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.
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 opening balances are recorded, changing the go-live date becomes much more difficult—so it’s important to get this 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
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 but before opening balance entry.
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.