This article explains how to plan and prepare for your VRTrust go-live date. Go-live planning is a critical step that determines where historical data stops and where VRTrust becomes your system of record.
What Is a Go-Live Date?
Your go-live date is the point in time when VRTrust becomes responsible for tracking:
Guest funds held in trust
Owner balances and payouts
Property management revenue
Taxes collected but not yet remitted
Anything that occurred before this date is handled through opening balances.
Anything that occurs on or after this date is handled through normal VRTrust workflows.
In VRTrust, this go-live date is what's set as your team's statement start date. Each connected PMS also has its own accounting start date, which must be set before regular transaction activity can be recorded for that connection — see the checklist below.
Why Go-Live Planning Matters
Most onboarding issues happen when the go-live date is unclear or inconsistent.
Proper planning ensures:
Clean separation between historical activity and live activity
Accurate owner statements in the first month
Correct trust balances from day one
Fewer manual corrections later
Once trust and tax opening balances are recorded and statements are published against them, changing the go-live date requires VRTrust to reclassify journals around the new boundary — supported, but best avoided. It's still simplest to get the date right upfront.
Choosing the Right Go-Live Date
In most cases, the recommended go-live date is:
The first day of a calendar month
For example:
December 1
January 1
July 1
This aligns with:
Monthly owner statements
Clean reporting periods
Simpler reconciliation
Most Common
Go live on the first day of the current or upcoming month
Not Recommended
Mid-month go-live dates
Dates that split reservation activity unpredictably
What Belongs Before vs After Go-Live
Before Go-Live (Handled as Opening Balances)
Guest deposits received before go-live
Owner balances owed or due
Taxes collected but not yet remitted
Owner or PM payouts for prior periods
After Go-Live (Handled Normally in VRTrust)
New reservations and payments
Deposits and payouts
Expenses
Fees and commissions
Owner and PM statements
Confirming Your Systems Before Go-Live
Before finalizing your go-live date, confirm that:
Your PMS is connected and syncing reservations
Each PMS connection has its accounting start date set (VRTrust blocks accounting workflows for that connection until this is set)
Your trust bank account is connected
Payment processors (Stripe, Airbnb, etc.) are connected
Data flow has been validated
Accounting configuration (accounts, mappings, fees) is complete
Go-live planning should happen after system connections. You don't have to finish this planning before connecting a bank account, though: VRTrust lets you record an explicit opening balance during bank/Plaid setup even before your team's statement start date is selected. Trust and tax opening positions (deposits, unremitted taxes, owner balances) should still be entered against your confirmed go-live date, since those use it as their boundary.
Locking in the Go-Live Date
Once you choose your go-live date:
Use it consistently across all opening balance entries
Use it when setting:
Fee start dates
Ownership start dates
Reporting filters
Do not record regular transactions dated before this point
Remember: consistency is more important than perfection.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will my first owner statements go out?
Your first VRTrust owner statements cover your first full month after go-live. They go out once that month is closed. For example, if your Go-Live date is November 1st, your first statements will cover the month of November and get published in early December, after you finish the month-end checklist.
Note: You must sign up to VRTrust before the 15th to lock-in a Go-Live date on the first of the current month.
If you sign up to VRTrust after the 15th of the month, your Go-Live date will be the 1st of the following month.
Who sends statements for the month before go-live?
Your previous system does. If you go live November 1, run and send October statements the way you always have. VRTrust picks up from there, and any owner balances left over at the end of October come in as opening balances.
Will my first statement show activity from before go-live?
Activity from before go-live won't appear as line items on your owner statements in VRTrust. It's brought in as opening balances, shown in the Owner Statement Summary box, so each owner's starting position is correct without re-entering history.
What about reservations booked before go-live that check in after it?
Guest payments you collected before go-live are entered as opening advance deposits. Payments that come in after go-live on those reservations need a quick adjustment, covered in Deposits received post go-live on Pre-Go-Live Reservations.
Can I change my go-live date later?
Once trust and tax opening balances are recorded and statements are published, changing the date requires reclassifying journals around the new date. Settling the date upfront saves rework.
Can I go live in the middle of a month?
It's not recommended. A mid-month date splits reservation activity and makes your first statement period harder to reconcile.