The Accounting Start Date is the day Propio officially begins keeping your client's books. Everything from that date forward is synced, categorized, and reflected in reports. Because it anchors your opening balances and your first reconciliation, getting it right at setup saves you from rework later. You'll choose it during client onboarding, and the path is slightly different depending on whether you're migrating from another system or starting fresh.
How the Date Works
When you set the Accounting Start Date, you pick a month, and Propio uses the first day of that month as the start.
- If you choose March 2026, your books officially begin on March 1, 2026.
- From that date, Propio brings transactions directlt from the bank (through a Plaid connection) or from imported bank statements.
- The day before — February 28, 2026 — becomes the cutoff for the migrated period (in the case we are migrating transactions history).
So everything from the 1st of your chosen month onward lives in Propio and is fully editable; anything before that belongs to the prior period (either your old system, or nothing if you're starting fresh).
Case 1: Migrating from Another System
If your client is coming from Quickbooks, Xero, or any other software, the Accounting Start Date is the point where Propio picks up and the old system leaves off.
- Set the start date to the month after your prior system's last close to avoid gaps and no overlaps.
- Transactions before the start date can be visualized in Propio through the transactions table and financial reports, but cannot be edited.
- Propio brings in the opening balances as of that date, so your numbers tie out to where you left off.
- The goal is a clean handoff: what you closed in the old system is exactly where Propio begins.
⚠️ Choose carefully when migrating. For a migration, the Accounting Start Date is tied to the opening balances Propio brings in, so treat it as a one-time decision made at setup. This date cannot be adjusted afterwards.
Case 2: Start Fresh
If there's no prior system to migrate from, the Accounting Start Date simply marks day one of the client's books in Propio — no history to reconcile.
- Most firms choose the start of the fiscal year (cleanest for tax reporting) or the first of the current month (fastest to get live).
- Propio sets the opening balances as of that date as your starting point.
- Anything before that date isn't accounted for — you begin with a clean slate.
💡 Tip: When starting fresh, you can still adjust the Accounting Start Date afterward if plans change. Migrations don't have the same flexibility, so a fresh start gives you more room to reset the date if needed.
What to Keep in Mind
- Reports follow the start date. If your start date lands mid-year, Propio won't have data before it (unless there is migrated data) — so a full-year P&L won't exist in the client's first year.
- It's the anchor for reconciliation. Your first reconciliation period begins at the Accounting Start Date.