Migrate from Garage Hive
Move from Garage Hive to PeakSpitz, safely.
Moving off Garage Hive should feel like restoring from a backup, not a leap of faith. Your garage management tool data is read into a PeakSpitz environment of your own, checked against your real numbers, and run in parallel — while Garage Hive keeps running, untouched, the whole time. Here is exactly how, step by step.
Garage Hive is a capable, UK-strong workshop system built directly on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, so its jobs, vehicles, vehicle health checks, parts and — crucially — its accounting are all native to Business Central's enterprise-grade ledger. That BC foundation is also the common reason SMEs move on: it usually carries Business Central licensing, partner or consultant involvement and a level of complexity a small shop doesn't need. PeakSpitz offers the same order-to-accounts joined-up flow with real accounting and VAT built in, but as a lighter all-in-one you can typically run in about a week without consultants, on unlimited users and EU hosting.
The safe way to leave Garage Hive
Work down the list at your own pace. Nothing here is irreversible, and your current system stays live throughout.
- 1
Before you touch anything — get a backup you own
Get a copy of your data out of Garage Hive that you control — a file held on your side, not just a setting inside the system. Confirm in your contract that you have the right to export, and note any renewal, notice or lock-in dates so the timing stays on your terms.
- 2
Export your data
Pull customers, vehicles, jobs and parts out of Garage Hive in the most complete format it offers — CSV, spreadsheet, or an account/API export. Take the history too, not just open items: past records, documents and contacts are worth keeping.
- 3
Send us a sample
Before you commit, send us a representative slice — a handful of customers, a few recent orders or bookings, part of your catalogue. We map it into PeakSpitz and show you the restored result, so you see exactly how your garage management tool data lands before you move the rest.
- 4
See what maps to what
We line Garage Hive up against PeakSpitz: customers, vehicles, jobs and parts become customers, catalogue, orders, documents and ledgers in one joined-up system. Anything without an obvious home is flagged early, not discovered late.
- 5
Bring it in — a read-only restore
Your data is read into a fresh, isolated PeakSpitz environment of your own. Nothing inside Garage Hive is touched, changed or switched off — it keeps running exactly as it is.
- 6
Verify against your numbers
Before you trust it, reconcile the totals — balances, counts, tax and revenue — against what Garage Hive shows today. The numbers have to match before anything goes live.
- 7
Run both in parallel
Keep Garage Hive live and run PeakSpitz alongside it for as long as you like. Compare like for like, move one area across first, and build trust before you depend on it. No big-bang cutover, and no deadline from us.
- 8
Cross over and decommission — on your terms
Switch over only when PeakSpitz has earned it. Keep your Garage Hive export archived as a safety net, and close the old subscription when you are ready — not a moment before.
What maps where: Garage Hive → PeakSpitz
Garage Hive
Customers & Vehicles (Business Central records)
PeakSpitz
Customers, with VIN and registration on the customer/order record
In Garage Hive these live as BC Customer and Vehicle records.
Garage Hive
Workshop Jobs
PeakSpitz
Made-to-order work orders
Garage Hive
Vehicle Health Checks (VHC)
PeakSpitz
Health-check results as order attachments, with templates rebuilt
Garage Hive
Parts / Items (BC Item table & inventory)
PeakSpitz
Inventory items
BC Items export cleanly through Business Central's own tools.
Garage Hive
Business Central general ledger, dimensions & posting groups
PeakSpitz
Real accounting with VAT built in
BC accounts and dimensions map to PeakSpitz accounts; the historic ledger stays archived in BC.
Garage Hive
Price groups and labour rates
PeakSpitz
Pricing rules on service items and markup on parts
What to watch when leaving Garage Hive
- ⚠
Garage Hive is built on Business Central, so your accounting, VAT (including any Making Tax Digital filing) and full financial history live in BC's general ledger. The authoritative export is a Business Central export — decide what enters PeakSpitz as opening balances and what stays archived in BC.
- ⚠
Any Business Central extensions, customisations or dimension setups don't transfer as code. They are re-expressed as PeakSpitz configuration or as integrations over the open REST API and webhooks.
- ⚠
Vehicle Health Check templates and their photos are re-created and archived. Rebuild the health-check checklists in PeakSpitz and keep historical VHC media as an archive rather than a live migration.
- ⚠
BC posting groups, tax setup, price groups and labour rates are a configuration decision to re-map, not a lift-and-shift. Re-express markup and VAT handling as PeakSpitz pricing rules and VAT accounting.
Common questions about leaving Garage Hive
Garage Hive runs on Business Central — where does our accounting go?
Credit to BC: its ledger is enterprise-grade. With PeakSpitz you no longer run a separate Business Central accounting layer — real accounting with VAT is built in. Historical financials export from BC and are archived, with opening balances brought into PeakSpitz. UK shops should confirm their specific VAT/MTD filing needs as part of the move.
How do we get our data out of Business Central?
This is actually easier than most: because Garage Hive sits on BC, your Customers, Vehicles, Items and Jobs are accessible through Business Central's own export and API. That accessibility makes leaving more tractable, and PeakSpitz's open REST API loads the data on the other side.
What about our Business Central customisations and extensions?
They don't transfer as code. Extensions, custom dimensions and bespoke posting logic are re-expressed as PeakSpitz configuration or as integrations over the open REST API and webhooks — the standard, durable way to carry custom behaviour across.
As much help as you want
Do it yourself, or have us map your fields, run the import and reconcile the result with you. Support is a ladder — you start where you are comfortable and step up only where an area needs it.
See the full safe-migration approach →Why people leave Garage Hive
PeakSpitz runs the whole business on one AI platform — not a single corner with the rest bolted on — with Spitz AI and unlimited users included. See the difference side by side.
Compare PeakSpitz vs Garage Hive →Bring your Garage Hive data in safely. Cross over when you are ready.
Send us a sample of your data and we will show you the restored result — no commitment, no risk to your live system.