Leaving Tradify: How to Reconcile Open Quotes, Unpaid Invoices and Payments at Cutover (2026)

By Daniel Sedgwick, founder and managing director of Checker and a former gas engineer. He writes practical guides for UK trade businesses on field workflows, paperwork and admin.

Updated 19 October 2026

TLDR: Switching from Tradify to another job management app is safest when you freeze Tradify on a set date and reconcile three lists against your accounts: open quotes, unpaid invoices and payments. Give each record one home, record every later payment once, and keep Tradify open until the totals match.

Cutover is the day the old app stops being the record. A quote accepted last week, an invoice part-paid on Friday and a card payment not yet in the bank all sit in Tradify that day, and each needs one home afterwards. A record with two homes gets billed or chased twice. A record with none goes quiet.

Further reading on the wider move (exports, templates, archives and cost) is in our Tradify switching guide.

What should you freeze, and what does a Tradify export leave out?

Freeze on the first day of a month, export every list that day and expect gaps. Tradify exports quotes, jobs and invoices as CSV, but the invoice file has no payment dates, and notes, files, certificates, recurring jobs and service reminders do not come out in bulk.

When should the freeze happen?

Pick the first day of a month, or of a VAT quarter. Tradify charges pro-rata for the time used in the billing month (Tradify billing terms), and our Xero guidance suggests the start of a VAT quarter or the month you go live (Checker accountancy integrations). After the freeze, nobody raises a quote or invoice in Tradify.

What does a Tradify export leave out?

The invoice export carries amounts paid and due, but not the payment method or date (Tradify: how to export invoices). The data page lists four more gaps (Tradify: exporting or deleting your data):

• Notes and files: ask Tradify support for a full copy.
• Forms and certificates: download each one from its job’s Forms & Certs tab.
• Recurring jobs: the export holds jobs already created, not the templates.
• Service reminders: no bulk export.

The quote export covers one tab at a time (Tradify: export quotes), so export each live tab on the freeze day. Then build the payment list by hand: for every paid invoice, note the date, method and who recorded it.

What do you do with open quotes?

Sort every open quote by its state. Re-issue an unaccepted quote at the same price, move an accepted quote as a job at the accepted price, and carry any deposit already invoiced as money received.

Which open quotes should you re-issue?

Re-issue only what the customer has not accepted. Citizens Advice describes a quote as a fixed price that a trader generally cannot raise unless the customer asks for extra work or agrees to pay more (Citizens Advice: before you get work done on your home). So copy the price, scope and expiry date exactly.

If accepted work will finish within days of the freeze, invoice it in Tradify instead of moving it. A deposit can create its own VAT tax point, because one sale can give two or more (GOV.UK: keeping VAT records), so keep the deposit invoice where it was issued and show it as paid on the final invoice.

How do you stop two chasers or two acceptance links?

Switch off the Tradify quote’s reminders, which go out 7 and 14 days after sending and 3 days before expiry (Tradify: quote reminders), then cancel the quote once re-issued. A cancelled quote shows the customer “Quote Unavailable” (Tradify: cancel quotes). Our quote chaser starts its own clock: up to three follow-ups, by default on days 7, 10 and 14 (Checker automations).

Who owns each unpaid invoice after cutover?

Your accounts package should keep owning every invoice issued before cutover. Recreating them in the new app builds a second record of the same debt. Collect them where they sit, and let the new app issue only invoices from cutover.

Should you recreate unpaid invoices in the new app?

No, not if they already sit in Xero or another accounts package. HMRC requires a VAT-registered business to keep a copy of every sales invoice it issues, even a cancelled one, for at least 6 years (GOV.UK: keeping VAT records, last updated 30 October 2024). A second invoice gives your customer two things to pay.

In Checker’s Xero connection, on PRO and PRO+, a lock date does this job: only invoices and payments dated on or after it sync, and you can move it forward later but never back (Checker accountancy integrations). Set it to your cutover date. Those pages do not say how a payment dated after the lock date is treated when it belongs to an earlier invoice, so test one part-paid invoice in the free trial first (pages checked: accountancy integrations and Xero integration, 19 October 2026).

With no accounts package, export the unpaid list to a dated sheet, because Tradify’s account is no longer accessible once cancelled (Tradify: cancelling your subscription). Name one person who chases each old invoice.

How do you avoid duplicate invoice numbers?

Tradify has a preset that uses Xero’s numbering, which it recommends when invoices are created in both (Tradify: understanding the Xero integration), and its error guide warns that an update can land on the wrong document when Xero holds a second invoice with the same number (Tradify: Xero error messages). Our Xero pages do not state how synced invoice numbers are handled (pages checked: Xero integration and accountancy integrations, 19 October 2026), so start above your highest Xero number or use a different prefix, and read a test invoice’s number in Xero.

What happens to the Xero link when you cancel Tradify?

Tradify support disconnects it on request, once payments are up to date. Linked invoices then show as Sent to Accounting, later changes happen in Xero, and reconnecting does not restore the link (Tradify: removing the Xero integration). Void a synced invoice in Xero rather than deleting it: Tradify deletes it too, with its payments, beyond recovery (Tradify: syncing information from Xero).

Tradify does not create credit notes. Xero does, and they show on the Tradify invoice but cannot be edited there (Tradify: credit notes; Tradify: credit notes in Xero). After cutover every credit note is a Xero job, and it must quote the original invoice’s number and date (GOV.UK: keeping VAT records).

How do you record each payment once?

Record a payment in the system that holds the invoice, and nowhere else. Tradify says payments added in both Tradify and Xero duplicate, and the same holds between Xero and the new app.

Where does a late payment on a pre-cutover invoice go?

Into your accounts package, against the original invoice (Tradify: add payments to invoices). Sole traders on the cash basis, the default from the 2024 to 2025 tax year, record income when the money arrives, not on the invoice date (GOV.UK: business records if you are self-employed), so for them a cutover-week receipt date decides the tax year.

What about card payments that have not reached the bank?

List every card payment whose deposit has not landed. Tradify records an online card payment at once, while the Stripe deposit arrives days later as one lump sum, fees deducted, and matching it to the invoice again makes the invoice look paid twice (Tradify: Stripe payments and Xero). Match these deposits in Xero.

What are the steps to run the cutover, in order?

1. Fix the freeze date. Choose the first day of a month and stop raising quotes and invoices in Tradify.
2. Export and list. Export every live tab untouched, then build the payment list by hand.
3. Tie Tradify to your accounts. Match the unpaid total to your accounts package and resolve every gap.
4. Give each record one home. Re-issue unaccepted quotes, move accepted ones as jobs, leave old invoices in the accounts package, and set the lock date or invoice prefix.
5. Switch off duplicate reminders. Cancel re-issued quotes and name who chases each old invoice.
6. Run the overlap. Keep Tradify open for a fortnight and rerun the totals after a week.
7. Sign off and cancel. Cancel when totals tie twice, payments match the bank and Xero is disconnected.

What does a cutover ledger look like with real numbers?

This example is illustrative, with synthetic customers. Assumptions: a three-person firm registered for VAT at 20% (GOV.UK: VAT rates), Tradify Pro at £37 per user per month (Tradify UK pricing), both checked 19 October 2026, a freeze on Friday 30 October 2026, and Tradify cancelled on Friday 13 November 2026.

Which quotes are open at the freeze?

£1,850.00 of the £6,690.00 awaits acceptance and is not committed. Of the accepted £4,840.00, £1,050.00 was billed as a deposit, leaving £3,150.00 on Q-305 plus £640.00 on Q-309 to bill from the new app: £3,790.00, plus £758.00 VAT, £4,548.00 in all.

Which invoices and payments are open at the freeze?

Four invoices carry £5,220.00 including VAT. Payments of £1,540.00 and a credit note of £120.00 leave £3,560.00 due on three of them. All four stay in Xero. INV-519 is paid in the app but not yet in the bank.

How do you test the totals?

Tradify’s unpaid and overdue tabs should show INV-512, INV-515 and INV-520, totalling £3,560.00. Xero’s unpaid sales invoices must show the same three and the same total. A gap equal to one balance, such as £960.00, means a payment was recorded on one side only. A gap that matches no balance points to a credit note, tax or rounding (Tradify: Xero error messages). The £540.00 card payment stays on the payment list until its deposit is matched.

What does the overlap cost?

Three Pro seats cost £111.00 a month before any VAT. Assuming day-by-day proration over 30 days, that is £3.70 a day, so a fortnight of overlap is 14 × £3.70 = £51.80, about 5% of the smallest unpaid balance, £960.00. Tradify takes the final payment on the 7th of the following month (Tradify: cancellation), here about 7 December 2026. Log it as the last Tradify line.

Where does Checker fit into this?

Checker keeps the quote, job record and invoice on one customer, and its lock date leaves pre-cutover history in your accounts package. Customers import with duplicates flagged (Checker customer database), quotes and invoices support deposits, staged payments and part-paid tracking (Checker quotes and invoices), and Xero sync of invoices and payments runs both ways on PRO and PRO+ (Checker Xero integration).

Record	Tradify	Checker
Customers	Export as CSV, with sites.	Import from CSV, phone contacts or an accounts package.
Open quotes	Reminders at 7 and 14 days; a cancelled quote shows “Quote Unavailable”.	Re-issue; the quote chaser sends up to three follow-ups.
Old invoices	Synced to Xero; the export has no payment dates.	Stay in Xero; the lock date keeps them out of the sync.
Payments	Recorded in Tradify or Xero, synced both ways until disconnected.	Logged in Checker or Xero, synced both ways from the lock date on PRO and PRO+.
Credit notes	Xero only; no editing in Tradify.	Listed in our sync; test one before relying on it.

When is Checker not the right answer?

• You want history loaded as records. Our pages describe customer import, not quote or invoice import (pages checked on 19 October 2026: customer database, pricing, quotes and invoices and accountancy integrations). Old receivables stay in your accounts package.
• You need Xero sync on the cheapest plan. LITE does not include it, so a business that needs it must be on PRO or PRO+ (Checker pricing).
• Many deposits are in flight. Finishing those jobs in Tradify avoids re-keying them. For other destinations, see our Tradify alternatives guide.

Frequently asked questions

Move one customer, one open quote and one part-paid invoice across first, then compare the totals. Get Started Free

Authoritative sources

1. Tradify: exporting or deleting your data
2. Tradify: how to export invoices
3. Tradify: export quotes
4. Tradify: cancellation
5. Tradify: cancelling your subscription
6. Tradify: understanding billing terms
7. Tradify: understanding the Xero integration
8. Tradify: syncing information from Xero
9. Tradify: removing the Xero integration
10. Tradify: understanding Xero error messages
11. Tradify: can I create credit notes
12. Tradify: create a credit note in Xero
13. Tradify: add payments to invoices
14. Tradify: Stripe payments and Xero
15. Tradify: quote reminders
16. Tradify: cancel quotes
17. Tradify UK pricing
18. Checker pricing
19. Checker accountancy integrations
20. Checker Xero integration
21. Checker quotes and invoices
22. Checker customer database
23. Checker automations
24. GOV.UK: keeping VAT records
25. GOV.UK: business records if you are self-employed
26. GOV.UK: VAT rates
27. Citizens Advice: before you get work done on your home