You can import your existing clients from Relate Accounts Production (RAP) with all the transactions, balances and compliance database details, using the following steps:

Backup in Relate Accounts Production 

1. Create a backup in Relate Accounts Production. Navigate to the Clients and Accounts page in RAP, locate the relevant client, and select the Backup option located at the top.
   Note: To ensure you are backing up the correct client, please verify the client's name in the top right-hand corner before proceeding with the backup.
2. After selecting Backup, you will be able to choose a location to save this RAP Backup file. It is important to  remember this save location as you will need to locate this backup later in the process.

Import into BrightAccountsProduction

1. In BrightAccountsProduction navigate to the Clients and Accounts page.
2. On the Clients and Accounts page, select Import located at the top of the page.
3. From the drop-down list, select Relate Accounts Production.
4. You will redirected to the page that allows you to select the RAP Backup (.rdb) file which requires to be imported. Click Choose File to upload a .rdb file or drag and drop the required .rdb file in the DROP FILE HERE area.
5. Select the required .rdb file from the saved location and click Open.
   If the business name differs on BrightAccountsProduction from the one on Relate Accounts Production, a warning message message will be displayed. Click Continue as this detail can be modified later in the compliance database.
6. The next screen will allow you to assign a client code for this client. By default, the existing client code will be displayed in this field along with details such as the client name and financial year.
7. Click Import.
   

   If the client code already exist, an information message will appear mentioning the same. 
   You can change the client code and continue with the process.

8. A confirmation message window will appear which will provide you with the following options:
   • Link: If you are also a BrightBooks user, you can link the current business with an existing BrightBooks business, click Link. There can be multiple scenarios which you may come across which are described below:
     • Scenario 1: The Select BrightBooks Business window appears, from where you can search for and select the required BrightBooks business related to the Practice.
       • Click Next. If the Relate Accounts Production Period Dates do not match BrightBooks Current Year Accounting Period, an error message will appear mentioning to import relevant RAP dataset matching the BrightBooks Period Dates.
     • Scenario 2: If their is a mismatch in client code with the RAP dataset or in the Business name and the RAP dataset client name, a warning message will be displayed. To continue to import the client anyway, click Continue.
       • A confirmation window will appear where you can choose the import option you would like to proceed with including Trial Balance, Comparative Balances Only, Compliance Database Only, and Full Dataset Import.
         Note: If you are importing a non-bookkeeping client dataset and it is linked with a BrightBooks business, you can choose from the above mentioned options which are available only for bookkeeping dataset import.
   • Import: If you are importing a bookkeeping client dataset, a confirmation window will appear where you can choose the import option you would like to proceed with including Trial Balance, Comparative Balances Only, Compliance Database Only, and Full Dataset Import.
     Note: Use caution when using the Full Dataset Import option as this will use one. BrightAccountsProduction bookkeeping license while importing the bookkeeping transactions.
   • You can view the details of what effect each specific import option will have by hovering the mouse over the information (i) icon next to the import options.

     Trial Balance

     This option will import the current journals, the compliance data and the comparative balances from Relate Accounts Production and overwrite any existing balances that appear in the Comparative module in BrightBooks. This import will not impact your payments, receipts and invoices in BrightBooks. If there are any transactions in the Relate Accounts Production dataset which have previously been imported from BrightBooks, these transactions will not be imported to BrightAccountsProduction.

     Comparative Balances Only

     This option will import the Comparative Balances from Relate Accounts Production and overwrite existing Comparative Balances in BrightBooks. This import will not impact your payments, receipts and invoices in BrightBooks. If there are any transactions in the Relate Accounts Production dataset which have previously been imported from BrightBooks, these transactions will not be imported to BrightAccountsProduction.

     Compliance Database Only

     This option will import Compliance Database Information from Relate Accounts Production and overwrite any existing Compliance Database Information and will not import any Current Year Journals, Comparative Balances, or Transactions.

     Full Dataset Import

     This option will import the Trial Balance, Comparative Balances, Compliance database as well as bookkeeping. Only use this option if BrightBooks Data and Relate Accounts Production data and transactions match.

9. If you are importing a non-bookeeping client dataset, the above options will not appear and the dataset will be imported directly.
10. After choosing the option which you want to proceed with, click Import.
11. You will be prompted with one final warning message depending on the option you have selected. As you are sure this is the import option you would like to use, click the import option for the last time. When attempting to import a dataset, you may encounter an error message stating 'no licenses available.' This generally occurs if there are bookkeeping transactions within the dataset. Due to the presence of these transactions, a full import is blocked. Ensure that the dataset does not contain bookkeeping transactions before attempting another import. Verify and clean your data accordingly to proceed without licensing issues.
12. The next screen will take anywhere between a few seconds to a couple of minutes while data is imported from Relate Accounts Production.
13. After this screen has finished loading, a confirmation message will appear to confirm that the import has been completed successfully.
14. Click Close. The Staff Permission window will appear from where you select the staff members who will have access to this client on BrightAccountsProduction.
    Note: Use the ‘Select All Staff’ option if you wish for this business to be available to all staff.
15. Click Save. You will be brought to this client’s Dashboard in BrightAccountsProduction as the import process is now complete.