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Case Study: Successful Accounting System Conversion for a Surrey Prep-School & NurseryWritten on October 6, 2025 by Jonathan Swarbrick

A prestigious private Prep-School & Nursery in Surrey approached Kirk Rice for support in modernising their finance function.

Key Points

• Upgrading from an outdated on-premises system to Xero has given the Surrey prep school faster access to accurate, real-time financial data — helping to improve confidence and speed in reporting.
• Kirk Rice designed and managed a bespoke, manual conversion process when automated tools couldn’t be used, ensuring all data was transferred accurately and reconciled with the original system.
• The school’s finance team now benefits from smoother invoicing, easier reconciliations, and more time for strategic tasks such as planning for upcoming VAT changes to private school fees.
• Kirk Rice’s tailored support — from setup through to ongoing guidance — aims to help education clients modernise their finance systems efficiently and make better-informed decisions.

The Challenge: Why the School Needed Expert Xero Migration Support

It was identified that upgrading the schools on-premises finance management system would bring financial efficiencies and business benefits. A new system would allow them to extract more accurate, timely financial data and reduce time spent on manual tasks.
A newly appointed staff member, who had previously worked with Kirk Rice and used Xero, recommended both the move to Xero and engaging Kirk Rice to manage the transition.

The Approach: How Kirk Rice Managed the Xero System Conversion

Jonathan from Kirk Rice met with the school’s bursar and finance team to assess their existing setup and determine how best to transfer data into Xero.
Since the school was moving from a non-standard system, automated tools like MoveMyBooks couldn’t be used. Instead, Kirk Rice designed a tailored manual conversion process, agreed in advance with the client:

• Data collection: The school provided detailed reports including trial balances for two year-ends and year-to-date (YTD), full chart of accounts, fixed asset register, plus debtor and creditor reports. It also supplied complete transactional data split by invoices, journals, and bank activity.
• System setup: The Kirk Rice team built a bespoke Xero company, replicating the school’s chart of accounts to fit their industry needs.
• Data migration: They entered opening balances, comparative year-end figures, and imported all YTD transactional data. This ensured balances reconciled with the source system.
• Contacts migration: Customer details (parents of pupils) were imported to ensure a seamless process when the invoices were issued from Xero.

The process was collaborative, with video calls used to finalise setup items such as bank feeds. Kirk Rice also provided ongoing support, answering ad-hoc questions via email and phone to ensure the finance team felt confident with their new system.

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The Outcome: A Smoother, More Efficient Finance Process

With Xero successfully implemented, the school has benefited from:

• A faster and more efficient finance process freeing up employee’s time to tackle other important tasks such as forecasting and planning for the change to VAT treatment of private school fees.
• Easier access to real-time data leading to faster, better-informed business decisions.
• Greater confidence and a faster turnaround in their financial reporting.
• Smoother invoicing and reconciliation of payments.

The bursar and finance team were delighted with the results and impressed with the hands-on guidance Kirk Rice provided throughout the process.

Why Kirk Rice for accounting software migration projects?

This project demonstrates Kirk Rice’s expertise in complex accounting system migrations. Even when automated tools aren’t available, Kirk Rice can design bespoke solutions. This approach ensures a smooth transition and delivering systems that make a real difference to clients’ efficiency and insight. If you’d like to discuss a software upgrade or transfer for your business, get in touch with us via info@kirkrice.co.uk

Please note: This article is correct as at the publication date. The answers are given for general guidance only and specific advice should be taken before acting on any of the suggestions made. The information is based on current tax legislation which may change in future. Information is based on our current understanding of taxation legislation and regulations. Any levels and bases of relief from taxation are subject to change. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax planning.

Client Feedback: Confidence in Their New Xero Setup

“We were finding our old finance system increasingly difficult to use and too slow for the demands of our school. The move to Xero, managed by Kirk Rice, has completely transformed the way our finance team works.

The transition was smooth, despite the complexity of moving from a non-standard system, and Kirk Rice guided us every step of the way. They tailored the setup to our specific needs, ensured all our data was migrated accurately, and were always available to answer our questions.

We now have much faster access to reliable financial information, which makes a real difference to our day-to-day operations. We are very pleased with the outcome and grateful for the support from Jonathan and the team at Kirk Rice.”

Mark – Homefield Prep School – Finance Accountant