Aplos Migration Checklist for Nonprofits (2026)

Aplos handles basic fund accounting and donor management for smaller organizations, but many nonprofits outgrow it when they need deeper reporting, multi-entity support, or volunteer and event tools alongside their ledger. This checklist covers moving your data to a more complete platform. For a direct feature comparison, see Alignmint vs Aplos.

What You Can Move

• Chart of accounts with fund tags
• Transaction history (journal entries, deposits, payments)
• Fund balances (restricted, temporarily restricted, unrestricted)
• Contact records (donors, vendors, members)
• Giving history and recurring gift schedules
• Online giving page configurations (rebuild in new system)
• Tags and custom fields
• Bank reconciliation records

What Needs Review

• Fund tag structure (Aplos tags may need consolidation or renaming)
• Giving page designs and embed codes (recreate in Alignmint)
• Third-party integrations (payment processors, email tools)
• Custom report templates (rebuild with expanded reporting options)
• User roles and permissions (map to Alignmint permission levels)
• Attachments linked to transactions or contacts

Migration Checklist

1. Audit your Aplos data. Run a trial balance and contact count. Note any funds with zero balances you can archive, duplicate contacts to merge, and inactive accounts to skip.

2. Export chart of accounts. Download your full chart including fund tags, account types, and current balances. Confirm the export matches your trial balance.

3. Export transactions. Pull all journal entries, deposits, and payments for the periods you need. Include fund designations and memo fields.

4. Export contacts and giving. Download donor records with giving history, recurring schedules, communication preferences, and custom fields.

5. Map fund structure. Match Aplos fund tags to Alignmint's fund accounting designations. Decide which funds are active, which to archive, and whether any should be consolidated.

6. Set up Alignmint. Create your fund chart, configure donor management fields, and establish user roles before importing data.

7. Import and validate. Upload mapped files. Verify trial balance totals, fund balances, and contact counts match your Aplos audit. Spot-check ten to fifteen records for field accuracy.

8. Rebuild giving pages. Set up online donation pages in Alignmint and update your website embed codes or links.

9. Reconnect integrations. Update payment processor connections and any third-party tools that connected to Aplos.

10. Run parallel validation. Process one to two weeks of activity in both systems to confirm outputs match. Once verified, cancel Aplos and archive your final export.

Timeline and Support

Most Aplos migrations complete in one to two weeks. Alignmint offers a free migration review that maps your fund structure, validates balances, and identifies any data that needs manual attention before import.

Bottom Line

Moving from Aplos to a more complete platform gives you deeper fund accounting, integrated volunteer tools, event management, and AI — without stitching together separate subscriptions for each capability.

Schedule Your Free Setup | Start Your Free Migration Review.

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Related:

• Fund Accounting — How Alignmint handles multi-fund structures and board reporting
• Aplos Alternative: Outgrown Aplos — Signs you need more than Aplos provides
• Aplos Pricing Alternatives — Cost comparison for organizations evaluating options