The most common reason consultants stay on spreadsheets is not that spreadsheets are good. It is that moving off them sounds like a project — and nobody has a spare month.
In practice, most books move across in an afternoon.
What actually gets imported
Three things carry the weight: employer clients, the people you deal with at each one, and the policies attached to the group. Get those in cleanly and the rest follows.
- Clients — employer groups with scheme details.
- Contacts — the people at each client, with their roles.
- Policies — product type, premium, commission and renewal date.
Preview before anything lands
The part that removes the risk is the preview. Mapping your columns and seeing exactly what will be created — before it is created — is what turns a migration from a leap into a check.
A migration you can preview is a migration you can trust.
Then set the team
Once the book is in, invite colleagues with the right role. Principals see the whole picture; consultants see their own clients. That is usually the last step before a practice is genuinely live.
The realistic timeline
Export your spreadsheet in the morning. Map and preview it after lunch. Invite the team and switch on the trackers you need. Most practices are working in the system the same day.