#Before you go live
Successful go-live requires careful planning and testing. This article helps you verify that Light is ready for production use and that your organization is prepared for the transition.
#Minimum viable setup
Your Light instance is ready for go-live when it includes:
User and permissions
- At least one Finance Admin user who understands settings and can manage the system
- Finance Manager or Specialist users for each functional area (AR, AP, GL, Bank)
- Approval authority clearly defined with limits set per role
- Test users to verify workflows before go-live
Organization structure
- Company created with correct name, base currency, and emails
- All legal entities configured (subsidiaries, regional offices, etc.)
- Currency configuration matches your operating footprint
- Chart of accounts created with accounts for all major GL balances
Bank connectivity
- At least one primary bank account connected and verified
- Bank account mapped to correct GL account
- Transaction feed confirmed working (check last updated timestamp)
- Backup bank connection if using multiple banks
Financial workflows
- Invoice creation and approval workflow configured
- Bill processing and approval workflow configured
- Expense submission and approval workflow configured
- Payment processing workflow configured
- Default GL accounts set for common transactions
Integration connectivity
- Authentication configured (Auth0 for SSO, if applicable)
- Slack or Microsoft Teams connected for notifications
- Salesforce or HubSpot connected (if you use them)
- Any other critical integrations tested and verified
#Data migration requirements
If you're transitioning from a legacy system (NetSuite, SAP, Xero, QuickBooks, etc.):
#Chart of accounts
- Export your complete chart of accounts from the legacy system
- Import into Light or manually recreate
- Verify account codes and balances match
- Test GL posting from invoices, bills, and expenses
#Customer and vendor data
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Extract customer master file from legacy system
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Import into Light with account history
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Set credit limits and payment terms
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Verify customer GL mapping for revenue recognition
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Extract vendor master file with payment terms
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Import with vendor reference numbers and tax IDs
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Configure payment methods (bank transfer, check, card)
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Set up AP aging reports for transition period
#Open transactions
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Identify all open invoices, bills, and purchase orders
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Export outstanding AR aging report
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Export outstanding AP aging report
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Plan how to transition these to Light:
- Create as new transactions in Light, or
- Import as batch in native format, or
- Manually recreate high-priority items
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Decide on cutover date (e.g., "Go live with Light on March 1st")
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All transactions before cutover date stay in legacy system for historical reference
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New transactions post to Light starting on cutover date
#Bank account history
- Determine how much historical transaction data to import (typically last 90 days)
- Export bank statements in CSV format if automated feed won't provide history
- Plan to import via bulk CSV or Plaid sync
#GL opening balances
- Run trial balance from legacy system as of cutover date
- Verify all GL accounts are created in Light
- Post opening balances via:
- Manual journal entry for each account, or
- Single "Opening balances" journal entry, or
- Import via CSV bulk journal entry tool
Good to know: Light provides CSV import templates for most entities. Ask your implementation specialist for templates that match your legacy system's export format.
#Legacy system parallel run
Before fully cutting over to Light, run both systems in parallel:
Parallel run timeline (typically 2-4 weeks)
- Week 1: Run processes in both systems, compare results daily
- Week 2: Investigate any reconciliation differences
- Week 3: Minor adjustments, team confidence building
- Week 4: Final verification, prepare for cutover
Processes to parallel run:
- Invoice creation and AR aging reports
- Bill processing and AP aging reports
- Expense submission and approval workflows
- Bank reconciliation
- GL posting and trial balance
Reconciliation checklist:
If any variance exists, investigate and resolve before cutover. Most discrepancies come from:
- Different timing of transaction posting (normal, expected)
- Currency conversion rounding (normal for multi-currency)
- Transactions recorded in legacy system but not yet in Light (identify and recreate)
#Go-live checklist
1 week before go-live
Day of go-live
First week post-go-live
#Common go-live pitfalls to avoid
Trying to perfect everything before go-live
Light can evolve post-go-live. Focus on core AR, AP, and bank functions first. Optimize reporting, revenue recognition, and multi-entity consolidation after you're stable.
Insufficient user training
Users need hands-on practice before go-live. Schedule training 1-2 weeks before cutover so people remember what they learned.
Inadequate testing of approval workflows
Test with real amounts and real approvers. Test edge cases: what happens if an approver is on vacation? What if an expense exceeds all thresholds?
No backup plan
Have the legacy system accessible (read-only) for at least 30 days post-go-live. If a critical issue emerges, you may need to reference historical data.
Poor data quality in legacy system
Spend time cleaning data before import. Bad customer names, duplicate vendors, or incorrect account codes will cause problems in Light.
Cutting over too quickly
A 2-4 week parallel run is standard. Cutting over in days is risky unless you have a very simple financial structure.
#Post-go-live optimization
After go-live stabilizes (typically 2-4 weeks), optimize:
Workflow efficiency
- Review approval patterns—are approvals completing quickly?
- Adjust approval limits if too many escalations occur
- Consider parallel approvals for non-dependent items
Automation
- Set up recurring invoices for regular customers
- Automate bill matching and payment scheduling
- Configure recurring expense reports
Reporting and dashboards
- Create custom dashboards for executives
- Build automated reports for stakeholders
- Schedule weekly/monthly report distribution
AI configuration
- Monitor expense categorization accuracy
- Refine category definitions for better AI accuracy
- Review bank transaction reconciliation suggestions
Team capability building
- Advanced training on multi-entity consolidation
- Revenue recognition workflows
- Custom API integrations for third-party systems
#Post-cutover system maintenance
Weeks 1-4 post-go-live (Stabilization)
- Finance Admin actively monitoring
- Daily GL reconciliation
- Weekly meeting to discuss issues and learnings
- Defer non-critical enhancements
Weeks 4-12 post-go-live (Optimization)
- Move to normal monitoring cadence
- Implement efficiency improvements
- Train new team members
- Start building advanced features
Months 3+ (Sustaining)
- Move to standard operational mode
- Periodic system reviews and updates
- Continuous staff training
- Decommission legacy systems (after 90+ day archive period)
#Success metrics
Track these metrics post-go-live to measure success:
| Metric | Target | Measurement |
|---|
| Invoices processed daily | All > 0 days | Day count to process new invoice |
| Bills paid on time | 95%+ | Percentage paid before due date |
| Expense approval SLA | 24-48 hours | Average time from submission to approval |
| GL reconciliation completion | Daily | Days to achieve clean GL trial balance |
| Bank reconciliation | Daily/weekly | Days to complete reconciliation |
| Approval bottlenecks | < 1 per month | Escalations blocked by missing approvals |
| System uptime | 99.5%+ | Monitor dashboard availability |
#Get help during go-live
Light provides support during go-live:
- Go-live support line: Available 24/7 during your go-live week
- Slack support channel: Real-time assistance in your workspace
- Implementation specialist: Dedicated support lead for your organization
- Documentation and video: Extensive resources for your team
#Next steps
After successful go-live:
#Related articles