How to Move Your CA Firm to Practice Software in a Week

Short answer: You can move a CA firm to practice management software in a week if you move only live work. Day 1, export and clean the client list; day 2, import it with checks for GSTIN, PAN, emails and duplicates; day 3, set up the engagements and tasks that are open now; day 4, invite the team with roles and client-level access; day 5, move current documents and open a few client portals; days 6 and 7, log, approve and review the first week of time.

Last updated 22 October 2026. MyPract import and setup details were checked against the product and our facts page on that date. Jamku and Saral details come from our comparisons, verified on 13 October 2026.

Most firms don't put off a software move because the new tool is hard. They put it off because migration feels endless: ten years of Excel sheets, a desktop install nobody wants to touch, and a filing deadline always a fortnight away. The fix is scope. Move the clients and the work that is open now, run the old system read-only for a season, and judge the new tool on a real week of work. If you haven't chosen a tool yet, start with our guide to the best practice management software for CA firms and the checklist for choosing practice management software.

What does a one-week migration plan look like?

Pick a week that isn't the week before a due date. Mid-month, after the GSTR-3B rush, works for most firms.

Day 1: How do you get your client list out of Excel, Jamku or Saral?

• From Excel: combine every sheet that lists clients (GST, ITR, audit, ROC) into one sheet with one row per client. The same client often appears in four sheets with four spellings.
• From Jamku: use its export if it has one, or copy the client list into a spreadsheet. Our MyPract vs Jamku comparison covers the differences between the two.
• From Saral TaxOffice: use its export if one is available, or copy the client list out. You can keep Saral for tax computation and e-filing and move only practice management; see our Saral TaxOffice alternative guide.

Then clean it: one name per client, PAN and GSTIN in their own columns, a primary contact with email and phone, a status (active, prospect or inactive) and tags for service lines such as "gst, audit". Delete clients you haven't served in three years, or mark them inactive.

Day 2: How does the client-list import work?

In MyPract, download the client template (Excel or CSV) from the Clients page, or upload your own file and match its columns to MyPract's fields. The Indian template's columns are:

Before anything is saved, every row is checked: GSTIN and PAN format, emails, phone numbers, status, and duplicates by GSTIN or name. You choose whether existing clients are skipped or updated, see what will be created, and download a report of rows to fix. Each file can hold up to 2,000 clients. Import a small test file of ten clients first, check them on screen, then import the rest. If you keep a DSC register in Excel, import it the same day.

Day 3: Which engagements and tasks should you set up first?

Only live work: this month's GST returns, open audits, ITRs in progress, pending ROC filings and notices. For each, create an engagement with the client, service line, manager, dates, budget hours and fee, then add tasks with owners, due dates and planned hours.

Two honest limits to plan for. MyPract doesn't import engagements, tasks or old timesheets, and it doesn't apply a checklist template to an engagement in one step or create the next recurring task automatically. For a firm with many similar engagements, set up one engagement fully, then create the rest by hand or ask the AI assistant to create them; it makes each change only after you confirm it. Closed engagements stay in the old system.

Day 4: How should you invite the team and set access?

Invite everyone by email and give each person one of six roles: Owner, Admin, Manager, Staff, Viewer or Client. Typical mapping: partners as Owner or Manager, an office manager as Admin, seniors as Manager, article assistants and paid assistants as Staff.

At the same time, decide who sees which clients. Owners and Admins can limit any Manager, Staff or Viewer to selected clients; they then see only those clients' engagements, tasks, time, documents and invoices, everywhere in the app, including reports, search and the AI assistant. Set each person's weekly capacity (35 hours for articles, in line with ICAI's direction) and bill rates, and add rate rules for clients on special rates. Our guide to managing article assistants' work and access covers this in detail.

Day 5: What about documents and clients?

Move this year's documents only, into folders by client and engagement. Last year's files can stay where they are until you need them. Then pick five to ten friendly clients, map their contacts to their engagements and send the portal link; each contact opens it with a 6-digit code sent to their email. Use the pilot to replace WhatsApp for those clients; our guide to collecting client documents without WhatsApp has a request process you can copy.

Days 6 and 7: How do you run the first week of time?

Ask everyone to log time daily against tasks, using the weekly timesheet or the timer, and to mark it billable or non-billable. On day 7, managers approve the week and lock the period so approved hours can't change. Then review:

• Who didn't log time, and why?
• Which tasks went far over planned hours?
• Which clients are missing contacts, GSTINs or tags?
• What did people still do in Excel or WhatsApp?

Fix those, and the following week becomes your first normal week. Invoices come later, from approved billable time; see tracking billable hours in a CA firm.

What should you not migrate?

MyPract's trial is three months, opt-in, with no card, and it never converts to a paid plan automatically, so you can run this week and a full filing cycle before deciding. Every user gets every module. Prices are on the pricing page: ₹12,000/year for the first 5 users, then ₹4,800 per user for users 6–30 and ₹4,000 per user for users 31+, excluding GST. Facts about modules and limits are on our facts page.

How we checked

On 14 October 2026 we checked MyPract's client import (template columns, row checks, the 2,000-row limit and duplicate handling), roles, client-level access and time approvals against the product and our facts page. Jamku and Saral TaxOffice details come from our comparisons, which were verified against those vendors' own pages on 13 October 2026. We didn't confirm the current export options in Jamku or Saral, so check with the vendor. No exchange rates are used.

Frequently asked questions

Can a CA firm really switch practice software in a week?

The setup, yes, if you move only live work. Import the client list, create the engagements that are open now, invite the team and log a week of time. Leave closed engagements and old time records in the old system, read-only, until you no longer need them.

What columns does MyPract's client import template have?

For Indian firms: client name (required), legal name, PAN, GSTIN, industry, country, currency, billing email, contact name, contact email, contact phone, website, status, tags and notes. You can also upload your own file and match its columns to these fields.

How does MyPract handle duplicate clients during import?

Clients that already exist, with the same GSTIN or the same name, are skipped, or updated if you choose that option when importing. Every row is checked before anything is saved, and you can download a report of rows with errors.

Can I import engagements, tasks or old timesheets into MyPract?

No. The import covers clients (and, separately, the DSC register). Create live engagements and tasks by hand, or ask the AI assistant to create them, confirming each change. Keep historical time and invoices in your old system or an export.

Do I need to stop using Jamku or Saral on day one?

No. Run them side by side for at least one filing cycle. Saral TaxOffice's tax computation and e-filing are not something MyPract replaces, so you can keep that and move only practice management. See our Saral TaxOffice alternative guide.

Start your one-week move with MyPract

Download the client template, import ten clients and set up one live engagement today. Three months free, no card, and the trial never converts automatically.