Migrating from Zen Planner

Zen Planner is one of the most common systems schools move from. The migration is straightforward if you do it in the right order.

What to bring across

• Members and family contacts. Yes.
• Active memberships. Yes, including the price each family is paying.
• Rank ladder and current ranks. Yes.
• Attendance history. Optionally; most schools leave it in Zen Planner as a historical archive.
• Payment history. No. Leave it in Zen Planner. Rosterra starts fresh from cutover.
• Card on file. Special process; see below.

Step 1: export from Zen Planner

In Zen Planner, go to Members → Export. Export to CSV. Make sure to include:

• Member name and birthday.
• Family/household grouping.
• Guardian name, email, phone.
• Current rank.
• Active membership name and monthly rate.
• Start date of the membership.

Save the CSV.

Step 2: clean it up

Open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets and:

• Confirm every active member has a guardian email. Active members without one cannot use the parent portal.
• Confirm birthdays are in a consistent format (MM/DD/YYYY is fine).
• Confirm rank names match the ladder you set up at /settings/ranks. If not, rename in the CSV.

Step 3: set up Rosterra basics

Before importing:

• Set up your rank ladder at /settings/ranks.
• Set up your programs at /settings/programs matching what Zen Planner called them.
• Connect Stripe at /settings/billing (do not start charging yet).

Step 4: import

At /memberships/import, upload the CSV. Memberships are imported in pending status, so no charges fire.

Spot-check 5 to 10 families to confirm the data looks right.

Step 5: card-on-file migration

This is the trickiest part. Zen Planner uses its own payment processor and cannot export raw card numbers (for legal reasons). Two options:

• Have families re-enter their card. Send a broadcast email with a portal link. Most families take 1 to 2 weeks to comply.
• Stripe-to-Stripe transfer. If Zen Planner was using Stripe under the hood, Stripe has a migration tool that moves card-on-file tokens to your new Stripe account. Contact Stripe support to request this. Allow 2 to 3 weeks.

Most schools use option 1 because it is faster and zero risk. The broadcast email language: "We have moved to a new system. Please update your card here in the next two weeks: {link}. Tuition will pause until your card is on file."

Step 6: cutover day

Pick a day, usually the last day of a month so the next month starts clean. On that day:

1. Cancel all autobill in Zen Planner.
2. In Rosterra, bulk-activate all imported memberships.
3. Run a test charge on your own card to confirm Stripe is wired correctly.
4. Email all families confirming the switch is live.

After cutover

• Watch the past-due list at /billing for the first month. A few families will have updated their card but not realized it needed to be re-saved.
• Keep your Zen Planner account active for 90 days as a read-only archive.
• Cancel Zen Planner once you are confident no historical lookups are needed.