T-Minus: fixed date, flexible scope
Why T-Minus fixes the go-live date and flexes scope, the four traditional phases it removes, the five rules, why the commercial model points the same way, and the five measures a customer reads instead of a status deck.
T-Minus is TRANXACT’s implementation methodology: go-live in days and weeks, counted down rather than planned out. A traditional project fixes scope and lets the date float; T-Minus fixes the date and lets scope flex.
| Traditional (waterfall) | T-Minus | |
|---|---|---|
| What is fixed | Scope: exhaustive requirements gathered up front | The date: set on day one, typically 27 working days out |
| What moves | The date, as integration, custom code and data problems surface | Scope: anything that cannot be configured, migrated and rehearsed in time moves to a T-Plus wave |
| How it is planned | The plan stretches to fit the requirements | Everything counts backward to the date, mission-control style |
Agree the go-live date in the kick-off and write it on the countdown board. From then on the team never debates the date — every discussion is about scope.
The four phases that disappear
This is not a compression of the old playbook. The phases that consume most of a traditional project are removed, because the platform removes the reason for them.
| Traditional phase | Typical duration | Why T-Minus does not have it | Where it lives instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systems integration | Months | One ledger, one data model: nothing to stitch together | Configure in the open |
| Custom development | Months to years | Workflows, roles and rules are configured no-code and changed in minutes | Rule 3 and the extension framework |
| Data migration project | Months | The Migration Cockpit runs an audited cutover with reconciled trial balances as a product feature | The Migration Cockpit |
| Big-bang training programme | Weeks | The role-aware action queue and ASK coach users inside the flow of work | Coach in the flow |
The five rules
| Rule | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| 1 · The date doesn’t move. Scope does. | Every threatening requirement is triaged: configure now, T-Plus, or not a requirement. |
| 2 · No requirement without a screen. | Discussions happen in a live tenant with the customer’s sample data. A requirement is a gap on a screen. |
| 3 · Configure, never code. | A configuration pattern, a T-Plus deferral, or an honest no. Code breaks the countdown. |
| 4 · Migrate balances you can audit, not history you can’t. | Open items, balances and master data, reconciled and signed. History stays queryable in the legacy archive. |
| 5 · One rehearsal beats ten workshops. | The customer runs a real business day in parallel with legacy; the rehearsal is the gate. |
Print them on the countdown board. When a discussion stalls, the Flight Lead names the rule it breaks.
Skin in the game
A day-rate integrator is billed by the day, is structurally rewarded when implementations stretch, and earns from change requests. TRANXACT is priced as a share of the customer’s audited revenue: it earns nothing extra from a long project and everything from a customer who is live, running and growing. Short project, early value, the customer grows, TRANXACT grows — which is why the fastest safe path to a working ledger is also the commercial one.
What the customer measures (proposed default)
| Measure | Target |
|---|---|
| Days to first posted invoice | T-0 — before lunch |
| Trial-balance delta at cutover | 0, with an audit trail |
| Rehearsal pass rate | 100% — the T-1 gate |
| "We need X" → "X configured" | Same week, with no ticket queue |
| Modules live per quarter | Without re-implementation — T-Plus waves |
Record them in the Artifact Toolkit’s KPI Scorecard from T-0. They replace the status deck in every steering conversation.
Values marked proposed default are the methodology’s recommended starting points. Confirm each one per engagement; the contract, order form and SLA prevail.