Migration cutover checklist

Cut over only after the import and reconciliation checks have passed. The objective is a clear boundary: historical data is verified, and every new entry after the agreed time is created in Keito.

Before the freeze

  • Name the migration owner and finance sign-off owner.
  • Save a secure source export and the expected record counts.
  • Complete the import.
  • Reconcile clients, projects, people, time, expenses, invoices, estimates, and settings.
  • Resolve skipped or failed records.
  • Review imported roles, permissions, project assignments, and rates.
  • Tell the team the exact date and time when source-system entry must stop.
  • Schedule the cutover away from payroll, invoicing, or reporting deadlines when possible.

At the freeze time

  • Stop timers and prevent new time, expense, invoice, and estimate changes in the source.
  • Check for records created or edited after the original import preview.
  • Resolve those changes before inviting the wider team.
  • Record the final source totals used for sign-off.
  • Confirm Keito currency, timezone, working week, and time-entry preferences.

Do not start a second import solely to resolve an unexplained discrepancy. Review the completed job and contact support first so duplicate target records are not introduced.

Start work in Keito

  • Invite the reviewed team members.
  • Confirm every user can access the correct projects and tasks.
  • Ask each user to create or start one test time entry.
  • Confirm managers can review and approve time as expected.
  • Confirm finance users can see expenses, invoices, estimates, and reports.
  • Tell the team that all new work now belongs in Keito.

After cutover

  • Keep the source available as read-only reference for at least one complete billing and reporting cycle, subject to your retention policy.
  • Run the first Keito time, expense, budget, and uninvoiced-work reports.
  • Complete one normal invoice and payment workflow.
  • Compare the first period’s totals with the agreed cutover boundary.
  • Revoke or rotate the Harvest Personal Access Token.
  • Restrict or remove source-system access only after the rollback window closes.
  • Retain or destroy source exports according to policy.

Rollback rule

If a material discrepancy appears after invitations are sent:

  1. pause new edits in both systems;
  2. record the affected date range and data type;
  3. preserve both source and target records;
  4. contact Keito with the migration phase and non-sensitive details;
  5. agree the recovery action before deleting, re-importing, or manually recreating records.

Do not delete either side while the discrepancy is being investigated.

Migration complete

The migration is complete when:

  • all validation owners have signed off;
  • the team uses Keito for new work;
  • one normal billing and reporting cycle has completed;
  • the rollback window has closed;
  • the temporary migration token has been revoked.

Return to the migration overview, or review the full Harvest migration walkthrough.