Desktop Migration, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does it take to migrate my parish’s data from the desktop application to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
The migration of your ParishSOFT Desktop data to your ParishSOFT Family Suite stage site will take approximately 3 business days to complete from the start date.
How do I get the data to ParishSOFT?
If your software is locally installed, you will need to back up your ParishSOFT desktop database. The backup sends your data directly to us.
If we host your data through Remote Solutions, the Onboarding Team will pull your data.
May I still enter postings after the backup?
No. Once you submit your backup, neither you nor your staff should make updates to your data. You may use your current system as READ ONLY.
What data elements do not migrate from the desktop application to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
- Religious Education:
- Milestones
- Student Records-fields
- Attendance records
- Knowledge
- Attitude
- Grade Pt
- Promote
- Tuition as a module
- You will see your Tuition funds, postings and invoice totals in the Offering module as non-deductible funds postings and pledges.
- Extended Family
- Pictures
- Parish IQ
- Queries
- Custom Reports
- Time & Talent
- Schedules
- Exception dates
- Time served counts
Will I still use the Family ID# to identify my families in ParishSOFT Family Suite?
The Family ID# may change when you migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite. The local Family ID# from the desktop will no longer be used as the unique identifier. ParishSOFT uses the DioUniqueID # (Family DUID) to identify families as it is unique across all organizations in the ParishSOFT Family Suite database.
If I use My Own Church with the Desktop, will it be available in ParishSOFT Family Suite?
Yes, parishioners will have the option to view and provide suggested updates. Any updates still have to be approved by the parish staff. Additionally, My Own Church users will be able to view the Special Needs field, their Workgroup membership, and the Pictorial Directory if the parish administration has enabled that feature.
Will the family photos migrate over to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
Photos do not migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite. Photos will need to be re-uploaded following your migration.
How will contributions migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
In the desktop application, the COA# (chart of accounts #) is referenced for your funds. When you migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite, the FUND ID# is used instead. Those two numbers do not match. They are separate data fields in the desktop program. The COA# is no longer used in ParishSOFT Family Suite.
- Therefore, if you are utilizing an import tool for your giving, you will need to re-map those new FUND ID#’s after the migration.
- Your new Family Suite will auto-generate the Fund ID number during the migration.
- These will be the numbers to use to import your files, so the import matches the data to the correct Fund in ParishSOFT Family Suite.
How will pledge information migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
The Pledge ID # is referenced in the desktop application. When you migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite, the database instead references the Pledge DUID # which is also available in the desktop application. Those are two different data fields. The Pledge ID # is no longer used in ParishSOFT. When you compare the pre-migration Pledge report to the post-migration Pledge report, you will want to reference the Pledge DUID # as the common data field.
Do Time & Talent Schedules migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
- Time & Talent Schedules DO NOT migrate.
- Additionally, Exception Dates or Time Served Counts do not migrate from the desktop.
- If Scheduling was used in the desktop Time & Talent module, print/save a copy of at least three months of your schedules before the migration, so the person doing the scheduling has time to learn to use the new system, as the scheduling will not carry forward.
Will I still get notifications when a family record is changed by another parish or the diocese?
Yes, the parish administrator has access to the ParishSOFT Family Suite notifications identifying data changes made by other organizations.
How will Religious Education Data migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
- ParishSOFT will migrate your Religious Ed data into ParishSOFT for you using default settings.
- If you have any incomplete Religious Education information, ParishSOFT will populate it using the following guidelines:
- Add missing session start/end dates and times – the start dates will default to 7/1/xxxx to 6/30/xxxx, the following year.
- Ensure sessions end on or after their start date/ time.
- Ensure sessions for a school year have a start date of that school year and an end date of the following year are contained within the corresponding school year.
- For an example: a session in the school year 2017 that has a start date of 6/2/2017 and an end date of 6/28/2017, the end date will be updated to the end date of an existing session in the same school year. This will ensure you will see your sessions grouped as in desktop.
ParishSOFT will migrate your Religious Education data into ParishSOFT Religious Education using the default settings listed below:
- Grades
- Map one to one (2=>2, K=>K, etc…)
- Catechists
- Catechist 1 =>Catechist
- Catechist 2 =>Assistant Catechist
- Catechist 3 =>Assistant Catechist
- Rooms
- ParishSOFT does not set up rooms in the default migration. The user can set up new rooms in ParishSOFT Religious Education following the completion of the migration.
If you choose, you may reset the Religious Education Migration done by ParishSOFT during your migration and migrate the data again yourself using the migration tool. If you add new Religious Education data in ParishSOFT Religious Education and then reset, you will lose the information you added. Use the following link to view the video help for the migration tool: Religious Education Migration Tool
Will Parish IQ migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite?
No, Parish IQ queries will not migrate to ParishSOFT Family Suite. We recommend that you print out the screens showing the query details of any you want to recreate in ParishSOFT Family Suite.
Will the parish staff permissions carry over from the desktop?
Yes, but please note as a part of the migration process, any staff assignments that migrated had the Grant Login access removed. You will want to review and update these staff assignments as necessary. Below is a short 7-minute video that will assist you in the process of managing and adding staff assignments.
ParishSOFT Family Suite Adding Staff & Managing Permissions