Legacy System Rescue & Migration
Get Your Business Off the Software Nobody Can Support Anymore
A lot of Southern California businesses run on software that was the right call fifteen years ago: a Microsoft Access database someone's nephew built, a QuickBooks Desktop file on a PC under the front desk, a custom program whose developer retired. It works, so nobody touches it. Then the business is sold, the owner retires, or a vendor ends support, and suddenly it matters a great deal that only one person knows how it works.
We move businesses off that software deliberately, before it fails rather than after. That means getting the data out intact, writing down the business rules buried in old queries, macros, and spreadsheets, and replacing the system with something a new owner or a new employee can actually run — usually a web application, sometimes a well-chosen off-the-shelf product, occasionally a careful upgrade of what is already there.
Much of this work happens around a change of ownership. Buyers want to know what they are inheriting, sellers want the systems to survive the handoff, and retiring owners want the business to keep running without them. We work with owners, buyers, brokers, and CPAs across Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley, the Inland Empire, and Orange County.
What Legacy System Rescue & Migration includes
An honest inventory of what the business actually runs on
Every system, who owns the account, what version it is, whether it is still supported, what it connects to, and who knows how to operate it. This alone is often the most useful document a buyer or a successor receives, because most businesses have never written it down.
The hidden business rules, written down
Old systems encode years of decisions in places nobody looks: an Access query that applies a discount, a VBA macro that formats the invoices a key customer insists on, a spreadsheet formula the bookkeeper relies on. We find and document those before anything is replaced, so the new system does the same job instead of a cleaner version of the wrong one.
Data moved intact and checked
Records cleaned, de-duplicated, and migrated with counts and totals reconciled against the old system, not just copied and hoped for. The old system stays available read-only until you are satisfied nothing was lost.
A replacement sized to the business
For some businesses that is a custom web application with proper user accounts and backups. For others it is QuickBooks Online or another off-the-shelf product with a few integrations. We recommend what fits, including when the answer is to keep what you have and make it safer.
Ownership a new owner can take over
Accounts, domains, licences, and source code moved into the business's name rather than a former employee's personal email. Documentation written for the person who comes next, not for us.
How the work runs
- STEP 1
Review
A fixed-price technology review: what exists, what is unsupported or at risk, who controls it, and what it would cost to keep, fix, or replace each piece. Buyers often commission this before closing; sellers before listing.
- STEP 2
Plan the move
An order of operations that keeps the business running throughout, with the riskiest or most time-sensitive system first. You get a fixed price for each stage before it starts.
- STEP 3
Migrate and run in parallel
The new system runs alongside the old one for a defined period so staff can check results against what they know. Nothing is switched off until the numbers match.
- STEP 4
Hand over
Training for the people who will use it, credentials and documentation for the owner, and a clean break from the old system once everyone is confident.
What we build with
- Microsoft Access
- QuickBooks Desktop & Online
- SQL Server
- PostgreSQL
- Excel & VBA
- Data migration
- React web apps
- Documentation
Legacy System Rescue & Migration: common questions
Can you get data out of an old Microsoft Access database?
Almost always. Access stores data in a format that can be read and exported even when the forms and reports around it no longer run well. The harder part is usually the business logic in the queries, macros, and VBA code, which we document before anything is replaced.
Do we have to replace QuickBooks Desktop?
Not necessarily. Intuit's current position is that QuickBooks Desktop 2024 will continue to be supported, but older versions have already been discontinued and new Pro and Premier subscriptions are no longer sold. If the business is changing hands, check whether the new owner can keep the subscription and the integrations around it before assuming nothing needs to change.
We are buying a business. Can you review its systems before we close?
Yes. A pre-acquisition technology review covers what the business runs on, who controls each account, what is unsupported, and what replacing it would realistically cost. It is a fixed-price engagement and the report is written for a buyer, a broker, or a CPA to read, not just a developer.
Let's Build Something Amazing
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Phone
Office
1310 South Beach Blvd #1106
La Habra, CA 90631 (opens in Google Maps in a new tab)