Moving off spreadsheets without losing historyMoving off spreadsheets without losing history

Migration is mostly a clean-up exercise. Loading data is quick; what takes time is deciding which records matter and making them consistent. Work through this list before you send anything across.

Decide what needs to come across

• Current students: names, admission numbers, class and arm, date of birth
• Guardians: names, relationship, phone numbers and email where you have it
• Outstanding balances per student as at the end of last term
• This term’s fee structure for every class
• The last full term of results, if report cards should show history
• Staff list with roles

Clean before you send

• One row per student — remove duplicates left by re-admissions and transfers
• Consistent class names: “JSS 2B” everywhere, not “JS2 B” in one sheet and “2B” in another
• Phone numbers in one format, with no number shared by unrelated families
• Balances checked against bank statements, not only the fee sheet
• Withdrawn students marked as withdrawn, not deleted

What can usually stay behind

Very old results, settled balances from past sessions and long-gone staff rarely need to move. Keep a read-only archive of the old files somewhere safe. You will seldom open it, but you will be glad it exists.