--- title: "Leaving a collections tool: which data should be exported before the contract ends?" canonical: https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/leaving-collections-tool-data-export/ lang: en alternate: https://www.billabex.com/fr/blog/quitter-outil-relance-export-donnees.md alternates: fr: https://www.billabex.com/fr/blog/quitter-outil-relance-export-donnees.md en: https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/leaving-collections-tool-data-export.md es: https://www.billabex.com/es/blog/dejar-herramienta-de-recordatorios-que-datos-recuperar-antes-del-fin-de-contrato.md updated: 2026-10-31 index: https://www.billabex.com/llms.txt --- # Leaving a collections tool: which data should be exported before the contract ends? An invoice export can contain every amount while losing the information that makes follow-up appropriate: yesterday's promise, a dispute affecting only one line, a contact who should no longer receive messages or the document supporting a pause. When a software contract ends, those details can be harder to retrieve than the accounting balance itself. Preparing to leave a collections tool means checking that your team can resume work with the cases' meaning, supporting records and next decisions intact. The number of downloaded files is not enough. The decisive test is practical: can someone who no longer has access to the old tool understand why they should act, wait or request clarification? ## Review the contract before the final week Identify the termination procedure, notice requirements, data return arrangements, access during transition and treatment of data after service ends. Ask which items can be exported, in which formats, with what assistance and on what timetable. Retain an answer matching your contract and the version of the service you actually use. The [EU Data Act includes a framework for switching between data processing services](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/factpages/data-act-explained) and has applied since 12 September 2025. Chapter VI covers services including cloud services. Check whether the particular offering falls within scope and whether exceptions apply, especially for certain bespoke or testing arrangements. An old contract clause may not describe all your current rights. [Article 29 of the regulation](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2854/oj) removes switching charges from 12 January 2027 for the services concerned. Before that date, permitted transitional charges cannot exceed costs directly linked to the switch. This does not make your internal migration work, the replacement software or every additional service free. For a project starting in autumn 2026, ask for these cost categories to be distinguished in the estimate. ## Inventory data according to the work it supports Start with the records needed for operations: customers and entities, contacts, invoices, due dates, allocated receipts, credit notes and balances. Add conversations, attachments, payment promises, disputes, decisions, responsible people and next actions. Some information may come from the accounting system; other information may exist only in the collections tool. For each category, identify the authoritative source and its relationship to other records. A EUR 2,000 promise cannot be resumed correctly if the export omits the customer, invoice, promised date or condition expressed. A contact file loses value if it no longer distinguishes the buyer from the accounts payable team. The method for [changing accounting software without losing invoice identity](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/accounting-software-migration-invoice-identity/) provides a starting point for identifiers. When leaving a collections tool, extend the check to history and commitments. Relationships must remain understandable even if the replacement software assigns different internal references or uses a different structure for customer cases. ## Test whether the export can actually be used Request a sample before fixing the final exit date. A PDF can preserve a supporting document in its original presentation, while structured tables allow amounts and dates to be reused. Those purposes complement each other. An export consisting only of screenshots does not make it easy to reconstruct hundreds of cases as structured records. [Odoo 18's export and import documentation](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/odoo/documentation/18.0/content/applications/essentials/export_import_data.rst) shows that an import-compatible export can filter the fields available. It also highlights external identifiers for recreating relationships between records. These are checks to apply to your own process, rather than evidence that any export will include the entire business history. Open attachments without using the old account. A link to a document hosted by the outgoing provider may stop working after termination. Verify that the necessary files have actually been retrieved, that their names or index connect them to the right cases and that access permissions are appropriate in the new location. Check accented names, currencies, decimal separators and dates too. A column that looks readable in a spreadsheet can be interpreted differently during import. Verification must cover the value imported and the case to which it belongs, rather than merely confirming that no technical error message appeared. ## Reconcile balances and commitments Consider a simulated exit involving eighty cases and 240 invoices. Original invoices total EUR 360,000 including VAT, with EUR 140,000 in allocated receipts and EUR 20,000 in credit notes. The expected balance is therefore EUR 200,000. An export omitting the credit notes would show EUR 220,000, creating EUR 20,000 of potentially excessive collection requests. That overall reconciliation is necessary but insufficient. Moving a payment allocation between customers can preserve the EUR 200,000 total while making two cases incorrect. Compare amounts by entity, customer and invoice, then inspect cases containing several transactions. Record discrepancies and their resolution before authorising follow-up from the replacement process. Suppose the old tool also contains twelve active promises, but only nine retain an identifiable invoice and usable date after transfer. Verified continuity covers nine promises out of twelve, or 75%, even if every invoice was imported successfully. The three remaining commitments need reconstruction or an explicit uncertainty status. The method for [making payment promises trackable](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/verifiable-payment-promises/) helps define this test before migration begins. ## Manage the transition while customers keep replying The portfolio does not stop during an export. Between the first copy and the switch, a customer may pay, dispute an invoice or change contact details. Define who processes those events, where they are recorded and how they reach the transferred case. Without that arrangement, the most recently downloaded version can already be out of date. Establish a checkpoint before the new process sends its first messages. Payments and decisions received since extraction must be reflected. Also confirm that the old tool does not retain an active campaign for the same invoices. The checks for [replayed imports and duplicate reminders](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/replayed-import-duplicate-reminders/) provide useful transition scenarios. If all relevant history cannot be imported, arrange another way to consult it. An indexed archive may meet that need, subject to applicable permissions, retention periods and obligations. The aim is to preserve useful continuity without keeping every working copy indefinitely. Make the archive accessible to the people who will actually handle the next customer question. ## Distinguish service exit from individual data portability The [data portability right explained by CNIL](https://www.cnil.fr/fr/comprendre-mes-droits/le-droit-la-portabilite-obtenir-et-reutiliser-une-copie-de-vos-donnees) concerns certain personal data relating to an individual, under GDPR conditions. It is not, by itself, a universal request to export an entire company's commercial database. Service exit needs to be arranged under the relevant contractual and regulatory framework. Once the transfer has been verified, remove access and connections that are no longer required according to the agreed timetable. Address deletion or residual retention with the provider and the appropriate people in your organisation. Do not request irreversible deletion before checking the necessary records, and do not leave permanent access in place through oversight. During a Billabex demonstration, examine [integrations and data flows](https://www.billabex.com/en/product/integrations/) using exit scenarios as well as onboarding scenarios. Ask for a concrete example of data return and its limitations. Choosing a tool is easier when you already understand how your team can preserve a reliable understanding of its cases when the contract eventually ends. ## Sources - [European Commission, Data Act explained](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/factpages/data-act-explained), Chapter VI, updated 15 December 2025. - [Regulation EU 2023/2854](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2854/oj), particularly Articles 29 and 31. - [Odoo 18, export and import data](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/odoo/documentation/18.0/content/applications/essentials/export_import_data.rst), official documentation. - [CNIL, the right to data portability](https://www.cnil.fr/fr/comprendre-mes-droits/le-droit-la-portabilite-obtenir-et-reutiliser-une-copie-de-vos-donnees), 25 May 2018.