These items should be completed before the initial data migration to the HawkSoft 6 sandbox.
- Review the changes and enhancements in HawkSoft 6
- Watch the HawkSoft 6 overview video (also available in the Customer Center).
- Review the HawkSoft 6 training course/s applicable to your agency role to get an idea of which workflows will be different in HawkSoft 6.
- Review the HawkSoft 6 Feature Differences page for for general information on features that are different in HawkSoft 6.
- Review what accounting and commission items will be migrated if your agency uses these features, as certain data in these areas will not be migrated to HawkSoft 6.
- Clean up items in your current HawkSoft database to prepare it for migration
- Review and remove any old or irrelevant items, including:
- Carriers (IMPORTANT not to have duplicate carriers when migrating to new Carrier Setup)
- Users
- Correspondence templates
- Suspenses (by running suspense reports) and suspense categories (under Customized Lists)
- Carriers (IMPORTANT not to have duplicate carriers when migrating to new Carrier Setup)
- Process Unmatched Documents
- Close out all Working Documents
- Run accounting reports and close out as many open invoices as possible (only open accounting items created in the last two years will be migrated to HawkSoft 6).
- Complete commission items if needed:
- If an agent's paid date falls close to your migration date, reconcile all applicable statements and pay agents prior to migration.
- If desired, the agency may run a reconcile report and export it to CSV, to preserve any future "estimated" transactions to be imported to HawkSoft 6 after the final migration (as HawkSoft 6 does not currently generate "estimated transactions."
- Perform any other needed cleanup to ensure the data you start with in HawkSoft 6 is as clean, consistent, and organized as possible. You can find information on running relevant reports and cleaning up important data in our data cleanup help article.
- Review and remove any old or irrelevant items, including:
- Enable necessary settings & configuration
- Enable the Data Sync setting in HawkSoft Marketplace if it is not already enabled (see instructions here). This is necessary for the migration of your data.
- Obtain Microsoft Office licenses for local workstations (Outlook, Office, etc) directly through Microsoft if the agency does not already have them (see details here).
- If you use Outlook within the HawkSoft Online environment, you may export your Outlook contacts, calendar, and tasks if desired, to import to your local computer's Outlook (see instructions here)
- Agencies currently paying by check: Autopay by ACH or credit card is required for HawkSoft 6. Please contact billing@hawksoft.com to update your payment method before migration.
- Agencies using IMAP/SMTP for email: export contacts/calendars to a PST (migration team can provide instructions).
- Ensure staff is ready for the sandbox training period
- Appoint a HawkSoft 6 champion at the agency to learn about the changes and assist others.
- Communicate expectations to staff around training on HawkSoft 6 during the upcoming sandbox period.
These items should be completed during the HawkSoft 6 sandbox period.
- Have all users install and configure the HawkSoft 6 sandbox
- Follow our install instructions to install HawkSoft 6 on each desired computer, or simply go to hawksoft.app, log in, and download the desktop app.
- If you have HawkSoft connected to Outlook, ensure that you have Outlook installed locally now.
- Practice and train on your agency's workflows in the HawkSoft 6 sandbox (HawkSoft 5 database remains the source of truth)
- Do double entry on each process at least once to compare workflows (do the process in your HawkSoft 5 database as well as in HawkSoft 6).
Note: New items created in your previous HawkSoft database during this time will not appear in your HawkSoft 6 database until after the final migration. - Complete the sandbox exercises listed in the Customer Center (click the question mark icon on the right side of the start page in your HawkSoft 6 sandbox).
- Utilize training resources to learn about the different, enhanced, or new features:
- The HawkSoft 6 Product Tour video and HawkSoft 6 Accounting & Commissions Tour video
- Training courses in the Help Portal (courses for all staff, CSRs/Producers, Admins, and more)
- Trust accounting learning module overview and in-depth help article/videos for applicable staff
- Commissions learning module overview and in-depth help article/videos for applicable staff
- Feature walkthroughs in the HawkSoft 6 sandbox (popups appearing in different areas of the system)
- Available HawkSoft 6 webinars
- Do double entry on each process at least once to compare workflows (do the process in your HawkSoft 5 database as well as in HawkSoft 6).
- Configure agency settings that will not be overwritten upon final data migration
Unlike other data in the sandbox, these items will not be overwritten during the final data migration to the HawkSoft 6 sandbox. These items can be configured at the agency level by the agency owner or HawkSoft administrator. Set them up now to train staff on new workflows for these areas.
- Task Templates
- Activity Tags
- Carrier Download Setup and Download Task Rules (Note: new downloads will not come into the HawkSoft 6 database until after the final data migration)
- Commission Rules for carriers and agents
- Complete accounting items and practice exercises if needed
If your agency uses accounting workflows in HawkSoft and will have accounting data migrating to HawkSoft 6 (settings and open transactions), you will need to complete the following items during the sandbox period. See detailed instructions for each of these items in the Sandbox section of our Accounting Migration Checklist.
- Ensure customer balances from your current HawkSoft database match the open transactions migrated to your HawkSoft 6 sandbox
- Check Settings to ensure items came over as expected
- Practice creating invoices and paying them
- Practice creating a direct bill receipt
- Practice creating payables using the company payables workflow
- Practice using the agency revenue workflow
- Practice commission workflows if needed
If your agency uses commission workflows in HawkSoft, make sure you practice and understand the new workflows in HawkSoft (see training resources in step 2 above). While downloads will not be live in the sandbox, you can practice the following items (go to "Exercises & Short Lessons for Commissions" in the Customer Center to be guided through these items):
- Create a manual commission statement
- Reconcile a manual commission statement
- Practice the agent payout process (commission rules must be configured for agent payout to be calculated) and create agent paid statements
- Run the Agency Commission Paid and Agent Commission Paid reports.
- Test staff on their HawkSoft 6 knowledge before the sandbox period ends
Verify that all staff members have taken the HawkSoft 6 Essentials training course, as well as any other applicable training courses for their role. The training courses include quizzes to test their knowledge. The agency is responsible for all training on HawkSoft 6.
Items to complete one day prior to the final data migration to HawkSoft 6:
- EVERY user must run the HawkSoft Online Data Downloader utility in HawkSoft 5
This can be done under Settings > Download HSO User Data (see instructions here). This will update the following user data/settings from HawkSoft Online to your HawkSoft 6 database:- External tools
- Computer specific settings
- Bridge integrations for raters
- Desktop files
- My Documents
- Outlook PSTs (and/or exporting contacts and calendar) - if you used Outlook on HawkSoft Online
- Agency principals can also download:
- Unmatched Documents inbox
- Agency documents
- Local read-only copy of database (without attachments)
- Do not run downloads on this day
- The migration team will disable downloads in your HawkSoft 5 database on this day.
- Do not run any third-party downloads outsides of Ivans (e.g. Progressive, Team Up, DS Pro).
- Have your agency's login credentials (usernames and passwords) accessible for these third-party applications
Accounting items to complete on the day of the final data migration to HawkSoft 6:
These items should be completed in your current HawkSoft database on the day of your final data migration, if your agency uses accounting workflows in HawkSoft and is migrating accounting data to HawkSoft 6. See detailed instructions for each item in the Final Migration section of our Accounting Migration Checklist. If your agency has a bookkeeper, they should be involved in these steps.
- Transfer all items in your "To Be Exported" list to QuickBooks
Export any items in your current HawkSoft database that need to be sent to QuickBooks. All open items migrated to HawkSoft 6 during the final migration will automatically be marked as "Do Not Transfer" to QuickBooks. - Pay all "transfer" items, or items you recognize income in Company Payables
For migrated items where the payable has not been paid, open payables will be created for them. For items that may have been paid outside of HawkSoft, such as transfer items, you will need to create and void payables for them to ensure reports are not affected. - Create "migration" line items
HawkSoft 6 has a new Agency Revenue feature that allows you to create checks for items you expect to recognize income on. You will need to create line items in your current HawkSoft database to be identified as Agency Revenue when they are migrated.
These items should be completed after the final data migration to HawkSoft 6 is complete.
- Review and reconfigure items in HawkSoft 6 as necessary after the migration
The migration team will demonstrate how to set up downloads, email, and third-party tools on one workstation. The agency will be responsible for the configuration on remaining workstations.- Set up Outlook/email on local computers if needed (see instructions here)
- Set up rater bridge integrations or other third-party executables on local computers
- Review/configure carriers
- Review any new HawkSoft Managed Carriers that are automatically added from downloads (they will display a "Needs Review" badge in the carrier list) and merge them with your previously created carriers, or update their details if they are a new carrier. See our Editing Carriers help article for instructions. These will need to be reviewed and merged/updated regularly in the first few weeks after migration, due to downloads coming in at different times.
- Add additional carrier websites to carriers if desired, as multiple website fields are now available on the carrier.
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- Review/configure Carrier Download Setup
- Review/configure Download Task Rules
- Review/configure Print Settings
- Review/configure customized toolbar
- Some settings may have migrated, while others may not
- Review/configure User Preferences
- Some settings may have migrated, while others may not
- Review/configure user signatures for ACORD Forms (re-upload and share signatures if needed)
- An administrator should ensure all API integrations are enabled in HawkSoft Marketplace
- Review package policies (especially commercial packages) to ensure policies were merged into packages as expected
- Review/configure accounting items if needed (see the Post Final Migration section of our Accounting Migration Checklist for detailed instructions on each of these items)
- Mark migrated line items as inactive
- Create "payable" accounts if needed (if "Company Payables (Local)" was not checked in your previous database under Settings > Trust Accounting)
- Connect HawkSoft 6 to QuickBooks if needed
- Review/configure migrated commission items if needed
- If you exported a CSV of unreconciled transactions from your HawkSoft 5 database, you may import it using the Commission Importer
- Accept HawkLink mappings
- Agencies with the Self-service Certificates add-on enabled:
Re-publish any existing master COIs to the website portal (GetMyCerts.com)
- Create necessary new items in HawkSoft 6
- Activity Tags (if not created during sandbox period)
- Task Templates (if not created during sandbox period)
- Commission Rules if needed (if not created during sandbox period)
- Agency Announcements on the start page
- Quick Reports based on past Saved/Memorized Reports (optional)
- Access the read-only copy of your HawkSoft 6 database
- A read-only copy of your agency's prior HawkSoft 6 database (without attachments) must be downloaded by the agency principal to reference any past historical items that were not migrated (such as historical accounting or commission transactions). See download instructions here.
- Please download the read-only copy, ensure you can log into it successfully, and confirm with your migration specialist within 1 week of your final migration, as your previous database will be removed from the host server soon.
- You can see more information about what items are included in the read-only database here.
- The agency is responsible for keeping the username and password for this database in a safe location. HawkSoft does not have the ability to provide or reset usernames or passwords for the read-only copy.
- Embrace change & utilize HawkSoft 6 resources
- Have staff direct questions to your HawkSoft 6 champion moving forward, who can contact Product Support with questions if needed.
- Understand that it may take some time to adjust to new workflows – be patient with yourself and the platform!
- Use our available resources to answer questions you may have about HawkSoft 6 moving forward:
- HawkSoft 6 learning courses
Make use of the learning courses on differences between HawkSoft 5 and 6. There is an essentials course for all staff members, as well as courses designed for other roles like admins, CSRs/Producers, and owners/managers.
- HawkSoft 6 Help Portal
Select Help under the question mark icon in the top menu bar of HawkSoft to go to the Help Portal at any time, and simply search a topic or question to find related videos and articles. You can also click the ? inside many workflows in HawkSoft to go straight to the relevant article!
- HawkSoft 6 Community
We welcome your suggestions on features and enhancements in HawkSoft 6. You can submit these, or vote for other user suggestions, using the HawkSoft Community (accessed from the question mark icon in the top menu bar of HawkSoft). These suggestions are reviewed by HawkSoft on an ongoing basis.
- HawkSoft User Group (HUG)
The HawkSoft User Group is a great way to learn more about HawkSoft from other agency users! Watch webinars, access resources, interact in the HUG Facebook group, or attend HUG events. If you’re not a member yet, joining is free!
- HawkSoft 6 learning courses
Checklists on this page:
Accounting migration checklist
More migration resources:
