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ERP Master Data Load Order Reference for Data Migration Planning

Data loads fail most often because something was loaded before the thing it depends on. This reference lists the usual order for a manufacturing ERP migration so you can sequence your load plan and rehearsal runs without discovering dependencies at cutover.

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Seq	Data object	Type	Must exist first	Why this order
1	Company, legal entity, plant and site structure	Organization	None	Every other object is assigned to an organizational unit.
2	Currencies and exchange rates	Configuration	Legal entities	Needed for pricing, open items and valuation.
3	Units of measure and conversions	Configuration	None	Items, BOMs and purchasing reference units.
4	Chart of accounts	Finance	Legal entities	Postings, open items and opening balances need accounts.
5	Cost centers, departments and dimensions	Finance	Chart of accounts	Employees, work centers and assets point to them.
6	Payment terms and tax codes	Configuration	Chart of accounts	Required on customers, vendors and open documents.
7	Item or material master	Master	Units of measure, plants	BOMs, routings, stock and orders all reference items.
8	Customer master	Master	Payment terms, tax codes	Sales orders, AR open items and pricing reference customers.
9	Vendor or supplier master	Master	Payment terms, tax codes	Purchase orders, AP open items and approved supplier lists.
10	Work centers and resources	Master	Cost centers, plants	Routings need capacity and rate data.
11	Bills of material	Engineering	Item master	Components must already exist as items.
12	Routings and operations	Engineering	Work centers, item master	Operations reference work centers and parent items.
13	Approved vendor and purchasing info records	Master	Vendors, items	Link sourcing prices to item and vendor pairs.
14	Price lists and discount structures	Master	Customers, items, currencies	Prices attach to item and customer groups.
15	Inventory locations and bins	Configuration	Plants	On-hand balances need locations to land in.
16	Fixed assets register	Finance	Chart of accounts, cost centers	Assets need accounts and responsible cost centers.
17	Opening inventory balances	Balance	Items, locations	Load at cutover after a physical count or freeze.
18	Open purchase orders	Transaction	Vendors, items, tax codes	Receipts after go-live must match to an existing PO.
19	Open sales orders	Transaction	Customers, items, prices	Shipments and invoices after go-live need an order.
20	Open production or work orders	Transaction	BOMs, routings, items	Shop floor reporting continues against live orders.
21	Open AR invoices	Open item	Customers, chart of accounts	Cash application needs open items.
22	Open AP invoices	Open item	Vendors, chart of accounts	Payment runs after go-live need them.
23	GL opening balances	Balance	Chart of accounts, all subledger loads	Load last so control accounts reconcile to subledgers.
24	Open quality records and lot or serial history	Transaction	Items, locations	Traceability must carry across the cutover.

This is a vendor-neutral sequence. Your ERP may split or reorder objects, so confirm against the object dependency documentation for your product.

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How to use it

Filter by type to see only master data, open items or balances. Copy the rows into your migration tracker and add columns for load tool, owner, record count and mock-load result. Keep sequence numbers as your load order in the runbook, and treat any object missing from your own list as a question to answer before the first trial load.

Why the order matters

Master data forms a dependency tree. Organization and configuration come first, then finance structures, then item, customer and vendor masters, then engineering data, and only then transactions and balances. Opening balances sit last because they must reconcile to the subledgers you just loaded.

Configuration before master data
Items before BOMs, routings and stock
Open items before GL control account balances
Cutover-dependent balances loaded after a freeze

Worked example

A plant has 12,000 items and 400 open production orders. The items load in a few hours, but production orders fail on first trial because routings reference work centers that were never loaded. Moving work centers to run before routings, and loading orders only after routings pass validation, clears the errors. Document the corrected order in the runbook so the mock cutover repeats it exactly.

Common mistakes

Teams often load GL balances too early, then reload subledgers and break reconciliation. Others forget that inactive items can still be referenced by history. Plan an explicit decision about what history to migrate, and rehearse the full sequence at least twice before the real cutover.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this sequence the same for every ERP?

The dependency logic is common, but objects differ. Some systems combine customer and vendor into a business partner, or split item and inventory records. Use the order as a starting point and adjust to your product.

Should open transactions be migrated at all?

Usually open orders and open items are migrated because the business continues working on them. Closed history is more often archived or kept in the legacy system, with only summary balances loaded.

How many mock loads should we run?

Two or three full rehearsals is a typical target: one to find dependency errors, one to prove timings and reconciliation, and a final dress rehearsal with the cutover team.

Why are GL balances last?

Subledger control accounts must match the sum of open items and stock values. Loading subledgers first lets you confirm totals before the final GL balance posting.

If you want help turning this into a timed load plan for your ERP, Netray can review the sequence and the extraction queries.

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