Dynamics SL end of life: what to do with project accounting history

What should you do with Dynamics SL project history before the system is retired?

Treat the migration plan as the moment to decide what happens to the job, time and billing history, and preserve a complete export of it before anything is archived or dropped. Dynamics SL (formerly Solomon) sits at project-based firms, and a long-running install can hold history deeper than anything in the replacement system.

The sequence matters. Confirm the current support dates on Microsoft's own product lifecycle page, because they change and this page does not restate them. Then decide, system by system, which history moves, which is archived and which could be licensed. For a fractional CFO, the point is simple: the retirement date is also the last cheap chance to keep a clean copy.

Which companies still run Dynamics SL?

SL is built around project accounting, so the companies still on it tend to be project-driven. These segments are the ones to look at.

The who qualifies page sets the baseline: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), several years of documented operations, rights to license the material and an authorized sponsor. An SL shop with a 12-year project ledger often clears the history test easily. The open question is breadth, because SL is usually only one of several systems.

What makes SL history valuable, and what does not?

The ledger alone is a narrow asset. The value comes from how SL links to the rest of the business.

• Outcomes: project budgets against actual hours and cost, change orders, write-offs and final margin.
• Structure: consistent project, task and employee codes across many years.
• Connections: SL project IDs that also appear in the CRM, the ticketing tool, shared drives and email threads.
• Narrative: the notes and memo fields where project managers explained overruns.

Bare general-ledger balances add little. A project record that can be matched to the proposal, the staffing plan and the delivery emails is much more useful to AI labs and data buyers who want records of how real work gets done.

Migration options and what each does to the history

Firms commonly weigh a Microsoft successor such as Dynamics 365 Business Central or Project Operations against a non-Microsoft ERP. Check Microsoft's documentation for current guidance and which paths it supports. What matters here is the effect on records.

The chart of accounts redesign guide covers why collapsing legacy accounts should follow, not replace, a mapped copy of the old structure.

The pre-cutover preservation checklist

Run this with the controller before the final SL close. None of it requires sending a record to anyone.

• A full database backup and a flat-file export of projects, customers, vendors, employees and time, stored by the company
• A written note of the earliest and latest year in each module
• A list of every other system whose records reference SL project IDs
• A named owner who can restore or query the archive
• A check of customer and government contract clauses that restrict use of project data
• A decision on what happens to the old server, hosting account or license key

What about contractors and controlled information?

Government contractors need extra care. Some prime contracts and subcontracts carry clauses that restrict handling or disclosure of contract information, including controlled unclassified information, and SL project data may include it. If the company's records are mainly this kind of material, they may not be licensable, and the company's contracts team or counsel makes that call, not a referral partner. Where the records are mostly commercial work, the question is simpler. This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel before acting.

How the introduction works

You never touch the data. You raise the question and the company decides.

1. Ask the sponsor whether the SL history, and the systems around it, will exist after cutover.
2. Share the company fit checker for a preliminary, non-binding screen.
3. If the company is interested, register as a partner and send the referral link, or submit the company through the referral form.
4. SourceX qualifies the company, the company completes a data inventory, and price and terms are agreed before any buyer sees anything.
5. Buyers review; once a company is deal-ready they typically respond within about two weeks.
6. If a deal closes, data is delivered only under an executed agreement and the company's authorization.

How rewards work

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. Rewards become payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee, and no reward is guaranteed. The reward is a share of SourceX's fee and is never deducted from what the company receives. See the rewards page and program terms, and check your own firm's fee and disclosure rules first; the fractional CFO playbook covers the usual questions.

When this is not a fit

• The SL database was deleted or cannot be restored.
• The records belong to clients, as at an outsourcer, and they have not agreed.
• The company has under the headcount baseline at peak.
• Contract terms or government handling rules bar licensing.
• The data was already licensed for AI training.

Next step

Ask each SL client for its cutover date and the oldest year it holds. If one looks promising, register as a partner and make the introduction, or have the owner apply at sourcex.si/apply. The CAS growth guide shows how larger firms structure these conversations.