In this guide 6 sections
You own the records. The vendor owns the system, so settle in writing the export format, what happens if you stop paying, which country holds the servers and who can open the data. Prove it with a test export during the trial.
Ownership on paper and in practice
Most terms of service say the customer owns its data. That sentence costs the vendor nothing. What matters is whether you can pull every table out in a form that another system can open and read without the vendor’s help.
A school’s fee ledger or a loan book is worthless as a locked screen, so ask for the right to a full copy and not a few printed reports. Reports are summaries. A copy is the record: it holds every receipt, every guarantor form, every audit trail entry and every scanned attachment that a successor vendor needs.
- Customer owns all records entered
- Vendor owns only the software
- Copy available on request, in writing
- No fee to export your own records
Export format and how often
Ask which formats the export uses. CSV files for each table, with a data dictionary that names every column, open almost anywhere, whereas a single PDF of everything opens nowhere useful.
Attachments such as scanned mark sheets, KYC photos and prescription images should come out as real files, not links, because a link dies the day the account closes.
Can you run the export yourself at any hour? Or must you raise a request and wait? A self-service weekly export beats a promise made once, because it depends on no one’s goodwill and leaves a dated file in your own folder.
What happens if you stop paying
This is the clause most buyers skip. Ask how many days the account stays readable after a missed payment, whether you may export during that window, and on what date the records are wiped for good.
A trust with years of donor receipts and pledge letters needs a plain answer, so ask for a notice period before deletion and a named person to confirm it. Silence on this point is itself an answer.
- Days of read-only access after non-payment
- Export allowed during that period
- Written notice before deletion
- Written confirmation after deletion
Where the records sit and who can open them
Name the cloud region and the hosting provider. Then ask where the nightly backup copy sits. Some sectors, lending and health among them, have rules on where records may be kept, so check yours with your own adviser, since software cannot give legal advice. Write the region into the contract.
Support work sometimes needs a look at live data, such as debugging a failed ledger posting or a duplicated receipt, so ask which vendor roles may open your records. Ask also whether each access is logged. A good answer names the role and the log. A vague one says “our team”.
Prove it with a test export
During the trial, load a hundred real records, run the export and open the files, then check that names, dates, receipt amounts and attachments are all present. Then import a sample into a spreadsheet and sort it, looking for blank columns, broken dates and attachment links that still point to the vendor’s server.
Keep the test file and the date. A vendor that cannot produce a clean export while winning your business will not do better when you are leaving, so ask for the fix before you sign. Get it in writing.
Hosted records questions sheet
A sheet in two columns. The left column lists twelve questions on export format, export frequency, non-payment grace period, deletion notice, hosting country, vendor staff access and access logs. The right column leaves room for the vendor’s written answer, the date, the name of whoever gave it and a line for your own follow-up.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Is a monthly export enough?
Monthly suits a quiet shop. Busy offices such as a clinic, a school or a lender should export weekly, because a lost fortnight of receipts and visits is very hard to rebuild.
Can the vendor use our records for other purposes?
Only if the agreement allows it. Ask for a clause that limits use of your records to running your account, and read every exception, especially any wording on analytics, training or sharing with partners.
Who should read the agreement?
The owner and the accountant should read it together; ask a lawyer to review the clauses on deletion and access if the records are sensitive.
What if the vendor closes down?
Regular exports are your protection, because a copy held on your side turns a vendor closure into a migration job, with the ledger, receipts and attachments in your hands. Not a loss.