How to switch property management software: a migration checklist

Pick the cutover date

The cleanest cutover date is the last day of a month after you have closed that month's books, and ideally the end of a quarter or year. Your old system then holds complete history up to that date, and the new one starts fresh the next day. Avoid the first ten days of a month, when rent is arriving and tenants are most likely to call. Put the date on your calendar a month ahead, so the export and setup work has time to happen without a rush.

Plan for overlap. Keep the old account open (or at least readable) for one or two months after the cutover so you can look things up while you settle in.

Export everything first

Before you cancel, download every report you might ever need, in a spreadsheet format where possible and as PDF where not.

• Rent roll as of the cutover date.
• Tenant ledgers: every charge and payment for each tenant since move-in.
• Deposits held, by tenant.
• General ledger and profit and loss by property for every year in the system.
• Vendor list with tax details, and payments made to each vendor this year.
• Leases, notices, inspection photos and other documents attached to units or tenants.
• Open repair requests and recurring maintenance schedules.

Old records stay important after you leave. The IRS page How long should I keep records? says to keep records connected with property until the period of limitations expires for the year you dispose of the property, and gives 3 years as the general period for other records, longer in some cases. Store the exports where you will still find them years from now.

Load the new system in this order

1. Properties and the company (LLC) that owns each one.
2. Bank accounts, with the balance as of the cutover date.
3. Units, with type and market rent.
4. Tenants and current leases: dates, rent, recurring charges.
5. Opening balances per tenant: what each owes or has prepaid.
6. Deposits held per tenant.
7. Vendors and open repair requests.

Do not re-enter years of history transaction by transaction. Keep history in the old exports; the new system needs a correct starting point, not a copy of the past.

Prove the numbers match

This step is what separates a clean move from a year of small mysteries. Compare each total between the old system's final reports and the new system's opening state.

Example a made-up 16 unit property at cutover. Three tenants owe $1,200, $650 and $300, for $2,150 in total, and one has prepaid $500. Deposits for all 16 tenants add up to $18,400. The bank statement shows $31,650, but the books show $31,250 because a $400 check to the plumber has not cleared yet. $31,650 - $400 = $31,250, so the books are right; list the open check in the new system so it clears there.

Tell tenants and vendors, once

Only after the numbers match, send one clear notice. If how tenants pay is changing, say exactly what changes, from which date, and what stays the same. Send a reminder a few days before the next rent date. Vendors need to know where invoices now go. Give your own phone number or email for questions during the first month.

Then watch the first rent cycle closely. Match each payment by hand if you need to, and fix any tenant balance that looks wrong straight away, while the old records are fresh.

Common mistakes

• Cancelling the old account before exporting documents and ledgers.
• Switching mid-month, so one month's rent lives in two systems.
• Loading deposits as income, or forgetting them entirely.
• Skipping the balance checks because the totals "look about right".
• Changing payment instructions for tenants before the new system is ready.

Moving to DoorKeeping

In DoorKeeping, each property is set up with its own LLC and its own books: ledger, bank account, deposits held and profit and loss. A new account starts with a labelled sample portfolio, so you can try everything before you add your own units. Tenants keep paying your own bank, by bank transfer or Zelle where your bank supports it, and each tenant gets a memo like 12B SMITH and an exact amount with its own cents so payments are easy to tell apart. There is no setup cost or minimum: $2 per unit per month.

Sources

1. IRS, How long should I keep records?, read Oct 29, 2026

Questions

When is the best time to switch property management software?

At a month end after the books are closed, ideally at a quarter or year end, and never in the first days of a month when rent is arriving.

Do I need to move all my old transactions?

Usually not. Load opening balances and current leases, and keep the old history in exported files you store safely.

How do I know the migration worked?

Unit count, rent, deposits held, tenant balances and the bank balance in the books all match between the old system's final reports and the new system.