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Who will run the accounting system after the migration team leaves?

Make accounting migration training practical: assign procedure owners, observe real tasks, test exceptions, and agree when implementation support ends.

By Institution4 minute readPublished View sources
In this guide

Name the people who will perform the next accounting cycle

Before the implementation team leaves, identify who will enter transactions, investigate exceptions, reconcile accounts, approve adjustments, and issue reports. Put actual names beside those responsibilities. A department label can conceal an unfilled role or a task that everyone expects the migration consultant to continue performing.

Ask each person to explain what changes from the previous process. A familiar accounting task may now use a different approval route, source file, or report. Training should address those changes directly, including the work that remains outside the software.

Microsoft's Dynamics 365 training checklist recommends matching instruction to business processes and user roles, maintaining materials, and collecting feedback. Use those principles to design training around your accounting work. Completing a vendor course can help, but attendance alone does not establish readiness to run your company's process.

References: Microsoft: Training strategy checklist

Build short procedures from the actual workflow

A useful procedure begins with the trigger and required inputs, then explains the action, review, expected output, and exception route. Include the relevant company configuration and approved report settings. Link to product documentation for general navigation so your procedure concentrates on decisions specific to the business.

Give each procedure an owner and version date. Store it in a location the operating team controls and can update after the project ends. A consultant's private notebook or an inaccessible recording is a weak foundation for recurring work.

For an illustrative supplier-bill procedure, record who confirms receipt, where the invoice is stored, how a disputed amount is flagged, and who approves the accounting classification. Explain what happens when the purchase contact is absent. Screenshots of the entry screen do not answer those questions.

Build short procedures from the actual workflow
Procedure elementQuestion it should answer
Trigger and inputWhat starts this task, and what evidence is required?
Operator and reviewerWho acts, and who checks the result?
Expected outputWhere is the completed work, and how is completion established?
Exception routeWhat happens when the normal path cannot be followed?
Maintenance ownerWho updates the instructions after a process change?

Observe the person doing the task

Use a controlled practice environment or an appropriately supervised live task. Ask the future operator to perform the work while the trainer observes. Let the operator find the input, choose the relevant process, identify the result, and explain when to stop and ask for help.

Record what was demonstrated and what still required intervention. For example, a user may enter an ordinary bill correctly but be unable to explain how to handle a duplicate. That is a specific training gap with a clear next exercise, rather than a vague conclusion that the user needs more confidence.

Test the reviewer as well as the preparer. Someone must know how to inspect the evidence, recognize an unresolved difference, and withhold approval when needed. Technical access to a report does not establish the ability to assess its contents.

Include the tasks that do not happen every day

Monthly routines deserve early attention, but a complete handover also identifies less frequent work. List quarter-end adjustments, annual schedules, new-user setup, changes in approvers, and unusual transactions relevant to the engagement. Decide which can be demonstrated now and which need a scheduled future support session.

Include a planned absence. Have the backup locate the procedure and required evidence without relying on the primary operator's memory. If the backup lacks an appropriate permission or cannot identify the reviewer, resolve that before treating coverage as established.

Keep practice proportionate. You do not need to simulate every possible transaction. Concentrate on consequential tasks, unfamiliar processes, and exceptions that are reasonably likely in your business. Record the remaining limitations so management understands what the training has actually demonstrated.

Agree how project support becomes operating support

Microsoft's transition guidance distinguishes implementation handover from ongoing operational ownership and emphasizes transferring knowledge, decisions, and support responsibilities. Translate that into a written support arrangement for your move: contact, coverage, issue intake, escalation, and the work included after launch.

Separate an unresolved implementation defect from a new enhancement or ordinary accounting question. Agree who makes that classification and how disputed cases are handled. Otherwise, the first difficult question can become an argument over whether the project has already ended.

Keep a single list of open handover items. Each needs an owner, next action, expected resolution, and temporary operating method where appropriate. A project can end with minor agreed follow-ups, but critical work should not disappear into an unmonitored email thread.

References: Microsoft: Transition and handover to operational support

Accept the handover against demonstrated capability

The acceptance record should identify completed task demonstrations, available procedures, named backups, remaining issues, and the agreed support route. Ask the operating owner and reviewer to acknowledge their responsibilities. Preserve the record with the migration decisions.

After the first full accounting cycle, update the procedures from actual questions and corrections. Remove instructions that no longer match the configuration and add explanations that users repeatedly needed. The handover has worked when the internal team can complete, review, and explain the work using resources it can maintain.

Sources

Requirements and product details can change. Check the linked guidance for the facts that apply to your situation.

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General information, not personalized accounting, tax, legal, or investment advice. Have the appropriate qualified professional review decisions that depend on your circumstances.