How to migrate from MYOB to Xero in Australia

Converting from MYOB to Xero in Australia takes 2-4 hours of hands-on work spread over about a week. The decisions that matter are the conversion date, whether to use a Xero conversion partner, and how to carry year-to-date payroll figures across so Single Touch Payroll stays correct. The data moves (chart of accounts, contacts, outstanding invoices and bills) are the easy part.

What transfers, what doesn’t

MYOB AccountRight and MYOB Business both export CSV. Xero conversion partners can automate steps marked CSV below. The payroll and bank-feed rows are the ones that trip up DIY conversions.

Step-by-step

1. Step 1: Pick the conversion date

   The cleanest date is 1 July (new financial year) or the first day of a BAS quarter. The date you pick becomes the start of your Xero records; everything up to that date stays in MYOB as the historical ledger. Avoid dates in the middle of a BAS quarter unless you plan to run both products in parallel for the rest of the quarter.

2. Step 2: Decide: DIY or a conversion partner

   Xero lists conversion partners who take MYOB AccountRight or Essentials files and load them into a new Xero organisation. The partner route is quicker and covers up to two years of history on standard tiers; DIY is cheaper and gives you more control. For a sole trader on one bank account, DIY is fine. For a business with payroll, inventory and multiple bank accounts, use a partner. Price and inclusions vary, so get a written scope.

3. Step 3: Lodge any outstanding BAS and IAS in MYOB

   Keep MYOB as the source of truth up to the conversion date. Lodge every BAS and IAS period that ends on or before that date through MYOB or your BAS agent, so the GST, PAYG and super amounts from those periods never move. After the conversion, Xero's activity statement will only cover the period from the conversion date onwards.

4. Step 4: Finalise STP in MYOB

   If you run payroll, lodge a Finalisation event in MYOB for every employee's year-to-date figures before the conversion date. The ATO treats the Finalisation event as the employee's income statement for the year to that point. Without it, employees will see 'Not tax ready' in myGov and the year-to-date figures you then re-enter in Xero may double-count.

5. Step 5: Export your MYOB data

   From MYOB AccountRight or MYOB Business, export the chart of accounts, contacts list (customers and suppliers with ABNs), inventory items, outstanding invoices and outstanding bills as CSV. Save a PDF archive of the trial balance, profit and loss, balance sheet and GST report at the conversion date. The PDFs are your evidence if the ATO ever asks for the hand-off state.

6. Step 6: Set up the Xero organisation

   Create a new Xero AU organisation, pick the right plan (Ignite, Grow, Comprehensive or Ultimate), set the financial year start, choose the GST registration status and reporting cycle, and add bank accounts. Use the Standard AU chart of accounts if the MYOB chart you exported matches it closely; otherwise upload the exported chart as the starting point. Match account types (asset, liability, revenue, expense, equity) carefully.

7. Step 7: Enter conversion balances in Xero

   Enter the trial balance from the conversion date as Xero's conversion balances. This is the opening balance for every account at the moment you switch, including bank account balances, aged receivables, aged payables, GST on hand and super payable. The debits must equal the credits, so start with the trial balance print-out from MYOB and type each row across. Outstanding invoices and bills can be entered as individual records so Xero's aged receivables and payables reports work.

8. Step 8: Reconnect bank feeds and reconcile from the conversion date

   Bank feeds do not transfer. Apply for a direct bank feed in Xero for each account; direct feeds for the big four take 1-3 business days to activate, and in the meantime you can import a bank statement CSV. Reconcile every transaction from the conversion date forward. Transactions dated before the conversion date belong in the opening balances and should not be re-recorded.

9. Step 9: Set up payroll and run one period in parallel, then cancel MYOB

   In Xero Payroll, register for STP, add each employee with the same name and TFN as in MYOB, and enter year-to-date opening balances for gross, tax, super and leave. Run the first pay period in Xero. For the first BAS period, run the activity statement in Xero and reconcile it against the MYOB history. Once the first pay run and the first BAS lodgement both look right, cancel the MYOB subscription. Keep a read-only MYOB export or PDFs for seven years, which is the ATO record-keeping period.

Pre-conversion checklist

• Pick a conversion date on a BAS period or year boundary
• Lodge every BAS and IAS period ending on or before the conversion date
• Lodge an STP Finalisation event in MYOB for every employee
• Export CSVs: chart of accounts, contacts, outstanding invoices and bills, inventory
• Save PDFs of trial balance, P&L, balance sheet and GST report at the conversion date
• Reconcile every MYOB bank account to the conversion date
• Pick a Xero plan and set up the organisation in parallel
• Keep MYOB access read-only after cutover for seven years of records

Frequently asked questions

Sources, checked 9 Oct 2026: Xero Central: Prepare for conversion from another accounting solution · Xero Central: Enter conversion balances · ATO: Single Touch Payroll · ATO: Overview of record-keeping rules for business.