Moving your direct debit mandates to Adfin is a managed process. You kick it off, get your data ready, and we handle the transfer with your old provider end to end. This guide walks through every step, so if you're ever unsure where you are in the process or what happens next, you can find your step below.
This guide (bulk migration) is for 10+ mandates. If you're looking to move fewer than 10 mandates, please read switch to Adfin direct debit (self-serve).
The two dates that matter
Everything in a migration revolves around two key dates:
Change date – the day your mandates move out of your old provider and appear in your Adfin account (how to choose your change date).
Mandate activation date (3 working days after your change date) – the day your migrated mandates become active and Adfin can start collecting.
There's also a cut-off about a week before your change date, after which your old provider stops capturing new mandates. This can vary, so we recommend onboarding net new clients to Adfin rather than your old provider during the migration period.
The short gap between the change date and the activation date is a Bacs scheme requirement. Plan your billing runs around it: you can collect with your old provider up to one working day before the change date, and with Adfin from the activation date onwards.
Step 1: Kick things off
You can request a direct debit mandate migration from inside your Adfin account, at:
If you can't see this form in your settings, contact [email protected] and we'll help.
Once the form is submitted, you'll receive an email from Adfin at each stage in the process to keep you updated as things progress.
⚠️ Prerequisites – the must be done before you're able to request a migration:
Complete your Adfin verification.
Connect your accounting software (Xero or QuickBooks) to Adfin – see the Xero guide or QuickBooks guide.
Import all of your customers. We match incoming mandates against your imported customers, so this directly determines how cleanly your migration lands. Xero contacts that aren't marked as customers need to be added to a contact group before they can be imported.
Tip: spot-check 10 to 20 imported customers in Adfin to confirm their email, customer name and reference fields look right – these are the fields we use for matching.
Choosing your change date:
It must fall on a working day and be at least five weeks away (a Bacs scheme requirement).
We recommend a quieter collection period, as there's a short window around the change date where you can't submit new collections.
Here's the full guide with worked examples: Choosing a change date for your direct debit migration.
We support migrations away from most providers, including GoCardless, London & Zurich and AccessPay. Ignition doesn't currently support mandate migration; if you're looking to move from Ignition, email us and we'll talk you through your options.
Step 2: We set up the transfer
Once your change date is confirmed, we manage the migration with your old provider on your behalf:
We submit the bulk change request. You'll be copied on the communications, but there's nothing you need to do.
We arrange the signing of the Bulk Change Deed and Notification of Change forms between the relevant parties. You don't need to sign or review these; they transfer liability for failed payments from your old provider to us.
Around one week before your change date, your old provider securely shares your mandate data with us.
Step 3: Tidy up your mandates with your old provider
Before your data is shared with us, clean up your mandate list so only the mandates you still want come across:
Cancel and delete mandates for clients you no longer work with.
Cancel and delete duplicate mandates (for example, where a client has two mandates but only uses one).
Check that company names match the names in Xero or QuickBooks. This makes automatic matching much more reliable.
Make sure each mandate's customer data is complete and up to date. For every mandate that will be migrated, check your old provider has the correct account holder name, an email address, and an address (at a minimum: Address line 1, City, and postcode). We need this information to create each mandate on the Adfin side and submit it to the Bacs scheme – any mandate missing these details can't be migrated.
Step 4: Brief your team and give your customers a heads-up
Tell your finance team (and anyone who raises invoices) about the change date and the 3-working-day activation window, so billing runs can be planned around it.
On the change date itself, we'll email your customers about the switch on your behalf. This is a Bacs scheme requirement; the email goes out in your branding from [email protected], and your customers don't need to do anything.
Optionally (and it's good practice), send your customers a more personal heads-up before the change date.
Invoicing during the migration period: before your change date, don't issue invoices through Adfin for existing customers who are being migrated. Keep collecting through your existing provider right up to the change date, then issue and collect through Adfin from there (collections start from the mandate activation date). New customers who aren't part of the migration are different: you can issue and collect for them through Adfin straight away.
Outstanding invoices that are still unpaid when you migrate can also be collected by Adfin. To collect an existing unpaid invoice through Adfin, update its branding theme (Xero) or term (QuickBooks) to Adfin in your accounting platform after the change date, or let automatic invoice migration handle it for you (see Step 6).
If your invoicing pattern is more technical or complicated, get in touch via the live chat and we'll get you sorted. We have a few ways of handling the more complex scenarios, and we can talk you through the steps and arrange a process that works for you.
Step 5: On your change date, review your migrated mandates
On the change date (typically late afternoon), your mandates appear in your Adfin account and are removed from your old provider. When you log in, you'll be prompted to review the migrated mandates in what we call a 'migration review session'.
In the review session:
For any mandates where we couldn't identify a clear match to your existing customers, tell us which customer we should link them to. A common reason a mandate can't be auto-matched is that it's in a person's own name rather than their business name.
Approve any matches we've automatically identified for you. These are mandates we've confidently linked to an existing customer in your Adfin account. If you don't think our suggestion is quite right, you'll be able to allocate the mandate to a different customer.
If the customer does not already exist in your Adfin account / accounting software, you can choose to create a brand new customer with the mandate instead. Any newly created Adfin customers will be automatically synced into your accounting software too.
⚠️ Deadline: complete the review session before the mandate activation date (3 working days after the change date), so every mandate is sitting on the correct customer when it activates.
One thing to be aware of: not every mandate always makes it across. This is usually down to incomplete details or bad data on the mandate, which means the banks can't match it during the transfer. It's worth comparing what's arrived in Adfin against your old provider's mandate list, and flagging anything missing to your Adfin contact.
Step 6: On your activation date, check your invoices
If you've opted in to automatic invoice migration, your repeating invoices in Xero or QuickBooks are updated on the mandate activation date to be collected by Adfin. It's optional, and you'll need to turn it on in your integration configuration settings before your activation date.
It doesn't always catch everything, so spot-check a few repeating invoices on this date to confirm they've updated before your next billing run.
If a repeating invoice has been missed, update its branding theme (Xero) or Term (QuickBooks) to 'Adfin Auto Collect' manually.
If you have standalone payment schedules that aren't tied to an invoice (for example, GoCardless 'Subscriptions'), you'll need to recreate these manually in Adfin.
Step 7: Wrap up
Export any historic data you want to keep from your old provider. GoCardless closes your account 5 working days after the change date, so don't leave this too late.
Run a small test billing batch (or watch your first scheduled run) and confirm collections are coming through Adfin as expected.
If anything looks off at any point, contact your Adfin sales contact or reach us via live chat and we'll get you back on track.
Common questions
What happens if a customer has duplicate mandates?
Only one mandate will be linked to the customer. The other will trigger the creation of a new customer, which you'd then need to merge or archive. This is why we recommend cancelling and deleting duplicate mandates with your old provider before the change date (Step 3).