problems start here. If MYOB figures change after you've loaded them, the conversion has to be redone. Before exporting anything, confirm:
- Every bank and credit card account reconciled to the statement at the conversion date
- Aged receivables and aged payables totals agree to their control accounts in the trial balance
- BAS for the last period lodged, or at least prepared, so the GST accounts are settled
- Late adjustments posted — depreciation, accruals, prepayments, payroll liabilities
- For a 1 July conversion: the MYOB year-end rollover done, so last year’s profit has moved into retained earnings
Step 3: Export What You Need from MYOB
| Report | Why you need it |
|---|---|
| Trial balance | The balances you are converting, as at the last day of the month before the conversion date. |
| Aged receivables (detail) | Every open customer invoice and credit note, which you will load into Xero one by one. |
| Aged payables (detail) | Every open supplier bill and debit, loaded the same way. |
| Bank reconciliation reports | Unpresented cheques and deposits that have not cleared the bank yet. |
| Account list | Account numbers, names, types and tax codes, including inactive accounts — the starting point for the mapping. |
Run all of them at the same date, and check the aged receivables and payables totals match the trade debtors and trade creditors lines in the trial balance before going further.
Step 4: Map Every MYOB Account to Xero
Build a mapping workbook: one row per MYOB account, with the Xero account code, name and type it becomes. This is where you decide whether to keep MYOB's numbering, simplify it, or move to a new scheme — and where you merge accounts that have multiplied over the years.
The accounts that need the most thought are the ones Xero treats differently:
| Typical MYOB account | Becomes in Xero | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1110 Cheque Account | Business bank account (bank) | Bank accounts are created as bank feeds in Xero, not ordinary accounts |
| 1-1200 Trade Debtors | Accounts Receivable (system) | Balance comes from the open invoices you load, not typed in |
| 2-1200 Trade Creditors | Accounts Payable (system) | Balance comes from the open bills you load |
| 2-1310 / 2-1330 GST Collected & Paid | GST (system) | MYOB often splits GST across several accounts; Xero uses one |
| 3-8000 Retained Earnings + 3-9000 Current Year Earnings | Retained Earnings (system) | Combine at a 1 July conversion; mid-year, carry YTD profit and loss instead |
| 1-0000 Assets (header) | — dropped — | Headers carry no balance; rebuild grouping in report layouts |
Account numbers shown are typical of a default MYOB AccountRight chart; yours may differ.
Step 5: Load Open Items, Then Conversion Balances
Order matters. In Xero:
- Set the conversion date in Xero's settings before entering anything.
- Load open customer invoices and supplier bills, each dated before the conversion date, with the amount still outstanding. Xero builds the receivables and payables conversion balances from these.
- Load unpresented bank items — uncleared cheques and deposits — so they can be matched to statement lines when they clear.
- Enter the remaining conversion balances for every other balance sheet account (and year-to-date profit and loss accounts for a mid-year conversion), as debits and credits matching the MYOB trial balance.
Step 6: Reconcile Until Historical Adjustment Is Zero
Xero will happily save conversion balances that don't balance — it puts the difference in Historical Adjustment. So “it saved” proves nothing. The checks that matter:
- Xero trial balance at the conversion date compared with MYOB, line by line, using the mapping workbook
- Historical Adjustment is zero
- Xero aged receivables and payables agree to MYOB's, customer by customer
- Each bank account's balance plus unpresented items agrees to the bank statement
- GST balance agrees to the last BAS position
Save that comparison. It's the evidence your accountant needs to sign off the conversion, and the first thing you'll want if a figure is ever questioned later.
Common Mistakes
1. Typing receivables and payables in as one number
It balances on day one, but there is nothing to receive payments against and the aged reports are empty. Load the open invoices and bills individually.
2. Leaving a balance in Historical Adjustment
Xero will save unbalanced conversion balances by pushing the difference into Historical Adjustment. If it is not zero, the conversion is not finished — however tidy the rest looks.
3. Converting before MYOB is finalised
A late depreciation journal or an unreconciled bank account in MYOB means the balances move after you have loaded them. Finalise first, or plan to re-run the conversion.
4. Forgetting unpresented bank items
If uncleared cheques and deposits are not loaded individually, the first Xero bank reconciliation will not agree to the statement.
5. Not deciding what to do with the chart of accounts
Copying a MYOB chart across unchanged brings years of clutter with it. Conversion is the cheapest time to merge, rename and renumber — but decide before mapping, not halfway through.
6. Splitting a BAS period by accident
A conversion in the middle of a BAS quarter means part of the quarter’s GST is in MYOB and part is in Xero. It can be done, but plan who prepares that BAS and from which reports.
What About Prior-Year Figures?
Conversion balances give Xero a correct starting point, but its reports will show nothing before the conversion date. If you need comparatives, the usual approach is to post each month's trial balance movements as journals for the comparative period, so profit and loss and balance sheet reports show last year by month. Full transaction history is possible too, but rarely worth the cost — most businesses keep MYOB in read-only mode for detailed look-ups.
Frequently Asked Questions
What date should the MYOB trial balance be taken at?
The last day of the month before your Xero conversion date. Xero conversion dates are always the first of a month, so a 1 July conversion uses the MYOB trial balance as at 30 June.
Why does Xero show a Historical Adjustment balance after I enter conversion balances?
Xero posts any difference between your debits and credits to the Historical Adjustment account so the conversion balances still save. A non-zero Historical Adjustment means something is missing or mismatched — usually receivables or payables that do not agree to the open invoices and bills you entered. It should be zero when the conversion is finished.
Do I enter accounts receivable as a single balance?
No. Enter each open customer invoice and supplier bill individually, dated before the conversion date. Xero builds the receivables and payables conversion balances from those documents, which is what lets you receive payments against them and keeps the aged reports correct.
What happens to MYOB header accounts?
They are dropped. Xero has no header accounts, so only MYOB detail accounts carry balances across. If you relied on headers for report grouping, rebuild that with Xero account types and custom report layouts.
Rather Not Do It Yourself?
Simple files are well within reach of a confident bookkeeper — or of Xero's free conversion options. Large files, multiple entities, a chart of accounts being restructured, or an accountant who needs a sign-off pack are where it's worth getting help.
We do the mapping, transformation, loading and reconciliation, and hand back the workbook and line-by-line comparison — for businesses and for accounting firms converting clients.