Exporting transaction history before replacing a POS

Export transaction history while the old POS account is accessible. Then check whether saved files can answer questions about past sales, payments and refunds. Record each export’s dates and filters, and keep an untouched original. A successful download does not establish complete coverage.

Define what must remain findable

Ask the bookkeeper and the person handling old returns which records they need. List the order or transaction reference, date, location, items, amount, payment method and status, refund information, relevant tax fields and processor reference where available. Track open or partly resolved transactions separately; a completed-sales file may not explain them.

Australian Government guidance says businesses must keep income and sales transaction records. Check which retention periods and record classes apply to the business, and how authorised staff will retrieve them after changeover.

Select the outgoing system’s exports

Square says authorised users can filter transactions in its Dashboard and export transaction details as CSV. Its transaction search lists card and related transactions only within the last year of the search date, so check whether older history needs another retrieval method.

Its report-export route has separate limits: cash drawer reports cannot currently be printed or exported there, and transaction-status reports can be printed but not exported there. Identify the files and other records needed rather than treating one CSV as the whole archive.

Shopify’s order export can include transaction history. Shopify says that exported history contains captured-payment data and excludes authorisation data. Its order CSV defines fields including order number, financial status, payment capture date, fulfilment status, currency, subtotal, shipping, taxes and total.

Check which fields are populated for the business’s POS orders. Where a separate terminal processed a card, obtain the processor’s transaction and payout records as well; a POS paid entry is not that provider’s charge record.

POS System Export Capabilities Comparison

Make the export reproducible

Record the account, locations, reporting timezone, start and end dates, filters, export type, person running it and extraction date. Cover transactions near cut-over and identify later refunds that may need another export. Save the original file before opening a working copy in spreadsheet software.

Check the result against its purpose:

Store the exports, filter notes and separate processor records where authorised staff can retrieve them. Restrict access to detailed transaction data. Before closing the old account, obtain written confirmation of whether historical access will continue and under which login. Provider data retention does not itself guarantee usable access for the business.